Short stubby antennas

[FreedomPenguin]

I had a lifetime subscription to XM Radio when I had my 2010 Taurus and listened to mostly channel 17. They have changed the programming since then and I really don't find much on there I like. They stopped offering the lifetime subscription too. You can get just music for $.9.99 a month but Pandora is ad-sponsored and free. I have Amazon Prime so I get some Amazon music too. Then I have a library of MP3s on my phone. So I am not willing to pay even $10 per month for XM but I think only the Lariat comes with that option anyway. Until the 25s.

ive had pandora since 2008, been faithful to it. I think it's great, I do pay the 80 a year military fee but I do enjoy it.

now im confused though, because I sat in a tremor 25, and I tried opening pandora, and it said I had to download it on the headhunt or something, ive never had a vehicle simply not display pandora on the screen on all my sync vehicles. so didnt get to test it

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[Maverick the wonder truck]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

for us it works the same. allows us to park in a very low garage

 

[Whitty1]

ive had pandora since 2008, been faithful to it. I think it's great, I do pay the 80 a year military fee but I do enjoy it.

now im confused though, because I sat in a tremor 25, and I tried opening pandora, and it said I had to download it on the headhunt or something, ive never had a vehicle simply not display pandora on the screen on all my sync vehicles. so didnt get to test it

I always play Pandora through my phone and Apple CarPlay

 

[colinl]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

I don't listen to FM or AM radio so a stubby antenna suits my needs fine. And that need is something shorter that doesn't get hung up in a car wash (when I rarely use them) and doesn't look ridiculous.

If you do listen to the radio of course expect less gain. That's how antennas work.

 

[White Thunder]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

Yeah, after I put the stubby on my Maverick, even in Colorado, I noticed some reception problems. I went back to the regular antenna here in Oklahoma after taking off the stubby here in Oklahoma and I still have reception problems from time to time. So it’s kind of a matter of looks. I live in Sapulpa.

 

[mshapeer]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

Flip side, I bought the Eastwood 16 inch antennae on Amazon for $10. Live in a rural part of NE PA. Found a slight improvement in pulling in FM stations

Eightwood Universal Vehicle Antenna Replacement 16 inch, AM FM Roof Mount Car Radio Antenna Mast, Flexible Rubber Antennae with M4 M5 M6 Threaded Adapter

 

[Hansolo]

I’ve tried several different lengths of antennas I even added an inline antenna amplifier . And it really makes no difference. XLT 24 the tuner sensitivity sucks.

 

[NJBob]

If your living or traveling in a Rural area or plan on road trips at all - forget about the stubby
Looks don't trump function - I fell for the initial hype lol I now have a telescopic mast style
Cheers

Where did you get that? I love on the edge from NYC and just a bit better would be a big help. I listen to am mostly for sports and news.

 

[Jetlat7878$]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

I have one that 2". Hated the original one. Yes reception is

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

I got a 2" antenna one year ago, hated the original one. The reception around metro Atlanta isn't perfect but I don't listen to radio since Rush passed away. I stream 100%.

 

[MetalThunder]

Where did you get that? I love on the edge from NYC and just a bit better would be a big help. I listen to am mostly for sports and news.

amazon -

mine was described like this

Bullet Antenna, Telescopic Adjustable Antenna Mast, Compatible with Chevy Silverado 1500 2500 3500 HD Avalanche GMC Sierra 1500 2500 3500 Denali Heavy Duty Pickup Trucks (Black)

but there is a red one advertised Amazon.com: NGHEY 1 PC Car Bullets Universal Antenna, Can Be Regulat Length Personalized Decoration Modification, Telescopic Antenna, Suitable for Most Cars (Red) : Electronics but cannot vouch for it ,, Mine has been great

Cheers

 

[THagen]

I have the stubby and have not noticed any difference in reception with FM or XM. Has anyone gone thru a carwash with the long antenna?

 

[JLB]

The stock antenna survives the automatic carwash brushes. No problem so far. Feeling dorky is adressed by resolute certainty of manhood. Check.

I have more interest in a longer antenna since I do road trips in places over 100 miles from any town. Out there only AM is available.

The ideal antenna length for FM stations is around 3 feet, or half the wavelength of 100 MHz. A replacement F-150 fender mount antenna mast is about that length and would likely screw right into the Maverick antenna mount threads. I need to try that!

Any antenna longer than the stock antenna will not help AM unless the receiver has an access on the back of it to stick a plastic screwdriver to adjust to the longer antenna's resonant frequency, like the old Crutchfield mail order car stereos had, or kind of like the CB radio's SWR adjustment.

If the Maverick radio does have an an AM antenna adjustment in the back then longer is better, up I think to about 350 feet (equal to the speed of light in ft/sec divided by the frequency and then divided by 2, the same method a ideal 3 ft FM antenna length is calculated.) The new problem would be overhead power lines

 

[skyshark]

I wonder if those that have tried that nubby radio antenna on Amazon has noticed any difference in reception

So, I've gone the lazy route and just replied to the post without reading through pages of previous responses. I just went through this question quite recently and was not surprised to find that longer antennas can bring in weaker stations. The whole thing takes me back to a different time when we cut antennas to length based on the frequency that we were trying to pick up. It wasn't my specialty but I understood it in general terms. Longer antennas work better. I'll add one more caveat. I never listen to OTA radio any more. I usually pull Pandora through my little phone and CarPlay. In that regard, the question and the answer are not really something that I give deep thought to.

 

[RLmesc]

Don’t bother with the stubby. They defeat the purpose of an antenna and reduce its range significantly. I put my original back on.

 

[bartflossom]

Does anyone remember the "X" in El Paso? Rock station had their AM antenna on the Mexican side of the border and cranked their power up way over what the US allows. One time in Colorado up in the mountains it was the only station I could get at night. ZZ Top did a song about it.

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