My New car won't fit either in my garage or under my car port, because the radio Aerial is too long, it is the rubber but rather solid 'Bee Sting' type, fitted rear of the roof, it does fold down if you get out of the car & unscrew it every time you want to park - than put it upright again when you use the car! (imagine doing this 3-4 times everyday):thumbdwn:

Does anybody know if there is a shorter radio Aerial available for the Fabia?

Seems a silly question i know, but i don't want to start removing head lining etc and running new co-ax through my new motor.

It does fold rearwards just about low enough to fit in garage/carport, but than catches the tailgate heavily when you open it, or just pushes the Aerial upright again.

ANY IDEAS?

Does Skoda make a shorter whip or another manufacter make one that will screw into the Skodas original base.:confused:

Maybe i should just leave the car in the street!!!!!!!

Skoda dont make a shorter one, but have a look on ebay. The old one can be completely removed, it needs a good tug after unscrewing. Then just screw the new one in.

Mine's the normal screw one, so I was able to get an "aerial reduction" operation.

I have a Honda S2000 ariel on my car, alot shorter than the standard aerial, looks nice and is only £5 on ebay too

Yep, another vote for the Honda version. Had one on the Polo and now the Ibiza. Looks a lot better and radio signal strength hasn't been affected, as far as I can tell.

It's the same one fitted to the S2000, older Civic (2001-05) and CR-V. As said, you can get them for around the £5 mark on eBay. Certainly don't pay more than that.

EDIT: Don't have a pic of it fitted on the Ibiza yet, but here's one from it fitted to the Polo....

Steve

Vauxhall also have short beesting-type arials which is another option if you (like me) dont like the look of the honda one.. its just like OE but shorter

Do you think one of those would miss the spoiler on my Octy - stop it rubbing?

I would think so Rob, yes. The Honda one is just a bit shorter than the thicker black section on your OEM one. So by the looks of it, it should miss the spoiler.

Steve

Cool, thanks for that. Next challenge is to find one in NZ without silly shipping costs...

No probs - I've just asked the eBay seller I used for mine what posting to NZ would cost. The auction page does mention worldwide shipping.

Steve

I was looking for a new aeriel as well. Bought one of those silver ones off ebay before but it looks shocking. Honda one looks promising though.

Cool, thanks for that. Next challenge is to find one in NZ without silly shipping costs...

Rob - got an answer back from the seller:

HELLO THERE! SURE, POSTAGE IS

Just a dumb thought - I know that an aerial is supposed to be a certain length to best receive signals of a particular band, but why not just take a hacksaw to it above the solid bit? Looks like the twisted part would come off easily and wouldn't be noticeable if you did it carefully.

Defeats the purpose of having an proper aerial but perhaps the signal strength won't be too bad. We need a brave adventurous soul to try this out and report on this. (Don't look at me, I'm a coward....) IF it doesn't work then the honda one looks good (must take a trip to the over-priced honda stealers here)

Personally I like to listen to MY choice of music when I'm not listening to the engine, exhaust and turbo.....

Cheers

Bas

Yaay It just arrived - posted Nov 13th in the UK and it has airmail stickers on - that's a slow plane (maybe it was on a treadmill and couldn't take off or something)

Anyway, it still hits the boot, but what the hell it looks cool!

Looks good Rob - still can't believe it still hits the boot though!

Oh well - at least you've tried

Steve

Just a dumb thought - I know that an aerial is supposed to be a certain length to best receive signals of a particular band, but why not just take a hacksaw to it above the solid bit? Looks like the twisted part would come off easily and wouldn't be noticeable if you did it carefully.

Defeats the purpose of having an proper aerial but perhaps the signal strength won't be too bad. We need a brave adventurous soul to try this out and report on this. (Don't look at me, I'm a coward....) IF it doesn't work then the honda one looks good (must take a trip to the over-priced honda stealers here)

Personally I like to listen to MY choice of music when I'm not listening to the engine, exhaust and turbo.....

Cheers

Bas

Car aerials work on the groundplane antenna principle, and as such the dipole (the sticky-up bit) typically measures 1/4 of the wavelength of the signal you're receiving. For FM radio, this means it'll be about 75cms long (think of the old chrome retractable ones). It could be 1/2 or 1/8 of the wavelength, but the 1/2 is too long to be practical, and 1/8 is too short for good reception.

BUT, it's only the piece of wire that has to be 1/4 the wavelength - it will work just as well if some or all of it's coiled up. This is why modern (i.e. plastic) car aerials tend to have a thick bit at the bottom - some of the antenna wire's coiled up in there. Therefore buy a shorter aerial by all means, but DON'T whatever you do chop up an existing one!!!

A bit OT, but as it's been mentioned, the loose coil around the top bit of VAG aerials is nothing to do with making the aerial more compact - it's a helical strake which is designed to reduce the amount the aerial whips about at high speed by inducing vortex shedding (a wobbly aerial affects radio reception...)

Seems I DID get something out of my three years in the Royal Corps of Signals, after all!