different antenna?

jayson_waltz · 11-27-2006, 02:37 PM

hey have any of u put a aftermarket mast antenna on your car and does it make any difference in reception? my reception really sucks with the window antenna even with a booster on it.

jackal2000 · 11-27-2006, 02:42 PM

you live in north dakota? i would think your reception would suck even if you put a tower on your trunk lid. lol

sound_xtreme · 11-27-2006, 02:46 PM

if you have an aftermarket deck make sure you hook up the antenna wire

jayson_waltz · 11-27-2006, 04:52 PM

i was just wondering if anybody has done it. yea i have everything hooked up. On our new car (2006 freestyle) i can get about 20 stations (even though some are canadian b\c i am 17 miles from the border) and on mine ill be lucky to get 3.

kwhauck · 11-27-2006, 05:01 PM

if you are serious, get sirius.........lol i couldn't resist.....

AnderbrA · 11-27-2006, 05:10 PM

Antenna must not be hooked up to the deck...I know with mine you couldnt get jack w/o it connected.

sound_xtreme · 11-27-2006, 05:40 PM

i dunno ur problem, but i get stations fine in my alero. and when i say antenna wire, i mean the power antenna wire on the harness

mikegett · 11-28-2006, 09:08 PM

The wire varied in color between years. Some had a green wire while others were blue or purple. Most of the harnesses had the signal going to the power booster located in a blank socket. This meant that you had to run a wire from your new HU harness to the aleros harness ( bypassing the aftermarket plug in harness). My car was a 2003. It seemes like the alero harness had a purple wire for the booster.

adam337 · 11-28-2006, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackal2000

you live in north dakota? i would think your reception would suck even if you put a tower on your trunk lid. lol

lmao..

Gr1m · 11-28-2006, 09:21 PM

the shop that installed my tints and headunit said that i dont get stations because of the aluminum foil in the tints lol its probably bull but i have my ipod anyway

DaRockwilder · 11-28-2006, 10:06 PM

My old Delta 88 had a windshield antenna, and couldn't get squat, so I put on a mast antenna and the reception improved quite a bit. I used to live in a small town in Manitoba, about 12 miles north of the Canada/US border.

jayson_waltz · 11-29-2006, 09:15 AM

bypassing the aftermarket plug? i didn't bypass anything, i'll have to check that. thanks

xbxradxsx · 11-29-2006, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gr1m

the shop that installed my tints and headunit said that i dont get stations because of the aluminum foil in the tints lol its probably bull but i have my ipod anyway

I had someone tell me the same thing about the tint causes bad reception. I can't pick up crap hardly unless I'm in a town. One of my friends sister has an alero and when she got her windows tinted, they left the top part of the back glass where the antena is clear cuz they told her it would mess it up if they tinted over it and she gets great reception.

pawzbear · 11-29-2006, 02:16 PM

i would want one of those little fin looking antennaes.. like on the back of a beamer or something

2fst4u · 11-29-2006, 02:24 PM

yeah, those little ones look nice. wouldn't be hard to do, either.

Cliff8928 · 11-30-2006, 03:14 AM

I don't know if that BMW shark-fin is used for the radio or not. Most (like the GM one) are used for things like Cellular, GPS, Satellite Radio.

strtrydr · 11-30-2006, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawzbear

i would want one of those little fin looking antennaes.. like on the back of a beamer or something

I wanna do the same thing but I am going to use it for XM Radio. Which does anyone know where/how to go about getting one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbxradxsx

I had someone tell me the same thing about the tint causes bad reception. I can't pick up crap hardly unless I'm in a town. One of my friends sister has an alero and when she got her windows tinted, they left the top part of the back glass where the antena is clear cuz they told her it would mess it up if they tinted over it and she gets great reception.

I have full window tint (5%) and my reception has not been affected. I also have a aftermarket headunit too. I would deffinetly have to say that you need to check all your wiring to make sure your antenna/booster is getting power.

Cliff8928 · 11-30-2006, 01:08 PM

Which style of antenna do you want? I got a couple of the '05-'06 GM style with the little mast that attaches with 2 screws (it's crazy how many different ones they use). The Solstice and some of the newer cars have a little bump of an XM antenna, which would be good if you only wanted it for the XM.

strtrydr · 11-30-2006, 01:55 PM

ah, i was refering to the "Shark-fin" style one ... and i defenitely only want it for XM unless it is dual function then i would splice it into the booster/antenna.

Cliff8928 · 12-01-2006, 12:59 AM

Well, I know that if you get a GM one, it will go on fairly easy. It has the standard 1-wire XM connector on it. Works flawlessly with the pioneer XM tuner on my Chevy.