Aftermarket Antennas

I have been researching a replacement antenna. I am looking for something concealed or glass mounted from the inside. I am not a fan of the "power" antennas. Also going for better reception and don't want to fix my stuck OEM mast. I am going to leave it in place, unhook it, and leave in the down postion and install the new one indepenently.

www.lafayetteradio.com

Look in the universal antenna section if interested. There are a couple interesting options I havn't decided which I like yet.

[Noir]

I have a coat hanger. Want to borrow it? J/K.

[kuoh]

My opinion on the in-glass antenna is that you generally don't get very good range. If you only listen to strong local stations and don't care about being able to pick them up at 100 miles out, then they should work fine.

In fact, the SVX already has an in-glass antenna. You can just disable the motor and leave everything else hooked up as is.

KuoH

[mhl0125]

Are the power atenna's supposed to go down flush with the rear fender or do they stick up a little. My stays up abiut three inches when the radio is off. I'm guessing this is not normal.

[Noir]

don't think it's suppose to stick up. think mine's flush.

It goes all the way down, unless you are using a hanger!

It is supposed to go all the way down, but over time gets dirty and sticks. Mine goes up about 8 inches and gets stuck. There is a "how-to" in the link below on how to clean and reinstall the power antenna. I personally don't like the height of the fully extended mast and want to find an alternative.

www.svxworldnetwork.org

[SHISVX]

when i had my little misshap with my antenna(some dip pulled it entirely out) Doug had taken it totally out. for a while it didn't work..it didn't go up and down, but now it does. i waxed the antenna..maybe some greasing would help?

Kelli

mine sticks up a little too. I read somewhere that if you take wax paper and rub it on the antenna mast it'll help.

[sfsvx]

Antennas (antennae?) collect a lot of goo, and running them up and down distributes that goo pretty thoroughly. The goo can also get into the mechanism and make it stick.

The how-to above works really well. Not only did mine start going all the way down, I also found out it was silver, not black.

Something not in the how-to: be very gentle when cleaning the mechanism, there are two delicate contacts inside the antenna shaft.

[kuoh]

The SVX's antenna mast originally extended so high that it disrupted the airflow off the roof and caused a whistling noise that many owners complained about. Subaru's fix was to add an insert at the base of the antenna which prevents the last section from extending, lowering the tip height by about 5 or 6 inches. You might want to check and see if this service was done on yours.

KuoH

Originally posted by scottheaney
I personally don't like the height of the fully extended mast and want to find an alternative.[/url]

[kuoh]

There are no contacts inside the shaft. Just be careful and don't bend it or use so much force that you rip it out. Most people don't realize it but at 60-70 Mph (or higher for some), there is a substantial windload on the mast which will flex the joint between sections. Over time, this expands the opening enough so that there is too much play and allows contaminates to hinder free movement of the mast. Another common reason of the mast being stuck, especially the bottom section, is when freezing rain coats the mast while it is up and people attempt to force it back down bending the mast in the process.

KuoH

Originally posted by Dick Young
Something not in the how-to: be very gentle when cleaning the mechanism, there are two delicate contacts inside the antenna shaft.

yeah, mine does that whistling noise too. I'll probably fix it this summer.