So I finally got a RetroSound radio in my 49 Buick using the stock Buick faceplate and pushbuttons. Now I need an antenna. I don't want to just put an antenna on the fender, so has anyone used a hidden antenna? How did it work, what did you use, and who made it, where can I get one.
I've used a couple of the small box style antennas that stick up in the corner of the windshield. Hardly noticeable and even in our remote area worked good. In your metropolitan area it should work great. I think mine was a Generac. I see them on E-Bay. Word of warning, don't buy the $8-10 dollar ones.
I put a hidden antenna in my 56 Chevy 20 years ago. At the time it was about $35. I mounted it to the back window in the middle inside and it works ok. Your location in the Cities, you should have no problem pulling all of the local stations.
Lay the antenna fully extended inside the "rear roll" of the back seat [sandwiched between foam] then reinstall the cover . I've done this successfully with a GPS tracker. Before you rip the upholstery apart, duct tape the antenna to the top of the rear seat and try it first.
An antenna is just a piece of insulated conductor which catches radio waves, connected directly to the centre pin on your radio. As long as it is insulated from the ground of the vehicle, any length of wire or rod will act as an antenna. I have used several yards of insulated wire wrapped around something which is not enclosed in the car (running board mounts, bumper mounts, etc) . Insulate the "dead" end, and connect the other to the centre of some co-axial antenna cable. Connect the shield (outer braid) to vehicle ground at the antenna end. In cities with good signal strength, this works well.
I already had the factory hole in the fender, so I bought one of those cheap power antennas off eBay. Works great, goes down when you turn off the radio.
A long time ago, my sister had a Plymouth Arrow (Mitsubishi) that used the trunk lid as the antenna. It was isolated from the body somehow with plastic bushings in the hinges. My memory is a bit hazy on the details.
I just cut off the antenna and run the shielded wire up the A post and over the passenger door and over the rear window, then put the headliner in. Works fine.
I mounted mine in the trunk between the upholstrey board and the inner rear fender panel. Used heavy rubber covered brackets to hold it to the inner fender panel.
Does it get good reception being inside the trunk? Seems like the metal trunk lid would shield the antenna. If that is not true there are lots of places to hide an antenna, like under the headliner.
Nothing worth listening to on terestrial radio. Get a bluetooth to FM adapter to transmit to your radio from your phone and play proper music
That may work great on an open car but my 49 Buick is a fastback. Don't know if that will work well with a metal top over the antenna.
Indeed. I'll just add that the length is usually chosen to be tuned to the wavelength of the radio frequency to improve the reception, often a quarter or half the wave length. Obviously it will be a compromise for a normal radio that can be tuned to different stations at different frequencies, but close enough gets the job done well enough. Not sure what frequencies you use over there, for the 88-108MHz FM band here a quarter wave antenna will be about 80cm long. Twice that would make it half wave, but it would also make it rather long - which is exactly the reason fractions of the wavelength often is used rather than full wavelengths.
I have the radio in my 50 nash on the transmission tunnel and the antenna laying on the floor under the seat and it works great.
I know guys that have mounted them under the running board, under the back package tray and other places with no problems. Just make sure it is where you can get to it if you ever need to without having to tear out something. I would think twice about mounting under the headliner.
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