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MG MGB Technical - roadster anntenna

The PO of my '70 B roadster removed the anntenna, mounting hole and all, when he rebuilt the car. Is there a satisfactory way to get some radio reception without mounting a physical antenna on the car? I wonder if someone has tried running a wire under the carpet or similar to see if it will pick up a signal.
thanks,
mck
mck

I used something very similar to this on my last car (a spitfire), it worked quite well, I didnt mount it on the glass, it was just stuck to the underside of the dash.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CELSUS-SCREEN-GLASS-MOUNT-AMPLIFIED-CAR-AERIAL-AN7920_W0QQitemZ200326876841QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2ea4698ea9&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
C Briggs

There is or was a commercially available antenna to suit your requirements. My GT came with one fitted when I bought it in the UK in '85, it's an '78 model. It uses the car's body for an antenna.It's tucked away in the boot area & from memory it looks like a can ,about the size of a soup can with capacitors connected to it.I assume it's some sort of choke or coil. It obviously uses a capacitor for a DC blocker & RF bypass filter.Apart from that I can't tell you much more. No brand name or part #.It's worked fine for the 24 years I've had the car.The car had an AM radio at the start but this works fine with FM too. Maybe some electronic guru can throw some further light on the subject or a UK resident might remember seeing or owning one. Barrie E
Barrie Egerton

After these responses I got on line and found a product called the Hidden Antenna. I did not know these products exist, but this one is well reviewed and I found it on Ebay for $17.95 and will be getting it in soon. It requires 12 volt power to the antenna, which is no problem, and I will try some locations and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help.
Mike
mck

Mike

Keep us informed.
I was thinking of going the same route but did not know if they would work.

Bruce
Bruce Mills

Put one on a friends GT when I added a radio for him. Stuck it to the top edge of the screen, fiddled the wires over the top of the headlining and down the pillar behind the trim strip. Seemed to work OK, probably better than the same radio in my ZS with a roof-mounted aerial!
Paul Hunt

thanks for the posts, I expect to get the one I bought soon, and will install it and let you know how it works. I am hoping to mount it under the dash and out of sight, but will see if that is effective.
m.c. keel

Under the dash works well for my application as well.

Look forward to your post
Bruce Mills

Just got the unit in from kapsco-moto, described as follows:

Hidden AM FM Antenna Radio Fits Harley FLHX FLHT FLTR
180399800869 - Price: US $17.99

It requires a 12 volt source and plugs into the normal antenna place on the player. I installed it under the dash and it works well. Turned it on in the basement and got a pretty good signal, so should be fine on the road. Great to have radio after all these years, I never wanted to add an antenna since it did not have one when I got the car.

Thanks to all for the tips - the members on this site are great!

mike
m.c. keel

Hi Mike

Where about under the dash did you mount it. According to the info I found at a ebay site

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hidden-Antenna-Harley-FLHX-FLHT-FLTR-Ultra-Classic-WB_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem19b54bd936QQitemZ110415829302QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

It states "Just can’t mount it to any metal. As it will short out"

Thanks Bruce
Bruce Mills

Bruce:

It came with a velcro pad with adhesive backing, and I did find it did better against some surfaces than others when moving it around. I ended up mounting it on the vertical firewall over the passenger footwell, which has some kind of covering on it, and it has worked pretty well.

After driving around a bit more I am sure it would do better if mounted up on the window or similar, as the coverage faded a bit in some hilly areas, but I am satisified enough to leave it where it is. Given the velcro connection if I find a place with poor coverage and really want a radio signal I can pull it out and mount it higher temporarily, though I doubt I would do that since I listed to recorded music 70%+ anyway.

Still pleased, and glad to have a radio at last, without the need for an external antenna.
Mike
m.c. keel

Thanks for the details Mike
Bruce Mills

This thread was discussed between 22/08/2009 and 29/09/2009

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