What's the Deal with the Antenna?

[Reinen]

Very insightful reply. Thank you. I hate the banging noise but I'm not sure I'd be happy with a loss of reception.

Something doesn't sound right though. The stock antenna shouldn't bang against anything except for rare occasion, such as getting hung up on a branch or a hard drop off a rock. You might want to check the antenna mount and make sure it isn't twisted. The antenna should be straight up.

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[Reinen]

I'm just amazed that so many of you still use FM/AM radio. My phone + Spotify is so much better it's not even funny. Any music I want to listen to, offline for BFE, and I don't have to listen to the annoying DJs interrupting everything with lame ads.

It is so much better, but phone + Spotify requires internet access or proactive downloading (which expires and disappears). Internet access while mobile in the wilderness is still a pipe dream. Cell service cuts out first, then FM, after that all you have is USB or nothing. XM fits in there, but XM has horrible stations. FM isn't much better, but it's free.

 

[BamaJeepTruck]

You still have cell signal? That's not rural.

lol, yes. Verizon has surprisingly good coverage in the state of Alabama

 

[zouch]

i find it remarkable that you could possibly hear noise from the antenna.

have you tried taking the antenna off to see if what you're hearing is really being generated by the antenna?

I'm a Jeep newbie who just bought a Sahara Altitude. I'm more impressed with the vehicle than I expected. My only question is about the 35 inch antenna which is mounted on the front passenger side. It's mounted securely but at highway speeds it flies back and forth and makes a lot of noise. Are there any aftermarket alternatives I should consider? Thanks in advance.

 

[zouch]

nothing beats regular old Broadcast radio for local info, especially if you're out in an area of low population density.
when i'm traveling, i usually want to know what's going on where i'm at, not what's happening somewhere else.

FWIW, if i want music, i'm usually going to plug in my phone and play something out of my Podcast or music libraries. (XM doesn't even work too much of the time; trees, bridges, hills, canyons, and even sometimes nothing at all seem to block the signal. aside from the fact that i really don't find more than a few stations that even play anything close to what i want to hear, and the audio quality isn't great. all this make it hardly worth paying for.)

I'm just amazed that so many of you still use FM/AM radio. My phone + Spotify is so much better it's not even funny. Any music I want to listen to, offline for BFE, and I don't have to listen to the annoying DJs interrupting everything with lame ads.

 

[Sand Flea]

I only listen to Sat radio and this .50 cal antenna works just fine.

 

[Kyle]

Kyle, an AM receiver antenna takes advantage of the magnetic part of an AM radio wave, whereas an FM antenna uses the electrical part of an FM wave, necessitating the use of a different antena coil design and electronics for each. Because an AM wave is so much longer - about 100 times - one would think you would need an antenna about two tenths of a mile long. However, because AM utilizes magnetism for reception, the typical AM antenna is a very long piece of wire wrapped hundreds or thousands of times around a ferrite magnet. FM reception requires a quarter-wavelength antenna as a minimum (31 inches), and it too can be coiled. These coils are combined in a short antenna, with various insulating materials to buffer them from each other, and various magnets and electronics for each coil to amplify the signal. Those electronics are inside your radio.

A proper ground for an antenna is pretty important too, especially with some frequency bands (AM, CB, etc.). For instance, many of us use a magnetic CB antenna when off-road, which are notorious for poor reception. That is usually because the ground is weak; it grounds itself through the magnet to the metal body of the car, which itself may be poorly grounded. I mitigated that by using a self-adhesive metal plate on my Jeep hardtop (which of course is not metal), running a ground wire from the metal plate to inside my vehicle where I attach it to a good ground point on the door frame. The antenna I have has an internal ground wire in the cable that attaches to the radio, but I use a hand-held radio that is not grounded, because it’s not attached to the vehicle. The antenna IS grounded to the hand-held, and I can transmit and receive, but grounding it to the vehicle greatly improves transmission and reception.

Another issue with AM reception. It’s worse at night because the AM radio stations are required to reduce power to mitigate interference.

Kyle, I hope this helps!

Thank you for the info! A lot of stuff I didn't know but now do!

 

[richk225]

Not to mention when they were having issues with the JK antenna`s while going through car wash`s and the antenna would whip from front to back and hit the upper corner of the windshield causing it to clamshell or even crack

 

[IrishJeeper]

Went with AntennaX 13”. Coverage actually improved in some rural areas …

I went with this antenna as well. While I don't listen to a lot of radio here, I haven't noticed much loss.

 

[cosmokenney]

I'm a Jeep newbie who just bought a Sahara Altitude. I'm more impressed with the vehicle than I expected. My only question is about the 35 inch antenna which is mounted on the front passenger side. It's mounted securely but at highway speeds it flies back and forth and makes a lot of noise. Are there any aftermarket alternatives I should consider? Thanks in advance.

Odd. I haven't noticed any noise from mine.

 

[ObiMatt87]

Everyone's experience will vary based on where they live, but I tried a highly-rated stubby antenna here in San Antonio and, though it was okay, I definitely lost range. Ultimately, I went back to the longer size, but in black and with additional strength and wind effect-reducing design. It has been fantastic and I'm glad I did it. Here is the link to the Amazon page where I got it:

Amazon.com: AntennaMastsRus - 31 Inch Black Antenna is Compatible with Jeep Wrangler JK - JL | Gladiator (2007-2021) - Spiral Wind Noise Cancellation - Spring Steel Construction - Stainless Steel Threading: Automotive

 

[AdamG]

You can take the stock one, pop the ball off, cut to whatever length you want, the do a light grind on the new end to get the diameter where you can get the ball back on.

 

[huberro2]

I remove my antenna regularly for a jeep cover (UV protection). I keep a small wrench in the center console. No issues with sound or wobble. However with a Gobi rack, antenna height is no help for a clearance check.

 

[HellaRubi]

This is what I came to this thread for

 

[Jtclayton612]

I kinda like it, makes me feel symmetrical with my 6DB gain Gmrs antenna lol

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