FocusCanada Forums

Make Your Own Shorty Antenna

1 - Remove the antenna from the base, is unscrews.
2 - Find out how short you want your antenna to be, either use a pipe cutter (the kind you twist and tighten, or even go to the local bike shop and have them cut it with their cable cutters). The shaft is made of plastic or fiberglass and if you use some wire cutters or something like that, you could crack it. I heard of people using a Dremel or something like that to cut it. Make sure to file down any sharp edges to leave a nicer, cleaner cut.

Then either.......

3 - Put the tip of the antenna (the part with the rubber end on it) in boiling water to soften up the tip. After a few minutes or so, it should slip off.
4 - Put the removed tip back in some boiling water for a minute or so.
5 - Remove the tip from the boiling water and slide it back on the newly cut end of your antenna. I would also glue it on with something like crazyglue or another type of adhesive.
6 - Screw the modded shorty antenna back onto your car.

Or.........

3 - Go to the local hardware store and purchase a bungie cord, the kind that strap down cargo. Take a little rubber tip off.
4 - Get some crazyglue or some other adhesive and glue/slide it on the newly cut end of your antenna.
5 - Screw the modded shorty antenna back onto your car.


This retains the factory look of the antenna and also costs basically nothing.

Thanks goes out to Thabrat and Focis8nt for the idea, looks way better.

Low dollar mods that satisfy the craving... awe yeah. B)

Won't you lose reception from doing this?

Not at all, I talked to Thabrat and Focis8nt and they don't at all. Think about it for a second, all a short antenna from Focus-Central or any of those are is exactly that, a shorter piece of metal. They said they didn't notice any difference.

I did this to my antenna 2 years ago....

Reception is as good as always.

ANTHONYD,Jun 4 2004, 06:30 PM Wrote:I did this to my antenna 2 years ago....

Reception is as good as always.

Seriously..!@#$%

My first antenna actually broke...and the reception was garbage... <_<

It was about the length mentioned for the 'mod' but, the top part wasn't there!

How do u get the freaking cap back on the antenna mast?

Put it in boiling water, if that doesn't work go and get a bungie cord for strapping down luggage, etc from Crappy tire, take the tip off and use it. That is what thabrat and focis8nt did, looks awesome!

You certainley do lose reception. I did this to my antenna 2 days after I bought the car. When travelling you won't be able to pick up distant stations. I have a stock length antenna for travelling and the short one for the city...

That is for FM channels right? Well in Saskatchewan if you drive 1/2 hour out of Regina or Saskatoon, all there is is AM channels. I listen to CDs all the time anyway. For intown, there is no difference.

I've been holding out on doing this mod. I run a radio station and I know how hard it can be to pick up signals sometimes. Some of the newer Toyotas and Hondas have a heavy gauge wire running inside from the front to the rear of the car on both sides which acts as a large kind of "array" to pick up signals, but with just a little piece of metal coming out of the roof, in the jumble of city stations or out in the open country where signal is hard to pick up because of distance, any cutting will result in signal loss.

Blah! I dont find any difference at all. Plus I never listen to the radio.. :lol:

Yeah, in SK there wont be much difference.. somewhere with lots of smaller powered radio stations you'll notice a decrease in reception.

I have the ZX3tuning shorty antenna, but I only listen to cds in my car anyway. There's only a few FM stations in Regina, so the only one that would ever be difficult to get would be the community radio station. But I get everything fine with the shorty, but then again it isnt a very big city.

So be warned if you live in a large center with a lot of stations with towers at varying degrees of power, you will probably lose reception to some of the weaker ones in certain places.

those of you who notice loss of reception, you should try an antenna gain amplifier, and see if it helps?