That was the setup on my sister's old Plymouth Arrow made by Mitsubishi - insulated trunk lid. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Have used the little black boxes--marginal at best. On my 40 I have small wire in the fender welting as an antenna (maybe 5 feet total) and another under the running board-tied together. Works pretty well
I'm retired now,but I did hotrod radios for decades. Easy/cheap deal: Get an aftermarket 31" one piece antenna (Fords work great). Slip a length of rubber tubing over it and put it behind the passenger side "A" pillar trim. Plug it into the radio. Done.
Bama, for a over-the-road truck I can sort of see it... When I bought my current DD in 2012 it had a SiriusXM radio and came with a free 6 month subscription. First, it had a serious 'fade' problem. Going under bridges/overpasses, taller buildings, hell even trees caused fade (and Washington has a LOT of trees!...LOL) to where it got very irritating. In the wide-open spaces it was fine, not so good elsewhere. Second, their programming. Yeah, they 'have everything', generally commercial-free. It's true; '60s classic rock, '80s hair bands, Elvis, even the Grateful Dead all had dedicated channels to name just a few. The problem is if you want a 'mix'. I like '60s through '80 album rock, that was three different channels on there. You get tired of switching... Third, their DJs suck; who segues from Led Zeppelin to Mungo Jerry??? A good DJ will 'flow' the music, their guys had no clue. Last, the lack of local weather, news and traffic reports. By three months I was done with it and let it expire. I still get offers about once a year, don't really see any changes.
I don't get a lot of fade out here in the southeast states I run in, but there are a few areas it will fade for a few moments. I've heard others in other parts of the country have that problem as well. Trees and bridges and steep hills will block the signal for sure. I'm a classic rock junkie, two channels for that, depending if I want early or later, and the 70's channel is OK if you don't mind some of the bubblegum pop mixed in, I don't listen to that much. Mine is on Radio Classics probably 50% of the time, maybe 25% on Fox news, the other 25% classic rock. But I see your point, I don't want it in my driver vehicles, I seldom even turn the radio on in them, in fact, the radio in my F150 went out two years ago and I still haven't replaced it.
I was reading about this one, but haven't tried it. I don't know enough to evaluate their claims about antenna length. http://vintageautoradio.com/index.p...roduct_id=338&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=67
I have 1 of these laying on the top of my tool box right now. Didn't work very well at all for me. Gary
If we wanted to install a "Happy Radio" in our State Police cruisers in the 70's we had to use the tape and wire inside the windshield. Like Squirrel said was just ok with close AM stations but FM worked pretty good even in remote hilly areas.
Well folks, I put it in the other day...decided the radio antenna was a bigger pain in the butt for it's worth, so dropped that idea. Mounted very nicely, although I could have used a few more hands, as I wired the speakers with the stereo on the bench...... Liking it a lot..and the small speakers work very well for what I wanted... Running it off of my cigarette lighter at the moment, as my fat butt, as well as back problems will not let me get under the dash... Will find someone to help me with that when I can...
The Jalopy Journal
