Best aftermarket antenna option

[midwest]

Slowly making some improvement on my 86 K 20. I added an aftermarket stereo years ago and at the time the aftermarket fenders didn't have hole for a stereo antenna so I have been listening to CD's. I am curious if any of the "hidden" type antennas are worth a crap. I also need a new windshield sometime and didn't know of those antennas had better reception then any of the aftermarket ones or not? Just not looking to drill into my fenders.

Thanks

 

[SirRobyn0]

Slowly making some improvement on my 86 K 20. I added an aftermarket stereo years ago and at the time the aftermarket fenders didn't have hole for a stereo antenna so I have been listening to CD's. I am curious if any of the "hidden" type antennas are worth a crap. I also need a new windshield sometime and didn't know of those antennas had better reception then any of the aftermarket ones or not? Just not looking to drill into my fenders.

Thanks

I couldn't really tell you if the windshield antenna is better than an aftermarket hidden antenna, likely that depends on the aftermarket antenna and how much you want to spend. My opinion without a doubt I'd go to the windshield antenna, I mean why not, it was the common factory antenna after all. BTW my square with the windshield antenna gets better reception than my Dakota or my Jeep both of which have fender antennas.

 

[WP29P4A]

So many variables, if you don't live in or near a large city, you're probably wasting your time. If you do live in or near a large city you will most likely have good results with the windshield antenna or even a hidden antenna. Car stereos are so cheap now, it might be worth while to update to something with Bluetooth and pandora, and just skip local radio and all the commercials and temporary civil servant adds.

I live in a smallish town and have a top of the line Pioneer car stereo with a good factory antenna. All the local stations come in good in a couple areas of town, but not most areas, each time I go to a different area of town I have to change to the station that works in that specific area, it gets old so I just pop in a USB stick with 100 albums and no commercials, or I listen to pandora.

Fyi, all antennas work better mounted outside the metal box, that is your truck.

 

[SirRobyn0]

So many variables, if you don't live in or near a large city, you're probably wasting your time. If you do live in or near a large city you will most likely have good results with the windshield antenna or even a hidden antenna. Car stereos are so cheap now, it might be worth while to update to something with Bluetooth and pandora, and just skip local radio and all the commercials and temporary civil servant adds.

I live in a smallish town and have a top of the line Pioneer car stereo with a good factory antenna. All the local stations come in good in a couple areas of town, but not most areas, each time I go to a different area of town I have to change to the station that works in that specific area, it gets old so I just pop in a USB stick with 100 albums and no commercials, or I listen to pandora.

Fyi, all antennas work better mounted outside the metal box, that is your truck.

Mike makes a really good point about where you live. There use to be one AM news station that I listened to. When that changed I kind of quit listening to the radio at all. Bluetooth or 3/8 input is a requirement for me (my square has 3/8"), on my cellphone I have music files, we have cable TV at the house which includes Music Choice channels and I will stream those in the truck sometimes. BUT for me I do consider a working radio AM / FM to be a safety device. Particularly AM. Around here WSDOT uses certain AM channels to broadcast pass info. The last thing I wanna be doing is fumbling with my phone driving over the pass in the snow, and that's assuming I've got cell service. So for me I want a working AM/FM reciever for that reason, but don't listen to it often.

 

[midwest]

I live in between several decent size cities. All my other vehicles can pick up stations from each of the three cities I am in the middle of. I assume there is a standard antenna wire I can buy that goes into the radio and to the windshield mount?

 

[SirRobyn0]

I live in between several decent size cities. All my other vehicles can pick up stations from each of the three cities I am in the middle of. I assume there is a standard antenna wire I can buy that goes into the radio and to the windshield mount?

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's still available, but I do not know the PN# off hand. If no one else comes along with it / you can't find it tag me Monday - Thursday during the day and I should be able to look up the ACDelco PN# for it.

 

[Finkaire]

With the Bluetooth system Retrosounds I no longer listen to the radio, however the windshield antenna seems to work better with the new headset

 

[SirRobyn0]

With the Bluetooth system Retrosounds I no longer listen to the radio, however the windshield antenna seems to work better with the new headset

I agree with that to, the head unit can make a much bigger difference than antenna.

