shark fin aerial?

I too am interested in this.

I've found the short bee sting ones on ebay, which look pretty cool, but a shark fin would look the goods! Plus, I keep getting out-bid on the bee sting ones! :bang:

I know you can get fake shark fins but obviously I'd want one that is actually functional and fits the roof contour / hole properly.

PS: shouldn't this be in the VE section?

 

Should be in the VE section probably, but either way, good thread.

I have a bee sting arial and it does look a lot better than the old horsetail lol but your right, the shark fin would look the goods. Doubt anything is available though, it would have to be specially made for a VE to fit the contours.

I wonder if a fiberglass one could be made?

 

i went to toyota and got a rav4 aerial. Its about 15cm long, so a lot shorter and looks better. Same fitment, so screws on no worries.

 

I know its not a sharks fin but I put a Mazda CX7 aerial on my SSV. Less than half the lengths of the standard one and screws straight in. Only cost $24 from the local Mazda dealer too...

 

that looks good, what length is it?

 

Sorry not with the car right now but I am guessing 15 - 20 cm.
If you go into a Mazda dealer just have a look at a CX7

 

Suzuki Swift aerials also bolt straight in and are about 15cm long. The ebay bee sting ones are shorter though ( between 5.5cm to 9cm) and look nicer.

I've done a bit more research, and the probelm with the shark fins is that you have to take your roof lining off to fit them! Bugger that...

I then found some shark fins on UK ebay that actually fit over the existing base and have an internal wire which screws into the top of the existing base to transmit the signal. Not sure how well they work, but a great idea...

 

Beware of buying smaller antennas. You risk losing reception for the benefit of looks. Anyone here that has done a communications course knows that antennas are sensitive equipment to certain frequencies. Part of that requirement is the length of the antenna. Antennas are only receptive to certain frequencies at certain lengths. By making the antenna smaller, you are reducing the effectiveness of receiving the FM/AM radio band. You'll also likely pick up spurious crap being transmitted from sources that are designed to be received by a smaller antenna due to their specific frequencies. You won't pick up a handheld CB transmitter outright but when you listen to a radio station you might get faint clicking or intermittant levels of static if you're in range of one for example. Had that on a friends car with one of those bee sting aerials and as a test to cure my curiosity, I used my handheld CB and sure enough, there was slight interference.

The BMW shark fins are made from fractal antenna technology, not an actual aerial. Fractal antennas are a very small array of sensitive elements that use surface area rather than length to receive a certain frequency band. So buying a little aerial (not fractal) that fits in a shark fin is kidding yourself. Probably be only good for a mobile phone receiver booster. Also, BMW radios are more thought out in that they have better filters that cater for fractal antennas. You can install one on your car, just be prepared that the performance might go either way depending on your head unit or factory radio. So bear in mind that using a fractal antenna doesn't necessarily mean you'll get reception just as good as the factory antenna. You need to weigh this one up.

Whilst they do look good, the BMW fractal antennas can be a piece of crap. Depending on where you live the reception can be great or poor. Fractal antennas are ones that are not generally designed for a small amount of frequencies and can actually be used for wideband comms due to their design. It's how they're designed that determines the application. Proper antennas are sized to the correct frequency of radio FM/AM signals. Hence why fractal antennae technology is used mainly for mobiles and microwave links where 3G / HSDPA and other protocols benefit from its wideband reception. However it is a small receiver and it still follows some basic electromagnetism laws. The one reason for that is that radio only needs one large transmitter in the city to project for a good distance before it needs a repeater to boost the signal compared to mobile phones which need a repeater station 20 - 30km around metro areas and more often still if the network is very busy. When you travel further away from the radio station, you might also find that you lose reception more quickly compared to the car next to you with a proper FM/AM aerial which can still get good reception for another 30km travelling away from the transmitter. It's alright to buy a shark fin antenna if you live in a metro area however you are more likely to suffer poor reception.

Radio and mobile phones use different communication technologies even though it seems like it operates on the same thing. Don't be fooled by ads that say explicitely 'factory antenna replacement' cause really, it's not.

Might've repeated myself in that but I'm trying to cover all angles. Besides which who listens to the radio when all the play is Hot 40 teeny bopper crap

 

Thanks-interesting reading.
I was wondering when someone was going to come up with the facts.
Regards
Keith.

 

I really don't see what the problem is getting another shorter antenna of a different car. They are all used for the same frequencies. That is why I used on of another car and didn't get a cheap really short on of ebay...

 

^^ I agree. I just went out and measured the aerial on my GF's Suzuki and it is 18cm long - less than half the length of the VE. Her car has never had any problems with poor reception or interference.

If anything, I'll just buy a factory aerial off a Swift or another car. At least it looks more proportional than that absurd horse whip on VE's...

 

i have a bee sting antenna from ebay and it works great. even one section on the way back from work the reception is a little shotty with the stock antenna, exactly the same amount of freq loss with the bee sting one too. - seems a similar sort of reception being received.

 

Could you tell us / show us what type you got?

 

I have this one from ebay:



VE COMMODORE STUB BEE-STING AERIAL__MADE IN AUSTRALIA__ - eBay Body Kits, Exterior, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 27-Feb-09 10:24:29 AEDST)

 

I just stated that there are some aerials and antennas that can have reception issues.

If you get decent reception off a smaller aerial, awesome. Don't have to worry.

It's usually more prevelant in older cars or with cars that have dodgy head units in them. A lot of the band pass filters on them are really sub-standard. I've also found the frequency demodulators and mixers to be a source of the problem too, not necessarily the aerial itself. However aerials also behave it different ways and it depends on the transmitter and where you live.

Whilst I probably wouldn't bee sting my car, I would probably check out getting a fractal antenna since I live close to the city. If I was anywhere outside darwin, bending a coathanger in the shape of Australia can work too!

 

HAHA stylish, especially on the roof of a VE LMAO!!

Good info though. I didn't realise how intricate the antenna system can be. - All those cars with coathangers shoved in them led me to believe i can just shove something metal in there and 'she'll b right':thumbsup: haha.

 

Ditto, that looks the same as the rav4 aerial i got for mine, same price too.

 

Aah yeah, I've seen these ones. I'm after a black one though, to match the base.

Good to know they work well though. Thanks for the info! :thumbsup: