Reconciling Mods and Factory Warranty?

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

The sharkfin antenna is just two pieces of wire that happen to be folded up in a peculiar way, as "fractals," to fit into a smaller space than the OEM antenna. The sharkfin replaces the two wires that make up the OEM antenna.

The signal generated by both the OEM antenna and the sharkfin feed into a powered amplifier in the same OEM conical antenna base. The worst thing that the sharkfin can do is provide a smalller signal than the OEM antenna. I can not see how the sharkfin could even remotely lead to the failure of the radio...

Originally Posted by Boo

+1

Here are pictures of the underbelly of the sharkfin antenna (from darelldd's evnut.com site). Just a couple of different fractal antennas there that get screwed on to the conical base of the OEM antenna...

OK, I agree that since the sharkfin antenna does not include any active electronics, it would not be able to damage the radio. However, seeing what it does consist of, I can't imagine why a Prius owner would spend $$ for an antenna that will perform worse than the original equipment short whip - unless cosmetics are high on the priority list and functionality is low on the list.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

OK, I agree that since the sharkfin antenna does not include any active electronics, it would not be able to damage the radio. However, seeing what it does consist of, I can't imagine why a Prius owner would spend $$ for an antenna that will perform worse than the original equipment short whip - unless cosmetics are high on the priority list and functionality is low on the list.

Reception is definitely diminished with the sharkfin.

But it's not noticeable if you live and drive in areas with strong signal radio stations and those are the stations that you listen to all or almost all of the time.

However, you will notice the diminished reception on weak signal stations (whatever the reason for the weak signal -- distance, terrain, weak transmitter, etc.).

For me, the diminished reception is noticeable on only one of the stations that I listen to with any regularity. So I didn't have to sacrifice much functionality in exchange for cosmetics.

The loss of functionality varies with the individual and her circumstances. For many, there's no loss of functionality. For others -- those who live or drive in areas with generally weak or problematic radio reception -- the loss can be near total.