Awful radio antenna in window

[Souperoo]

 

"Actually they did and still do.  Car radios have always had a pre-amp in them.  Fractal antenna's are a lot more complex than just repeating patterns, I have built some for TV's.  The ones I built for TV reception did not pick up LVHF but that was only because they weren't designed for that.  LVHF requires larger elements than the ones I made, but for HVHF and UHF, they were fantastic and did not require a preamp as my more conventional antenna's had."

 

Generally speaking, the closer the pre-amp is to the antenna, the better job it does.  That's why Subaru put it about 6" from the window antenna, so it would work with the inferior antenna.  Now if you have the old style antenna, then the pre-amp can be far from the antenna, even inside the radio, since the old style antenna gets a stronger signal.

 

I forget where the FM band is.  Is it between the tv channels 6 and 7?  I remember back in the day you could tune in channel 6 TV on many FM radios and some radio stations you could get with old TV's that had fine tuning after turning the clunkity clunk tuner.  Anyway FM is in or close to Low VHF, requiring larger antenna.  Especially down at 88.5 where my favorite station is.

[keith3267]

"Generally speaking, the closer the pre-amp is to the antenna, the better job it does.  That's why Subaru put it about 6" from the window antenna, so it would work with the inferior antenna.  Now if you have the old style antenna, then the pre-amp can be far from the antenna, even inside the radio, since the old style antenna gets a stronger signal."

Old style whip antenna's were usually placed on the front fender so it was pretty close to the radio.  But even at the rear of the car, the losses of the coax really aren't very much, even considering that the coax cables used are not very good quality.  When you run 60-100' of coax from a roof top antenna to your TV, you need a very low loss coax or an amp at the antenna, or both.  I live in a fringe area with multiple TV's and DVR's hooked up and one remaining LVHF station so I need both.

 

"I forget where the FM band is.  Is it between the tv channels 6 and 7?  I remember back in the day you could tune in channel 6 TV on many FM radios and some radio stations you could get with old TV's that had fine tuning after turning the clunkity clunk tuner.  Anyway FM is in or close to Low VHF, requiring larger antenna.  Especially down at 88.5 where my favorite station is."

 

Yeah, FM is just above TV channel 6.  There is a little gap between FM and HVHF TV channel 7 though.  Funny story, in the days of the "clunkity clunk" tuners, you could get a wired remote tuner but no one liked them, and back then most people weren't too lazy to get off their butts to change channel, or had kids to change the channels for them.  Kids were the first audio controlled remotes for TV and now I see ads for a TV service that uses audio prompted remotes.  Progress heh.  Back on track, Sears offered the first wireless remote control for their TV's, problem was that it didn't work.  My Uncle bought one and had to take it back.  Sears had to admit they jumped the gun on that one.  I think about a year later they finally got a working model but it didn't sell well.

[Souperoo]

Funny story, in the days of the "clunkity clunk" tuners, you could get a wired remote tuner but no one liked them, and back then most people weren't too lazy to get off their butts to change channel, or had kids to change the channels for them.  Kids were the first audio controlled remotes for TV and now I see ads for a TV service that uses audio prompted remotes.  Progress heh.  Back on track, Sears offered the first wireless remote control for their TV's, problem was that it didn't work.  My Uncle bought one and had to take it back.  Sears had to admit they jumped the gun on that one.  I think about a year later they finally got a working model but it didn't sell well.

My Dad used to fix TV's on the side.  Someone else's TV was the first color one we had, same with remote control. The remote had an ultrasonic ... don't know what it's called. Like a little aluminum speaker.  Then of course in the TV was a receiver for the different commands, and a motor to turn the tuner (clunkity clunk).  It seemed to have a mind of it's own and would turn on and off all by itself.  It had never done that at the owners house, this was a new problem.  I was pretty young, maybe around 8 or 9?  I found and fixed the problem.  It was the wheels on the vacuum cleaner with a very high pitch squeak, probably some of it ultra sonic.  I oiled the wheels and it never did it again.  Funny, I can still picture the end of the remote with the aluminum "speaker" and a metal grill in front of it.  Broken and taped up.  I took it apart and taped it up much better. LOL.

 

Oh I left out, that's when they were called a "TV Set".

Edited March 2, 2018 by Souperoo

[keith3267]

"Oh I left out, that's when they were called a "TV Set"."

 

Yeah, but a "TV Set" was a piece of furniture back then.  They came in nice wood cabinets in almost any style you could think of.  Some even had built in Hi Fi.

[Souperoo]

Since complaining about the window antenna, I bought a cheap metal post style and right now, I'm ashamed to admit, but it's cable tied to the passenger side mirror.  Without a preamp it works better than the window one on most weak stations, but there are a few where the old one works better. (I've had the radio loose and when getting a poor signal I've switched antennas to the radio to compare (no, not while driving!)).  Today my very cheap FM antenna booster arrived and believe me, the old fashioned antenna with the amplifier is WAY better than the factory one.  So I have to decide where and how I want to mount it.  Possibly make a bracket for it that I can attach it to the car under the roof rack mount.  Beats drilling a big hole in the fender!

[Numbchux]

Since complaining about the window antenna, I bought a cheap metal post style and right now, I'm ashamed to admit, but it's cable tied to the passenger side mirror.  Without a preamp it works better than the window one on most weak stations, but there are a few where the old one works better. (I've had the radio loose and when getting a poor signal I've switched antennas to the radio to compare (no, not while driving!)).  Today my very cheap FM antenna booster arrived and believe me, the old fashioned antenna with the amplifier is WAY better than the factory one.  So I have to decide where and how I want to mount it.  Possibly make a bracket for it that I can attach it to the car under the roof rack mount.  Beats drilling a big hole in the fender!

But, I have this universal amplified window-mount antenna in my Toyota Celica: https://www.amazon.com/Metra-44-UA200-Universal-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0007WRQ8K/

[Souperoo]

 

Since complaining about the window antenna, I bought a cheap metal post style and right now, I'm ashamed to admit, but it's cable tied to the passenger side mirror.  Without a preamp it works better than the window one on most weak stations, but there are a few where the old one works better. (I've had the radio loose and when getting a poor signal I've switched antennas to the radio to compare (no, not while driving!)).  Today my very cheap FM antenna booster arrived and believe me, the old fashioned antenna with the amplifier is WAY better than the factory one.  So I have to decide where and how I want to mount it.  Possibly make a bracket for it that I can attach it to the car under the roof rack mount.  Beats drilling a big hole in the fender!

>But, I have this universal amplified window-mount antenna in my Toyota Celica: https://www.amazon.com/Metra-44-UA200-Universal-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0007WRQ8K/

 

I saw them on Amazon but am skeptical since it's directional in shape.  What kind of antenna did it replace and why?  The old fashioned kind is a 100% pure omnidirectional antenna.

[Numbchux]

But, I have this universal amplified window-mount antenna in my Toyota Celica: https://www.amazon.com/Metra-44-UA200-Universal-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0007WRQ8K/

My Celica came with a factory power antenna, which broke at some point and a previous owner put a janky universal one in it's place. I patched the hole and painted over it, and mounted that in the top of the windshield and it works great.