Replacement for retractable antenna

[Zantus]

My Patrol's antenna was a bit bent when I bought the vehicle, but today it hooked on one of my trees and it broke off completely.

What do you in this case, try and find a replacement retractable mast, or replace with something else, and with what do you replace it, something generic from Midas or is there somehing specific I need to use?

[martyn]

Hi Zantus> I replaced mine with an electric one last year but it malfunctiond after a few weeks so put a whip arial from midas in and havent looked back, makes you feel secure when there are branches around.

[Alex Roux]

Hi Zantus

That is the problem with the telescopes, they do not last. One little hit end they are never the same again.
Both the generic whip and the b-sting are cheap enough from Midas.
Th whip is long and on a high vehicle is bound to get hit in the bush and therefore I do not think they will last.
A friend of mine sticks the top end of his whip into the snorkel! That can work too.

The b-sting, being shorter, has (a very slightly) poorer reception compared to the whip, but does not get hit by branches.
I recently got myself two b-stings, as the other disadvantage of the b-sting is that they can get rotated out and stolen at shopping malls.

The angle of the generic models is not a perfect fit to the angle of the whole in the body but good enough in my view.
They are less than R50 a piece at Midas.
To do the actual replacement is not that easy as you need to remove your mud guards (I think). I did not bother. Took it to a car radio place for around R200 to do the replacement.

[ChristoSlang]

I also went the bee sting route. They're cheap and work well. Fitment requires thin fingers and lots of patience. Nobody bothers stealing a <R40 aerial tip these days, but I bought two just in case...

[Stefan]

Maybe you guys have stronger signals, I bought the Patrol with a little bee-sting arial fitted and the reception is pretty terrible. Since I listen to mp3s mostly this is not enough of a problem to swing past Midas, but one day soon!

[marakasmalan]

What did you guys do with the wiring for the retractable arial? Any risk in leaving that in place?

BTW should you wish to replace the telescopic type, it is the same as the Skyline models used and is easily available at scrapyards.

Regards

[Alex Roux]

Marnus,
Not 100% certain. I used the same socket and wiring as for the retractable antenna. The fuse via which the retraction was operated was removed.

Stefan,
It may be that there is a "continuity" problem with your antenna. I.e. it is not your antenna's fault, but the lead between the radio and the antenna that is not properly connected. That was my problem previously. It is easy to check for the Car Radio people.

[Stefan]

Will do, thanks Alex!

[BABELAAS]

I had a water leak ( soaked the passenger carpet and foot well after washing the Patrol) I eventually fond the problem. The aerial had been replaced with a whip, but where the lead passes through the Left Hand A pillar the grommet was not fitted properly,
The problem was easy to fix, push in the grommet and no more water on the carpet