I picked up my car tonight instaed of tomorrow and the radio works just fine even with the rear defroster on. I even turned on the sideview defrosters and still no problem. The fringe stations had no change either. There was condensation/frost on the rear window. It was below 30 tonight.

I may put a new motor and mast in with a separate switch to raise and lower when needed.

I am keeping the SVX under cover in a vinyl shelter (quonset hut/greenhouse) with nothing else in the shelter. The hand crank (like an awning) roll up door does not go up high enough to miss the antenna and I am sure my wife or I will forget to lower the antenna before entry or exit and repeat the damage routine. I know I could forget the second switch as well.

This may all seem strange to some but works for me to reduce opprtunity of error.