Beesting aerial

[randomman]

Has anyone had any luck with a beesting style aerial. I currently have a totally buggered electric aerial and I'm not fussed about keeping it, I barely listen to the radio anyway, and it'll. be as much an aesthetic upgrade as the old one has clearly seen better days.

Basically what good ones are out there that have a hope of giving a half decent signal?

[Jay67]

disconnect it and get one that sticks to the rear window, saves the hassle of trying to fit a bee sting and you get a good signal from what I've read.

[swampy_donkey]

 l viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46610 l

Sorry random man. You basically can not just stick a new aerial in there I'm afraid. You need a completely new wiring kit, reasonably expensive for what it is and a bit of a pain to fit.

[vincenzo]

I've fitted a custom concealed antenna, the standard rear power antenna will be removed soon.
I got a replacement antenna plug for free from a newish toyota at the wreckers, then soldered a 2m long thin cable to the end of it. Ran that up the dash and around the window so it's invisible and now we've got much better reception than the standard aerial which made it look like an rc car.

[swampy_donkey]

I've fitted a custom concealed antenna, the standard rear power antenna will be removed soon.
I got a replacement antenna plug for free from a newish toyota at the wreckers, then soldered a 2m long thin cable to the end of it. Ran that up the dash and around the window so it's invisible and now we've got much better reception than the standard aerial which made it look like an rc car.

Nice idea. Does it work well?

[vincenzo]

Yeah, it's better than the original, and the extra length helps FM analog radio reception, but I didn't even try cleaning the oem aerial connections, we just wanted to get rid of the antenna noise and unneccesary mechanical problem waiting to happen. Our head unit is digital but just like the oem radio, we are tuning in to analog FM radio, so if you wanted an antenna to suit digital radio stations, then might get better results with multiple shorter leads.

Cut back a bit of shielding, soldered to core and a few layers of heatshrink to prevent sharp kinks.



The wire is very thin, which is all that's needed, and makes it easy to hide.

[swampy_donkey]

Lovely work, great thinking. I felt the same, I did not want to replace the aerial with another one which seems to be prone to failure. Your method is so simple, I wish I would have thought of that. It would have saved me the best part of £100 and a days work!