"Hidden" antenna

[scottydl]

I'm tired of messing with my power antenna (which has no power), and I think I'd rather just remove the exterior mast altogether and install a "hidden" one... the kind that sticks to the inside of the window. Someone else mentioned doing this lately, but has anyone tried this with their Aurora or other car(s)? I curious about the performance and cost of hidden antennas, before I go down that path...

[omegaic]

The gen2's have the antenna integrated into the front windshield. It's barely noticeable and it works great! Although... that probably doesn't help you!

[dred98]

Yeah - it's kind of old fashioned to drive around with an antenna sticking up. I'm not sure you can do much about it though - the back window has the defrost wires in it and I don't think you're supposed to stick anything over it. I guess it overheats or something.
And it would look like sh*t to stick one on the front window.
It's probably easier to fix the antenna you have

[scottydl]

dred98 said:

And it would look like sh*t to stick one on the front window.
It's probably easier to fix the antenna you have

The stick-on antennas I've seen don't look too bad at all... it's a fairly small circuit that adheres to the inner top of the front windshield within the blue tinted area. It's almost invisible from the outside, and I think would blend in okay on the inside too (since our rearview mirrors are already so huge with wires running around them).

And like you said, I can't believe they still use standard antennas on ANY car... my parents' 1977 Chevy Caprice station wagon had its antenna integrated into the windshield, so it's not like the technology hasn't been around for awhile!

[scottydl]

I'm still determined to do this, and complete a write-up on the installation... here are a few of the products I've run across. Any thoughts on how they would work compared to the standard exterior antennas?

www.infiniteinnovations.com/main.asp?p=5_10 - part # ELP-2078... with the curvature and tinting of our front or rear windows, I really don't think this would look bad at all.

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&tc=photo&item=4510410565 - made for marine applications (i.e. radios on boats), but the seller assured me it will work on cars too.

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7941052940 - found this one that is powered, can be *totally* hidden away if you don't care about AM reception.

Comments or ideas?

[Custom88]

I think it'd be a great idea. In fact, I don't know if you saw my post on the Bonneville forum but a few months ago I had asked the same question. I couldn't find any solutions but it looks like you have! I would do that modification to my car, but I don't think I'll be owning it too much longer.. I have a real bad itch to get an Aurora!

[JimW]

Interesting links Scotty, my remote starter on the Bonneville had a small antenna mounted to the inside of the windshield near the A pillar and I hardly noticed it. So this is a great idea!

Once my antenna goes out (I wont do anything til it dies) but this will definitely work.

[stevensolds]

i think it looks cool to have it out the rear like that. Yours is a 99 and thats dead already? damn. maybe just a fuse??

[scottydl]

No such luck, fuses are fine. The motor actually runs, but the antenna doesn't go up or down... I'm told that the mast extension inside the motor housing is what broke. Unfortunately, there is no way to disassemble the motor and replace just the mast alone, so the whole unit has got to go.