Antenna options?

[AZCrawl]

I honestly haven't listened to terrestrial radio (AM/FM) in years so I really don't know or care if it impacts reception. I just needed that massive OEM antenna gone and my OCD wouldn't allow me to just remove it without a replacement hahahahaha. And this antenna has nothing to do with XM satellite reception so that is good to go.

Then why have an antenna at all?

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[AZCrawl]

This is the stubby one I use. I love it and have had zero issues with reception. Found it online for around twenty bucks. Will be transferred to my JL upon arrival.

Brand?

 

[Dynomite1371]

Antena X is one of the best perfect length and reception on all bands. And it looks good. I had it on my JK for 5 1/2 years. I only bought another one because it had a 5 year wind bend in it that aggrivated me. It cost like $16 bucks on Amazon. Same set up as JK. I still have the old one, still works perfect,

maybe I'll send it to one of my new "Rubicon" forum friends............

No Rubi guys want my Xtra one? Odd..

 

[The Great Grape Ape]

Im assuming a large contingent of us will be switching out the stock old school type of antenna ( that does work very well) for something a bit shorter/ more subtle... if you plan on changing yours out, what are you going with? Looking for a few quality options. Thanks!

I’ve swapped a few options onto my JKs and a few friends.

Here’s my experience.

Stock antenna beats pretty much all replacement options when trying to pull in weak signals at the edge of the reception area. This is where you see significant drop from the other options and will lose a few dozen miles range/clarity from option to option.

• A great compromise of capable yet flexible is the thicker 24” Antenna-X which is thicker than their typical Antenna-X and is often called the CB-style. It has almost the same range as the stock anetenna (some even say better though I found in the mountains it lost a little bit of clarity sooner).
• Next is the standard 21” Antenna-X option, it fringes out a bit sooner (about 5-10% less range). If I we had worthwhile stations here I would likely have this one or the 24”, I prefer the aesthetics and less noise of this one over the 24”.
• The 11-13” Antenna-X options are a noticeable drop in fringe range by 10-20% or about 50 KMs, however in the city and with high wattage sources there is pretty much no clarity issues. Areas in the city where there are high energy interference sources you will start to notice them more than the other options above and stock. But sometimes even the stock antenna will be affected by these even though you can see the tower/source.
• Generic 12-13” flexible antenna is noticeably worse than the Antenna-X options, and you will pick up more signal bounce from buildings in the city, and a further drop/decay at greater distances. I lost almost 100KMs (60miles) on one of my major rock stations on the way to the southern foothills. IMO, Mostly for people who are primarily interested in talk radio and only occasionally listen to music, and couldn’t tell the difference between a 320kbps MP3 and one ecoded at 96kbps.
• The 3-5” stubby and even the 50 Cal bullet options, there are only for in-town and high energy stations. Their range decays rapidly beyond the city 100 mile range for the average station, but big beacon broadcasters will be able to eek out some more range, but clarity still takes a heavy hit even for those. City interference is high and can easily lose a station and pickup a blutooth hands-free unit or other freq noise impacting it. Very susceptible to building bounce in the city. IMO best suited for if you mainly use Sirrius, and then only use the radio for traffic reports or the occasional local sport or weather update. Some weaker University, ethnic & alternative channels I had trouble receiving in town only a few dozen KMs/Miles from the transmitters. Truly for people who not only barely use their radio, but barely even know there is AM/FM offered at all. Trying to care about source/speaker/amp quality when using this as the source seems pointless IMO.

That’s been my experience with a bunch of different setups.

Some people like the stock to use as a feeler for low beams, and parkade entrances, etc. In which case just spray paint it black, because it looks much better that way and doesn’t affect reception. But I would still go with the 13 or 21” options, the larger one if there were better radio stations out here to enjoy.

PS, I forgot to mention, I currently have the 13” Antenna-X on my JKU, as it balances in-town radio, with my typical use of Sirrius or the HDD or podcasts and straming on my cell while in the fringe radio areas.

 

[drogers]

Doesn’t every parking garage have a sign indicating safe height?

Pshaw- signs... What kind of real jeep owner reads signs? Man, back in the TJ days we weren’t expected to read signs!

 

[SpyDJeep]

Brand?

I'll check if I can find the order when I get home. Should be in my order history. I'll post back then.

 

[SpyDJeep]

Brand?

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00DB42QJA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This should take you to the amazon page where i bought it from.
Cheers

 

[Notty]

Then why have an antenna at all?

I explained why in my post that you quoted........

 

[mgroeger]

The first thing I said to my wife... "Why in the world did they keep this antenna?"

1978 called and they want their antenna back.

Anyways, regarding the AntennaX 13", do you need to remove it when going through a car wash.

 

[Dynomite1371]

The first thing I said to my wife... "Why in the world did they keep this antenna?"

1978 called and they want their antenna back.

Anyways, regarding the AntennaX 13", do you need to remove it when going through a car wash.

No.

 

[Rob]

Any reason a windshield antenna couldn't replace the whip

 

[TIDALWAVE]

Any reason a windshield antenna couldn't replace the whip

If you don't have a metal top, you could run an antenna wire along the cabin periphery under the top. Much cheaper than a factory produced windshield with an embedded antenna.

 

[JHJLUR]

So I went with the 13’ antenna X, I lost minimal reception ( not a big deal to me) seems like a quality item and looks one hell of a lot better IMHO.

 

[The Great Grape Ape]

Any reason a windshield antenna couldn't replace the whip

First, I usually find an integrated windshield antenna usually isn’t as effective, and the whip is a pretty good antenna, so when going far-a-field it would likely lose you distance and clarity when out there seeking adventure.

Second, and least important, the winshield being dropable likely would affect reception significantly as orientation changes 100+ degrees and lays flat losing height. Might impact, might not.

Third, and likely most important, winshield replacements on Wranglers are an annual even for some ( especially if corporate insurance includes windhiseld replacement like mine ) this would increase cost, and due to cost of keeping stock and thus might lengthen replacement time, also might limit who offers it. Plus crack might not impact vision but if an edge crack, might cross an early section of the winshield and break or stretch antenna wire impacting reception long before a windshield replacement would be required for visual issues.

With the metal sport cage and window frame it does offer a challenger for integrating into the interior elsewhere without interference. Something integrated externally around the outside of the windshield frame might be the best option to somewhat integrate/hide the antenna without adding other negatives, though that may pose other problems for things like paint or assembly, or increase the initial cost if made into a drop-in/on external shroud/piece.

 

[Jl Jill]

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00DB42QJA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This should take you to the amazon page where i bought it from.
Cheers

Hi, so there is no snapping sound on the jeep in a car wash? I brought my brand new the day I bought it Jl to the car wash and that long metal one snapped and hit the body of the Jeep like 3 times, scared the crap out of me.

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