Is There A Better Antenna? - Page 2 - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

White64Goat · 03-09-2013, 05:10 PM

Just discovered that an antenna from a 2012 Ford Focus will fit and those have a thinner and longer stem and it also has a wire wound around the center stem so I will order one of those and give it a try too.

FrX · 03-09-2013, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White64Goat

Just discovered that an antenna from a 2012 Ford Focus will fit and those have a thinner and longer stem and it also has a wire wound around the center stem so I will order one of those and give it a try too.

Nice. I may just steal the one off my brother's car to see how it works.

White64Goat · 03-12-2013, 10:25 PM

Picked up one from the Ford dealer today for $16. Will try it out in a day or two..........

Flat Black VW · 03-12-2013, 10:56 PM

Just FYI- I dont remember exactly how but I know on the BRZ nav you can turn off the HD radio. I couldnt stand it jumping between HD and regular so I turned HD off entirely and now it is much nicer. I only listen to talk radio on the way to work in the AM anyway, any other time and its the ipod

Carlsbad · 03-17-2013, 11:51 PM

I had the service bulletin that fixes the Navigations loss of signal done and it solved the loss of signal issue. It did nothing to resolve the poor radio reception.
I am shocked that it is not a TSB by now. I hope everyone mentions this to Subaru when they get their car serviced. For one, I am taking mine back to get them on record that their system is worst than a $120 Alpine I have in my 30 year old jeep with a wire hanging out as an antena

ProTekk · 03-17-2013, 11:56 PM

Not to derail this thread but I'm thoroughly surprised with the amount of people who still use AM/FM heavily. I use FM only for one station which is news but even then I usually use their Android app and stream it. There must be better stations outside of Jersey. All we have is news and the "top 5" latest songs played on repeat all day. Hell, most times you can flip channels and hit the same part of the song you were JUST listening to.

God, what I'd do to be out of NJ.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

MmmDieselFumes · 03-18-2013, 09:48 AM

I used to get decent and consistent HD signal with my stock antenna. Installed my Beat-Sonic Shark-Fin and signal strength instantly took a hit. Where I used to enjoy constant HD content (it would only play in non-HD when first tuning into a station), it now cuts in and out in about 15-second intervals on all stations that broadcast in HD. Especially easy to notice when you're on the 2nd of a multicast station, since the music just stops instead of dropping to non-HD.

That being said, I still wouldn't go back to the stock RC-car antenna (that look was just atrocious). I'd LOVE to find a way to boost quality of the sharkfin, but I'll just stick to using tunedin radio, pandora, slacker, songza, and iheartradio streaming from my phone. Only time this is ever an issue is when I'm driving through areas with no 3G (ie West-Texas).

EAGLE5 · 03-20-2013, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White64Goat

Just discovered that an antenna from a 2012 Ford Focus will fit and those have a thinner and longer stem and it also has a wire wound around the center stem so I will order one of those and give it a try too.

Any luck?

White64Goat · 03-20-2013, 03:03 PM

Have not had a chance to try it yet. Had a death in the family. Maybe this evening if I get home early enough.

Skurj · 03-20-2013, 05:06 PM

Hmm I will have my brz tomorrow perhaps there is a chance the antenna off my 2009 Yaris will fit as well. It sounds identical to the focus antenna mentioned above.

I can try a test fit, as I don't even have a BRZ yet I can't say whether the stock antenna is fine or not..

White64Goat · 03-20-2013, 08:57 PM

Well...............save your $$$. Focus antenna was no better than stock, actually it was slightly worse than the stock one.

Next test will be with a standard type stainless steel one. Will report results once tested.

EAGLE5 · 03-21-2013, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White64Goat

Well...............save your $$$. Focus antenna was no better than stock, actually it was slightly worse than the stock one.

Next test will be with a standard type stainless steel one. Will report results once tested.

Thanks for trying. Sorry to hear about your family member.

Fortunate Few · 03-21-2013, 08:00 PM

I used to have this sweet radio station in the city i lived in. But i've moved and now I use Tune-in Radio app and as long as you phone has some sort of signal it comes in crystal clear.

ftc~brz · 03-21-2013, 08:31 PM

the gps antenna is not the same as the radio antenna...they are 2 separate monsters. fyi

my nav has been flashed b/c cyber wench was always lost. Hd still cuts in and out and my xm freebee just ended. It's okay for me for now since I have the borla headers, and full back exhaust I don't listen to any of it for the time being.

I will just wait for a better antenna to be had before I turn the radio back on at this point.

