cheap shorty antenna that works

came to this thread to make a post, will do so in a minute but I have to report something to the site moderators.

I thought this picture makes it clear how a shorter antenna might be a good thing for gas mileage.

These seem to be stock in Japan, saw them all over the place on a recent trip (yes, it pivots up & down). Still wishing I'd made time to go into a dealer & ask about price.

I bet if you put that straight up and then drove the speed limit out west (70-85 MPH depending on the state) you'd find it was at the optimal angle when you came to a stop.

Something close to horizontal, just above maybe 15 degrees?

Looks good on my Prius too, but I have to say the reception is a lot worse than with the standard aerial. I guess I will go back to the stock one

have you tried the dodge shortie antenna? It's only $4 dollars and about half the size of the stock OEM antenna. Chrysler part no. is 5064253AB, and the reception is about the same, sometimes it seems better than the stock antenna.

Antennas are all about size wrt wavelength. A monopole antenna such as is on the prius wants to be 1/4 wavelength (FM) which is about 27 inches. A shorter antenna will have less gain and will pass less signal on to the receiver. What manufacturers do is put a matching circuit on the antenna so it looks longer to the radio, but the shorter antenna still passes less signal.

FM radios greatly amplify the signal coming in so that there are no amplitude variations left in the signal, it pegs the signal to the rails so there are only phase/frequency variations left. That pegged signal is then demodulated into audio. It only works as long as there is enough signal to amplify.

So, if you have a strong FM signal, your shorty antenna will work fine, but if you live further away from the FM stations you listen to, it won't work as good as a longer antenna.

You can't fool mother nature.

No you can't but I still listen to a radio station from ~100 miles away using my 4" cheapie dodge antenna on my 2005 Toyota Prius.

If you live somewhere that all the radio stations are weak this might not be the right antenna for you. If you can't stand to pay $4 to test it try this

1. remove the 16" stock antenna
2. turn on your car and try to listen to your favorite radio station(s) with no external antenna

I find that I can listen to stations just fine around here without the antenna (though that 100 mile away station needs a little help). Even with the 16" antenna reception isn't immune to mother natures wrath (lighting storms are more noticeable on AM than FM but tell me you've never heard a problem with a radio station due to weather).

The only way you are going to get a 27" antenna on my Prius is to sell it to me for less than $10 and make it stay below/behind the top of the car (as in it has to have no more aerodynamic drag than the 4" antenna would) and it has to be immune to this problem, and I have to be able to install it without tearing apart the interior or exterior of the car, and be able to do so with no special tool(s) (I can do the current one with bare hands but I'm willing to pick up a wrench or screwdriver if needed). If you can make that happen I'll start a new thread to tout the wonder of the cheap and effective 27" antenna instead of posting about shortie antennas. To recap it needs to

A. Be cheap (including tools/labor for installation)
B. Not increase drag
C. Not be vulnerable to damage due to it's increased length
D. Cover the existing mounting threads so they don't rust / doesn't look bad

No sarcasm intended, if you can get that to happen I'll take the better option.

Of course some here might be more interested in what the cheapest short antenna that you can get at the Toyota parts counter is (that still fits the Gen II prius) just so they don't have to go to a Dodge/Chrysler parts counter. I've gotta say as old school as the Dodge dealer was it was a pretty painless quick procedure so the Toyota dealer would have to have a good deal to make it not worth driving a couple of miles to the next dealer.

I live close to our capital, so signal strenght is not an issue. But fact is that with that aerial, the signal is only marginal stronger than with no aerial at all...

Hi Dave,

I'd love to but a lot more difficult to get hold of Chrysler parts in Europe. Come to think, I don't even know a single Chrysler dealership anywhere here. Sorry, I know it has bee posted before, but whch Chrysler model is this coming from? If that particular model is being sold in Europe I might have a chance, otherwise I can forget it.

Unless some very nice person can buy it in the US for me and send it over

I'm waiting for my dodge antenna to come in to local dealer...can't be worse than the ugly garbage stock antenna

dhanson865: sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone, my posting was just to point out (for people who don't know) that a shorter antenna will never be equal to, or better than the stock prius antenna for reception. As MarvinHC points out, the stock Prius antenna itself is only marginally better than nothing at all. $4.00 is a good price for a decorative ornament to screw into your antenna base - if you can buy anything for $4.00 these days, that's a bargain. BTW, a high power FM station should go 100 miles, easily. How many kW is that station running?

I'm not an aerodynamics expert, so I'm not prepared to argue that issue.

No problem, I just had to be sure I didn't come across too snarky/sarcastic in my defense of the $4 ornament.

The station in question is in Bristol, VA and I'm in Knoxville, TN there are numerous hills between here and there and maybe even a mountain or two or ten.

Horizontal Effective Radiated Power 100,000 Watts
Vertical Effective Radiated Power 87,000 Watts
Antenna Pattern Directional
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WAEZ&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

on the left side of the map you'll see 'ridge" and 'Knoxville", I'm often at the edge of the range when in Oak Ridge or other towns around Knoxville.

It's slightly tougher to pick up the 800 watt station on the UT campus just 10 miles or so away but it's doable as well.

Whatever the particulars of radio station transmitters and antennas I'm not noticing a deficiency in using my radio in this area with a 4" external antenna. I do notice variations in reception due to weather but nothing I haven't noticed with every other car stereo I've used.

Sorry, you misunderstood me there. I meant that the short replacement antenna is only marginally better than nothing, the longer stock prius antenna works fine.

well I put on my dodge antenna...actually cost me $7.28 from dealer

but it works GREAT! and looks even better!

I WANT ONE TOO!!!!

Any very very nice person willing to buy one of the Dodge/Chrysler antennas for me, put it into a jiffy envelope and post it over to Belgium to me?

(Payment per paypal ? )

I ordered one from the local Dodge dealership yesterday, and it arrived this morning, $6.02. It looks good, though it is powdered black rubber, as opposed to the glossy black rubber on the original and the base. Still, you can't tell the difference unless you're up right next to it. It feels a bit flimsy, but that should not matter after installation. In town, reception is fine for the radio stations I checked.

Anyone here ever heard of a shark fin antenna? Highly recommended. It's all the rage these days!

man....the sharkfin is sooooooo 2010...all the rage THESE days are dodge antennas put onto a toyota...you need to step ur game up boi!

I have to assume that is sarcasm since post 16 mentions it and of course most anyone who drives and looks at other cars around them would see shark fin antennas left and right.