Due to my long anticipated wait for my SM170 (ordered late December), I have been trying to visualise the realities (dreams) of owning it. I noticed that the timber fringe at the front roof of my car port is not all that far above the aerial on our Fabia so I measured the aerial vertical height on a showroom Yeti (same as our Fabia it happened), added that dimension to the brochure Yeti vehicle height and hey presto the aerial tip will be about 2 inches too high. We have been pondering the solution - some ideas more silly than others while passing the long not Yeti wait time - including say letting the tyres down or perhaps digging out the concrete floor of the car port etc. etc. My wife suggested taking 2" off ONE of the 3" wide fringe boards - would have to be an exceptionally good aim and much more sensible I thought about jig sawing 2" off the whole fringe (or a large chunk of it).

Then a little more common sense came to us - how about a shorter aerial. I suspect these exist. Any ideas re shorter aerials and does the existing one screw out easily anywhere near the base. Could try experimenting with the one on the Fabia but perhaps someone with a current Yeti might have a definitive answer.

Try looking on E-bay for Shark fin aeriels..They are fitted to BMW Series 5's I think and only stick up about 20-30mm.

E-bay items are very cheap and most say simple swap with various connectors/adapters.

However BE CAREFULL as it looks as if you get it wrong you may be in the partial removal

of head lining territory to facilite the fixing..

The on top of roof screw fixing is mostly a common size/thread....so consider buying

a shorter stub aerial (same basic type as fitted only shorter.)

May affect reception quality but I've only paid about £10 in Halfords in the past (They have a model it fits listing too)

Edited 19 January, 201115 yr by kibby

The aerial is a standard Hella fitting, so Halfrauds is a good place to start, but also look at other makes that use the same fitting for a smaller "twig";

All VAG

Vauxhall

Saab

LR

On my previous Freelander I had a short Vauxhall one that actually worked better than the LR fibreglass thing.

http://www.aceparts....tenna-am-fm.htm

I think you'll find the aerial on Yeti's built after November 8th are shorter than those prior to November 8th, so it may not be a problem at all.

Thanks for all these useful suggestions. Looks as if I won't have a problem at all and will be worth waiting to see if the new Yeti has a shorter version - as long as I check it carefully rather than an enthusiastic first drive into the car port. Potential reception deterioration (slight) will be no problem as I am one of these strange people (??) who rarely if ever use the radio in a car.

I had the same problem, solved when I spotted in my local Pound shop a perfect aluminium item approx 100 mm long for £2. A quick spray with matt black paint and it's perfect , sticking only a fraction above the roof bars

Garth

I you look for photos of Elsie, at the moment not too far from the last posts in the picture thread you will see a closeup of the new aerial.

Mike

Edited 19 January, 201115 yr by rockhopper

Got a pack of 4 different length aerials from the local motor centre. settled for a nice little 3 inch long one. I haven't noticed any difference in either radio or sat nav.

Chris.

Got a pack of 4 different length aerials from the local motor centre. settled for a nice little 3 inch long one. I haven't noticed any difference in either radio or sat nav.

Chris.

You won't notice much difference with radio reception as there is another aerial as well. The sat nav doesn't use the bee sting, just the shark bit if it is a factory installed one.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes it is factory fit. Does make a lot of difference not having to keep removing aerial to use the garage.

Chris.

I you look for photos of Elsie, at the moment not too far from the last posts in the picture thread you will see a closeup of the new aerial.

Mike

Thanks. Just had a look at Elsie (with one hub cap missing tch tch :-)) That aerial height should do the trick.

John

Thanks. Just had a look at Elsie (with one hub cap missing tch tch :-)) That aerial height should do the trick.

John

No problem. That is the new standard aerial. The missing hub cap was due to it being broken in the first place. I have made some more...

Mike

Original aerial - >> 07/11/2010

1J0 035 849 A

New aerial - 08/11/2010 >>

6R0 035 849

Size unfortunately not given

TP

Original aerial - >> 07/11/2010

1J0 035 849 A

New aerial - 08/11/2010 >>

6R0 035 849

Size unfortunately not given

TP

Interesting (to me) that the change is so recent. Perhaps they anticipated my demands !! :yes:

We had a similar problem getting our Yeti (March 2010) into the garage. I tried a very short aerial found on eBay and it didn't pick up AM in Cornwall (essential when trying to listen to 5Live on holiday!) - I then tried a genuine Honda aerial (also found on eBay) - works perfectly and is substanially shorter than the standard Skoda aerial that came with the car.

Edited 23 January, 201115 yr by HKPhooey