Ducato Aerial

[Braunston]

Hi,

I have one of those short rubber aerials on the front wing of my Fiat Ducato and its useless,

I have looked at replacing in with one that fixes to the door pillar, but i have been wondering if i unscrewed the rubber stalk could i just screw in a longer length of stainless steel rod and clip that to the door pillar, does anyone know if this would work,

Only I remember in the good old days when I used to put a bent metal hanger in a snapped off Ariel it used to work better than then original, so would a longer metal rod do the same for my existing rubbish Ariel

Thanks

 

[Jim]

Normally those stubby aerials are excellent, maybe there is a dodgy connection somewhere. The external Stubby is much better that the one they build in to the wing mirror

 

[Geo]

I would echo Jims comments the rubber duck is the fix for the crappy Fiat arial every time, I would not hesitate to buy another replacement rubber duck, Always worth remembering
1. a good raidio deserves a good arial
2 a cheap radio needs a good one
here endeth the lessonoh:
Geo

 

[Braunston]

Hi,

I have checked the ariel connections a number of times and all appears OK but the reception is absolutely appalling, and while I understand your suggestions I do know that quiet a number of people have the same problem as me,

I don't know if its because of the over cab section or what but the signal strength is really bl??dy annoying, I have noticed that some people have repositioned the rubber ariel stalk facing forward and some have it facing downwards which looks very strange but they apparently get a slightly better signal.

As you both appear very confident that the rubber ariel should work and that I can't find any obvious problems I will look at just replacing it with a new one, are they just standard or are there better ones, any suggestions

Thanks

 

[Diabalo]

I have a 2007 Fiat X20/50 and the radio has driven me mad since we first picked the van up from new, as Jim says it's in the mirror!!!! and about as much use as a catflap in a submarine.

So yesterday I bit the bullet and fitted a white rubber duck aerial from Halfords on the roof.
I have to say it was a major prob trying to run the cable unobtrusivley through the van, I must have taken off at least 7 plastic panels, now where have all them screws gone?

The reception seems to be a lot better, but will have to see if it can hold station when on the move.

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[pappajohn]

hi braunston,

has the aerial ever worked satisfactory ?

i dont know how old your van is but its just possible, if it was originally a roof mount, the convertors have fitted a wing mount but not bothered connecting the coax to the radio. (friday afternoon job:Angry
the coax thats connected could be from the original roof mount which would have been cut off when the conversion was done.

the other thing could be corrosion on the inside of the wing causing a poor earth. that was the problem with mine. it nearly impossible to get to the mount under the wing without removing the wing.

 

[GJH]

Just picking up John's point about whether the aerial has worked satisfactorily in the past.

If it has then the problem might not be the aerial but the transmitter power. Engineering work in preparation for digital switchover means that some transmitters are working on low power from time to time. See Link Removed for details of current work.

Graham

 

[Douglas]

Hi, I too have a little rubber duck on the fiat wing and its under the alluminium roof of a Swift and despite that it works file.

You dont say what band you have problems with IE FM, MW or long wave or all three. are you running an inverter, that can make rf noise, try connecting the antenna to a portable radio just to see if its not the radio.

As an aside, even hear in Tenerife I am receiving radio 4 by reversing the antenna system with a eathing strap on the rubber duck, its not perfect but we get several hours a day listening.

Doug..

 

[andyman]

Hi Braunston, what motorhome do you have. I have an Autotrail with an intregarted rear view camera and freeview. The radio is also a DVD player and everthing works through the screen above the rear view mirror. The radio reception was poor to say the least, so I fitted a rubber duck. The reception was perfect until I found there was no sound when using the freeview. Behind the radio is a FM modulator and if the aerial does not run through this there is no sound from the freeview box, but if I reconnect the modulator I get crap reception. I assume the modulator is U/S.

Andy

 

[Jaws]

A point often over looked is that the bit your looking at that is pointing skyward is only HALF the story.
if the antenna used to work ok but is now unwell, there is a good chance that the antenna earth is a bit dicky.
Undo the antenna from the wing, clean thoroughly the metal around the hole.. make sure there is no paint or anything an the earth plate makes good contact.
Refit the antenna and coat the area with an anti rust solution of some sort ( my preference would be ACF-50 which not only stops any grot but kills dead any of the dread brown stuff that is touches ( might need to be repleneshed after 2 or 3 years if in an area that gets washed, but if in a dry area 5 years at the very least before a quick squirt would be needed )

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[Jaws]

Ahhh OOPS ! Sorry, PapaJohn has already mentioned the inner wing thing.. Oh well

 

[hilldweller]

I don't know if its because of the over cab section or what but the signal strength is really bl??dy annoying, Thanks

That is the conclusion I've come to. That and the A pillar which is screening it from a wide angle. In fact it would hard to install it in a worse place.

I have a good old fashioned car electric aerial in my garage but I can't motivate myself to mount it on the roof somewhere, with good reason, it wasn't made for mounting through 30mm of roof.