Does anyone on the Forum have experience with a 12 Volt Hidden Antenna?

[KYBlueOval]

I'd like to use a hidden antenna on my Rancheo, but not sure about he reliability of these antennas. A friend has one mounted high up in the roof/rear window panel in a steel '33 Ford and says it works well. I've read reviews that say they are great and some that say they are trash. Some reviews say they work in fiberglass cars, but not steel bodied cars.
I value the first hand experiences and opinions of the Forum members, more than the reviews I read.
So, Pro or Con, what can you tell me about hidden antennas in a Steel Bodied cars....... do the work, both AM and FM,good brands, bad brands etc..
Thanks
John 

[RICH MUISE]

I'd never try to install one again. I had one under my dash, and it barely worked at all. I ended up installing a power antenae, world of difference. It was a major concern for me because, being in Tornado alley, I wanted to make sure I could get weather and news info when I was way out in the boonies.
I did a post here and on the Hamb back when I was trying to resolve the issue, and I got a lot of good info on the Hamd explaining how AM(? ) waves work and the reason a hidden antenae doesn't. Something about AM waves will only bounce once if I remember correctly. Before I found that out, btw, I went to a local Tunes n Tint shop to inquire about amplified hidden antenaes, and they basically said don't waste your time, they don't work. If they did, Detroit probably wouln't be going the more expensive route of having them inside windshield glass.

[geraldchainsaw]

no experience with hidden antennas,  but would like to add my 2 cents about electric,    i installed one a couple of years ago and thought it worked fine,  but was wrong,  ended up installing the orig,  for some reason the3 electric didn't get me many stations,  i tried many diff ground hookups,  direct to battery,   to car frame everything people told me to do,  like i said went back to orig and it picks up all stations,  for some reason i think when the electric is extended the antenna dosen't get a good ground in the antenna,  could be wrong, 

[gasman826]

The OEMs are using hidden antennas and they work great but I don't use AM.  If aftermarket antennas do not work, there must be a quality issue.  I was very leery about installing one.  I installed one in the Custom.  Unfortunately I have not driven the car to test the reception.  In the shop, the aftermarket one works as good as the OEM hidden ones and the external ones (FM) from inside a steel lined building.  PICs:  mounts to glass ONLY.  Another color besides green would be preferred to be less noticeable.  But after installed, it is less noticeable than I thought.

[Ford Blue blood]

The problem with hidden antennas and AM radio has to do with wave length/antenna length plus the fact that steel will shield the RF energy from the antenna. 

The little "shark fin" antennas on some late model cars have AM, FM, and Sat all in that unit.  The antenna portion for AM/FM has a coil to make the antenna look longer.  They are mounted on the roof in an attempt to ensure the best reception. 

To get down in the weeds a little, the very best antenna for AM would be a steel wire about six feet long mounted in the middle of the roof.  That has to do with ground plain.  Ideally the best antennas have a wire length and ground plain that are the same length or as close to the same as possible.  Nearly impossible to achieve in an automobile.  The fender mounted antenna proved to be the best compromise.  A little side note, the ideal length for FM is close to 33 inches.

If you recall auto manufacturers, I think GM, used antennas that were in the windshield for a couple of years.  They proved problematic, stations would fade and return based on direction, especially true for distant stations.

[59meteor]

Not really applicable here, but I work at a Toyota dealership, and most of our cars have the radio antenna built into the rear window. They typically have several lines running the width of the back glass, looking much like the grid for the rear window defroster. It seems to work quite well, although we do get customers complaining that some of the defroster lines are not working! Both my Ford truck (1999 F350 dually, 2010 Ranger) have fixed length steel antennas, although the satelite radio on the Ranger has a small black plastic "turtle shell" on the roof panel that is the antenna for XM Sirius radio. For good AM reception, it seems nothing beats the old style metal mast style antenna.

[SkylinerRon]

With AM the bigger the better!
I have several 1920-40's console radios and the more
copper wire antenna you string the better they work.

Ron.

[ragtop]

I have used hidden antennas and some work ok but fad out going under bridges others did not hard to find a good mounting point for the receiver I had in out by the grill have tried around 3 different ones