 

[AuroraGirl]

So many variables, if you don't live in or near a large city, you're probably wasting your time. If you do live in or near a large city you will most likely have good results with the windshield antenna or even a hidden antenna. Car stereos are so cheap now, it might be worth while to update to something with Bluetooth and pandora, and just skip local radio and all the commercials and temporary civil servant adds.

I live in a smallish town and have a top of the line Pioneer car stereo with a good factory antenna. All the local stations come in good in a couple areas of town, but not most areas, each time I go to a different area of town I have to change to the station that works in that specific area, it gets old so I just pop in a USB stick with 100 albums and no commercials, or I listen to pandora.

Fyi, all antennas work better mounted outside the metal box, that is your truck.

I got a little usb stick sized antenna for my tv and when its below window sill like 3 inches down and then 10 inches of building between outside and there, maybe 14 idk.
0 channels, darn.
I sat it just hanging out the window , pointed down(hanging upside down) and I get 30.

not a metal house but its insane what just a little obstruction can do.
For example, we cant do stuff on the dark side of the moon (its not dark but still) unless we have a satellite that can relay things to there either on another celestial body, in space generally, or more than one if they felt like minimizing downtimes
But we can from a computer in the US ping voyager 1 or 2 and they arent even in this solar system anymore. And its a little slow but the moon just becomes such a dense direct obstruction that we cant just "radio" around it


I support verizons/at&t moon connectivity pledge that they promise to definitely get fiber out there by 2030 but they just need more tax breaks and subsidies and also the right to have a monopoly on the service they somehow manage to establish and the right to kick any moon men off their properties they decide to run it straight through

 

[SirRobyn0]

I got a little usb stick sized antenna for my tv and when its below window sill like 3 inches down and then 10 inches of building between outside and there, maybe 14 idk.
0 channels, darn.
I sat it just hanging out the window , pointed down(hanging upside down) and I get 30.

not a metal house but its insane what just a little obstruction can do.
For example, we cant do stuff on the dark side of the moon (its not dark but still) unless we have a satellite that can relay things to there either on another celestial body, in space generally, or more than one if they felt like minimizing downtimes
But we can from a computer in the US ping voyager 1 or 2 and they arent even in this solar system anymore. And its a little slow but the moon just becomes such a dense direct obstruction that we cant just "radio" around it


I support verizons/at&t moon connectivity pledge that they promise to definitely get fiber out there by 2030 but they just need more tax breaks and subsidies and also the right to have a monopoly on the service they somehow manage to establish and the right to kick any moon men off their properties they decide to run it straight through

I don't know if you remember the thread on cell phones I had going from about a year ago or so but I'm about to go dig that up. I'll tag you since you were in on it.

 

[Albrigap]

My 1990 Suburban came with the fender antenna and not the windshield one.
I am kind of in the middle of nowhere and this antenna works great.
The oem radio was junk so I replaced with a Honda Civic one that works perfect.
Square body radios were well known for dropping channels.

 

[Raider L]

I've been debating whether or not to put an outside antenna on my truck, but until I actually need one I'll hold off. I do have it ready though.

You must be registered for see images attach

I don't think the threaded end will be long enough to make a good attachment on this one. I don't even think it can be modified. But, hey, it's hot roddin' anything can be modified.

You must be registered for see images attach

Below, remember these? I think I had this one on my Charger back in the '70's. They're telescoping is real long and pick up distant stations pretty good especially out in the middle of Mexico late at night. And if these aren't good enough I do have two 8 ft. whip antenna's but I think they're only for FM. I avoided the CB era back in the day even though I got that stuff to.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[mibars]

My 1990 Burb has two antennas, one on fender and the one built into the windshield. Only the fender antenna is connected and this made me wonder why is it like this?

From what I've heard in the US AM radio was (or according to Google still is) quite popular, while in Poland no one is really using it anymore. Is one of these antennas better for AM and the other for FM? We use 87.5 - 108 MHz FM range in Poland, like most of the Europe and talmost identical as the range in the US.

 

[Matt69olds]

My 81 GMC has an antenna in the windshield, I have no problem picking up the classic rock FM station from 50 miles away.