Any decent short antennas?

Big antennas are kind of ancient...surprised TM still goes that way. I have had GM vehicles, they haven't had antennas since the 90s. And the radio these days is so full of commercials....can't stand to listen to it. I'm either Pandora or playing something from my CD collection.

 

btw i went back to oem antenna after trying the antennaX..

 

This 6 3/4" short antenna performs amazing.

 

^^^ Lol

PMG

 

By "amazing", do you mean as good or better than the stock antenna? I've never heard of a shorty that didn't lose some reception.

 

I'm hoping the reception is good, but it is his first post and he might be a bit biased considering his name

PMG

 

Hello,

Yes correct by amazing I'm referring to reception performance, thanks for the help on clarification. Every vehicle manufacture that we offer antennas for changes differently when the stock antenna height is altered. Toyota's in general are the most finicky when it comes to this so it will be tougher to get stations to scan in once the stock antenna height is changed. Likely the experience had here. We have tested our products on our in house 2014 Tacoma, below are results of our antennas in our area. Obviously this changes to your location but it helps to paint a picture. Just looking to help you guys out with the experience we have had come across in the 18 years of antenna business. Test data results are simply a radio station scan.

Stock Antenna 30" ........ 30 Stations
6 3/4" Rubber ... 19 Stations
15" Stainless ... 17 Stations
13" Rubber ...... 16 Stations
4 " Aluminum .... 2 Stations

 

I don't have any issues with the antenna X off-road antenna. I do live in a metro area though.

 

I was monkeying around with my antenna the other day. I saw some stubby's in my local parts store so I tried one - luckily I did so while in the parking lot. I tuned to a station I listen to regularly - it was coming in loud and clear on stock antenna. I put on the stubby and it went to crap. Put the stock back on - loud and clear. But here is the interesting part - I had the station playing with the door open so I could hear what was happening as I changed things. I found that I could get an improvement by just touching the stubby antenna. Even better if I was also touching the truck at the same time. I got to thinking, I once had a 4Runner that did not have an mast antenna at all - no problem with reception.
So - what to keep someone from tapping into the antenna wire and contacting it into the truck body - virtually making the entire truck an antenna? After all, that is all the mast is - a metal connection into the circuit. Thoughts?

 

I just got a cheapo TRD stubby 5" for looks...$10 on Amazon. looks good but reception sucks..it's ok I only listen to podcasts anyways...
I still have my Antenna X O/R 13" which is pretty good

 

I read up on antennas and from i learned, there's no way a short antenna will work as well as a long antenna. I played with the idea of extending the length underneath and hiding the extension. In the end I just went with antenna x o/r and can't complain.

 

Raptor Shorty 17" Black Spiral from Auto Zone $12.95.........works for me

 

You are EXACTLY correct. I purchased one of these on Amazon for my Tacoma. Within one year it turned to a copper color. It didn't actually peel like some have stated but it did discolor. It had decent reception in the city. I never really had significant issues as most of my listening was streaming or XM radio.

 

I think part of that improvement was the fact your body was acting as an antenna too ? Kinda like the old days when I would be in a parking lot and tried to unlock my truck from the greatest distance. When you held your key fob up to your chin it worked. Is your body the antenna/transmitter ? Just my thoughts.

 

For what it's worth..... After fidde farting around with 4 different size antennas........The stock OEM is best all around. Probably why It's there to begin with. And since when is shorter better than longer?????

 

I anyone played with an antenna amplifier?I have a 2017 rs dc..my sound quality is that of a walkman.. I' m replacing the hu with a pioneer avix5800bhs and would like the shorter antenna. and might be adding an en amp

 

That's the one I have. Be careful, they loose their color and look gold after a while. I took mine off and spray painted it black. Reception is ok, but I'm in the city. I listen to XM or my phone mostly - unless I'm in NYC - so it isn't a major issue.