Hi Folks,

 

My Columbus system shows 0/12 satellites, suggesting that there is a problem with the shark fin aerial on the roof. I've read that its a common problem with these, where the connection gets exposed to water then corrodes.

Does anyone have pictures of how to remove and repair this connect?

 

I also heard of guys buying a universal sat nav aerial and placing it on top of the heating vent, behind the head unit in the dash. Better alternative??

 

any ideas? thanks folks.

 

John 

The shark fin can also do GSM when a bluetooth system is fitted to the car. Maybe AM as well? not 100% on that one. 

 

You remove the sharkfin antenna from inside the car which involves dropping part of the roof lining. This has to be done with care to minimise the risk of bending and permanently creasing it. The antenna should be secured with a nut. 

 

You can get GSM receivers that plug straight into the back of the HU via a Fakra connector. It's best to let the receiver have a clear view of the sky for very obvious reasons, but people report decent satellite reception when the unit is stashed under the dash. It can be a bit hit and miss though, depending on where it's positioned of course. 

When I lost satellite reception I got a replacement GPS aerial for about €10 on ebay, which is a lot better than €60+ for the sharkfin assembly. It plugged directly into the Columbus (Unfortunately the socket was the wrong gender to plug in at the sharkfin end). I wasn't bothered pulling the car apart to route the new wire through from the head unit to the roof, so I left the aerial in the space above the head unit. Reception seems to be fine, it's worked well so far for the last 6 ish months anyway (Apart from taking ages to find its position after getting off a car ferry, which is a Columbus issue rather than an antenna issue). Only thing to watch is that you secure everything well or put foam around the wire to stop it rattling when you go over bumps.

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by psycholist

I recently swapped my roof aerial so could have both gps & phone, i bought a genuine replacement off ebay approx £20 & it works great. i did have previously the under dash gps aerial they work ok but some are really cheap & nasty.

 

Replacment aerial upgrade : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271963118369?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Edited 14 January, 201610 yr by *murph*

My 1.4 S has the shark fin aerial but I'm not sure what it does.

 

A previous thread mentioned that the rear window contains the radio aerial. Must admit the radio reception is not as good on my Superb II compared to my previous Superb I - not too bad just not as good  :no:

Shark fins come in a few varieties and some will also have an integrated antenna sticking out the top. They will do some number of the following: DAB, FM, GPS, GSM, webasto remote

Most modern vags also include two FM antenna for diversity. For example my O2 hatch has one on the roof and one in the rear window and will switch depending which has the strongest signal.