New ariel - a third way?

Crazy Harry

Crazy Harry

Senior member
 Breckland Norfolk
Had to order a new ariel for my son's Clio - came today and I had to try it on the Zed and what do you know?

Is this a foot in both stubby and whippy camps? not a stubby man myself :wink: but is this a whole new way?

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Not so sure I'm a fan. It's like you're neither a stubby or a whippy.
It's like the Force. You must choose between the dark side or the light. I'm not so sure you can have one foot in and one out!
 
srhutch said:
Are you also gender fluid?

Man up and get a stubby :lol:
Click to expand...

Made my decision - new ariel on the Clio and Whippy on my Zed :fuelfire:

Still brightens up the afternoon - back to the lowest common denominator 'is mine longer than yours?' :lol:
 
I have had that same antenna on my car for the last 7 years. Its a sub £5 vw polo antenna:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Dachantenne-Kurzstabantenne-24cm-Ersatzantenne-VW-PASSAT-BORA-CADDY-POLO-LUPO-/162007663187?hash=item25b868c253

It has better reception than the stubby and is less 'whippy' than the stock one.
 
GuidoK said:
I have had that same antenna on my car for the last 7 years. Its a sub £5 vw polo antenna:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Dachantenne-Kurzstabantenne-24cm-Ersatzantenne-VW-PASSAT-BORA-CADDY-POLO-LUPO-/162007663187?hash=item25b868c253

It has better reception than the stubby and is less 'whippy' than the stock one.
Click to expand...

I thought the primary aerial was a loop that goes around the boot, and that the exterior aerial was just a backup.
 
Ducklakeview said:
I was going to say the same lol. Personally, I think the whippy makes the zed look like a full size remote controlled car.
Click to expand...

hi Mike,

yes, I am in your camp; moreover, I think it makes the car look a bit "dated"
 
dunks said:
I thought the primary aerial was a loop that goes around the boot, and that the exterior aerial was just a backup.
Click to expand...

Actually they work together. Its a polarisation diversity system where one antenna picks up signals in a certain radiation pattern and the other one in another radiation pattern. That is if you have the diveristy antenna system installed; I believe not all z4's have them (but mine has for sure). There's no primary and backup antenna, they are equal in the comparator.
So limiting one of the antenna's reception will cause less overall radio reception. It depends on the strenght of the signal, type of signal and geographic surroundings if thats noticeable or not.
 
GuidoK said:
dunks said:
I thought the primary aerial was a loop that goes around the boot, and that the exterior aerial was just a backup.
Click to expand...

Actually they work together. Its a polarisation diversity system where one antenna picks up signals in a certain radiation pattern and the other one in another radiation pattern. That is if you have the diveristy antenna system installed; I believe not all z4's have them (but mine has for sure). There's no primary and backup antenna, they are equal in the comparator.
So limiting one of the antenna's reception will cause less overall radio reception. It depends on the strenght of the signal, type of signal and geographic surroundings if thats noticeable or not.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see! More power to my whippy in that case :thumbsup:
 
GuidoK said:
dunks said:
I thought the primary aerial was a loop that goes around the boot, and that the exterior aerial was just a backup.
Click to expand...

Actually they work together. Its a polarisation diversity system where one antenna picks up signals in a certain radiation pattern and the other one in another radiation pattern. That is if you have the diveristy antenna system installed; I believe not all z4's have them (but mine has for sure). There's no primary and backup antenna, they are equal in the comparator.
So limiting one of the antenna's reception will cause less overall radio reception. It depends on the strenght of the signal, type of signal and geographic surroundings if thats noticeable or not.
Click to expand...

This is how the BMW technical guide describes it:

Rod aerial
The rod aerial is designed for the
following wavebands:
• AM 522 kHz - 1710 kHz
• FM 87.5 MHz - 108 MHz

FM aerial in bumper
The FM aerial consists of a 73 cm long line. The FM aerial is mounted in the bumper on adjustable clips. The FM aerial is adapted precisely to the vehicle.
For this reason, no changes must be made to the aerial.
The FM aerial is connected to an aerial amplifier.

Aerial diversity
In the E85, 2 physical aerials are connected to the radio aerial diversity, i.e. the rod aerial and the aerial in the bumper. The aerial diversity function switches over to another aerial as soon as the system undershoots a defined threshold. Changeover takes place in such a way that no interruption can be heard. Depending on the reception situation, reception on both aerials simultaneously is also possible.

Personal observation:
Ideal is to keep both aerials as original spec. as they do work together, however in reality you can remove the rod antennae and will lose AM and only suffer FM deterioration in poor reception areas. If you removed the bumper aerial then you'd certainly lose or deteriorate FM reception more frequently. Whenever anyone complains of poor reception it's the bumper aerial they need to fix
 
Radio reception in a car is difficult. The car is constanly moving around both from place to place and in orientation (so position north-south).
So especially when the signal is not that strong, or jammed partially by mountains or large buildings, it will switch constantly between the rod antenna and bumper antenna because the car constanly switches position and orientation, and one antenna will give significantly better reception than the other. So in the more desolate mountainous areas this will give a big improvement in reception.
When the signal is very strong both antenna's will provide sufficient signal and diversity is not really needed.
 
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