2010 Owners ...

Is reception same, better, or worse than the old school front fender mounted antenna of prior years ??

Just Curious, thanks !!

Doug

 

In simple terms, it sucks for AM. FM seems to be OK but trying to listen to AM traffic and weather stations is hard with my GT.

 

mine is better than the AM and FM in my 07 fusion. both seem pretty clear in metro boston

 

does anyone know why they still use the old school whip antenna, when most cars have gone to the trace antenna in the windshield?

the new ones give a much cleaner look to the car . . . and reception is fine as far as I can tell . . .

and I know you guys will say you shouldn't be taking these cars through a car wash anyway, but the whip antenna is subject to damage in car washes

 

i believe the reasoning was reception is much better with an old style antenna. i think it was in some press clip when they were commenting on moving it from the front to the back it was mentioned that they thought about integrating it on the redesign . just to note the 06 fusion (first model year) had an integrated one then in 07 they put it back on top due to reception quality complaints. i am ok with it now that it is in the back

 

Its because of cost. Ford would have had to certify new glass for the car. This way they can save money and basically make the same parts they've been making since '05 (the greenhouse at least)

 

Reception was just as good in my 2010 GT as it was in my 2008 mustang.

 

I have very good reception with that front mounted metal antenna on my '69. I don't laugh, it's got an original AM-FM stereo. The car is up for sale by the way. Anyone.

 

Antenna's work best then they are cut at a resonate length. Its physics plain and simple. A 28" long whip is a 1/4 wave (resonate for a vertical bottom fed inductor) at mid band for FM broadcasts (88 - 108 Mhz). Going shorter makes the wire capacitive and so must have a coil to add some induction to make it resonate again. I don't see a coil as part of the shorty antenna design. So the only option for a short antenna is worse reception. Placing the antenna in the back increases signal losses due to the extra feed line length. A lot? No. But it can be measured. So what about AM (56 Khz to 1.6 Mhz) That little wire is so short compared to the 234 Feet required, their only hope is to build a coil into the radio receiver. But it will be designed for a 28" wire not a 14" one. So once again reception has no choice but to be worse.
If you live in a market with near by stations, you most likely won't notice the hit. If your on the fringe areas, it may be the difference of hearing it or not. If you must differ your radio reception to style, then at least keep the long one for road trips when it will matter. But then thats what sirus/xm is for.

 

The whip antenna in my '10 unscrews for the car wash. Don't worry guys, I use a touchless wash.

 

My '69 has a vintage teardrop shaped telescopic on it still ... all the way up is 57" off the fender !! It looks pretty silly extended all the way, so I keep it at around 28-30".

Also got a factory AM/FM in mine, but it was from my dad's '78 Country Squire. I put orig. '69 ***** on it though so it looks stock, the black balance slider under the station buttons is the big give-away. I put a tape deck in and added rear speakers when I first got the car so I needed one with 4-speaker outputs w/ balance & fade. That and original '69 AM/FM's are pretty hard to come by and big $$ !!

Doug

 

Thanks for all the replies guys ... I drive thru Milwaukee (I94/I43) and to Chicago every week and like listening to the UW-Milwaukee station on my way back home. Station usually starts to fade out by Sheboygan but sometimes it still comes in good almost to Manitowoc in my '04. While in Chicago and on my way back I listen to XRT and it usually starts to fade out in Kenosha-Racine area but there are times when it still comes in good all the way to the Milwaukee County line. So hopefully come May or June when I've got my '11, I'll let you all know how it compares.

Just wish they offered HD Radio with the Shaker 500 ... would really like to check this out too !! I'd pay $100-200 for dealer installed HD (if it's still availble) before I'd drop $2100 on the Electronics Package that I otherwise have no use for.

Doug

 

Thought I'd bring this topic back from the dead after 2 weeks of driving.

XRT out of Chicago seems to fade out about the same in Racine county as it did in the '04.

But the UW-Milwaukee station came in clear all the way into Manitowoc county both weeks. 1st week I forgot I still had it on and as I went down my ramp exit at hwy 310 to Two Rivers was when it finally started to fade out. 2nd week I got off at 151 in Manitowoc and switched to Satalite radio then.

Based on these 2 trips, I'd say reception (FM anyway) of this new Shorty antenna is as good if not better than the taller old school type.

Definitely like the looks of the new antenna better as well as the rear qtr. location, and am really surprised and happy that there appears to be no loss of FM reception.

Doug

 

I think the newer style shorty antenna looks nice. I like antennas mounted in the back. I don't think it detracts from the car at all. I have no comparative experience on reception, but I'd be inclined to think the shorty antenna is better than a integrated-in-window antenna.

Now if I could just get old-fashioned analog volume ***** for my radio. Digital these days is used in excess, in places where it is not needed. And then it ends up failing in just a couple of years, whereas an analog control would have lasted an eternity. I have a Kenwood aftermarket radio in my Jeep right now with a digital volume ****, and I basically can't use it anymore. Whether I turn the volume up or down, what it actually does it usually random. Though lately, it's been going up more than down, regardless of which way I turn the ****, and now it's set so loud that I don't even turn it on anymore.

 

Now you must test this BBR antenna

 

Never had a reception problem with my shorty antenna

 

imo first mod right there

 

 

You could get one of those long antennas like they put on pick-up trucks and your radio will pick up further from the city.

 

Yeah, I got three kids.