03-20-2013, 05:06 PM	#24
Skurj Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Drives: SOLD... Location: GTA Ontario Posts: 955 Thanks: 56 Thanked 192 Times in 155 Posts Mentioned: 7 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Hmm I will have my brz tomorrow perhaps there is a chance the antenna off my 2009 Yaris will fit as well. It sounds identical to the focus antenna mentioned above. I can try a test fit, as I don't even have a BRZ yet I can't say whether the stock antenna is fine or not.. __________________ WRB MT BRZ Sport Tech Delivered March 21 2013 Its mine now!! Paid for Mar 2018 and its gone... Sept '18 tho I am sure I will miss it Replaced with 18 50th edition ND

03-21-2013, 08:00 PM	#27
Fortunate Few will photoshop for ft86 Join Date: Mar 2011 Drives: 07 Mazda RX8 Location: Upland,CA Posts: 281 Thanks: 10 Thanked 15 Times in 12 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I used to have this sweet radio station in the city i lived in. But i've moved and now I use Tune-in Radio app and as long as you phone has some sort of signal it comes in crystal clear. __________________ www.AEPerformance.com

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03-09-2013, 05:10 PM	#15
White64Goat Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 13 BRZ CBS LTD MT, 02 WRX Location: Fred. Co. Md. Posts: 2,347 Thanks: 65 Thanked 1,111 Times in 627 Posts Mentioned: 19 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Just discovered that an antenna from a 2012 Ford Focus will fit and those have a thinner and longer stem and it also has a wire wound around the center stem so I will order one of those and give it a try too.

03-12-2013, 10:25 PM	#17
White64Goat Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 13 BRZ CBS LTD MT, 02 WRX Location: Fred. Co. Md. Posts: 2,347 Thanks: 65 Thanked 1,111 Times in 627 Posts Mentioned: 19 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Picked up one from the Ford dealer today for $16. Will try it out in a day or two..........

03-12-2013, 10:56 PM	#18
Flat Black VW Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 2013 Subaru BRZ Location: NOVA Posts: 894 Thanks: 227 Thanked 343 Times in 202 Posts Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Just FYI- I dont remember exactly how but I know on the BRZ nav you can turn off the HD radio. I couldnt stand it jumping between HD and regular so I turned HD off entirely and now it is much nicer. I only listen to talk radio on the way to work in the AM anyway, any other time and its the ipod

03-17-2013, 11:51 PM	#19
Carlsbad Member Join Date: May 2012 Drives: 2013 Subaru BRZ WRB Limited MT Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 40 Thanks: 18 Thanked 15 Times in 9 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I had the service bulletin that fixes the Navigations loss of signal done and it solved the loss of signal issue. It did nothing to resolve the poor radio reception. I am shocked that it is not a TSB by now. I hope everyone mentions this to Subaru when they get their car serviced. For one, I am taking mine back to get them on record that their system is worst than a $120 Alpine I have in my 30 year old jeep with a wire hanging out as an antena

03-18-2013, 09:48 AM	#21
MmmDieselFumes Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Drives: . Location: . Posts: 333 Thanks: 176 Thanked 118 Times in 80 Posts Mentioned: 6 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I used to get decent and consistent HD signal with my stock antenna. Installed my Beat-Sonic Shark-Fin and signal strength instantly took a hit. Where I used to enjoy constant HD content (it would only play in non-HD when first tuning into a station), it now cuts in and out in about 15-second intervals on all stations that broadcast in HD. Especially easy to notice when you're on the 2nd of a multicast station, since the music just stops instead of dropping to non-HD. That being said, I still wouldn't go back to the stock RC-car antenna (that look was just atrocious). I'd LOVE to find a way to boost quality of the sharkfin, but I'll just stick to using tunedin radio, pandora, slacker, songza, and iheartradio streaming from my phone. Only time this is ever an issue is when I'm driving through areas with no 3G (ie West-Texas).

03-20-2013, 03:03 PM	#23
White64Goat Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 13 BRZ CBS LTD MT, 02 WRX Location: Fred. Co. Md. Posts: 2,347 Thanks: 65 Thanked 1,111 Times in 627 Posts Mentioned: 19 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Have not had a chance to try it yet. Had a death in the family. Maybe this evening if I get home early enough.

03-20-2013, 08:57 PM	#25
White64Goat Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 13 BRZ CBS LTD MT, 02 WRX Location: Fred. Co. Md. Posts: 2,347 Thanks: 65 Thanked 1,111 Times in 627 Posts Mentioned: 19 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	Well...............save your $$$. Focus antenna was no better than stock, actually it was slightly worse than the stock one. Next test will be with a standard type stainless steel one. Will report results once tested.

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