Stubby Antennas?

[Quickstep192]

Are there any stubby antennae that don’t affect the performance of the radio?

I just got a cover for the truck and I have to take the antenna off to put the cover on. If I had a stubby antenna, I’d be able to leave it on.

Any tried and true stubby antennae?

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[mrmo]

I started w a 4", looked dumb and poor signal. Changed to a 10" looks better along the A pillar and good signal now

 

[WILDHOBO]

I started w a 4", looked dumb and poor signal. Changed to a 10" looks better along the A pillar and good signal now

I picked one up at auto zone and have had zero reception issues. Works as well as the stock one. Don’t remember the brand, but here’s a picture.

 

[Average Oregonian]

Quadratec 16”.

 

[Gvsukids]

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/to-stubby-or-not-to-stubby.23835/

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/stubby-antenna-recommendations.32922/

 

[Hootbro]

The OEM antenna length is by design to balance between AM and FM signals that have different attributes. AM is more about groundwave propagation and FM is more about line of sight.

Going shorter diminishes FM reception most times with AM being way less affected. If you live in a metro area close to FM radio transmitter that has a higher watt output, then most users of stubby antennas will never notice anything. It is those who live farther away from the transmitter that will see the margins drop off quicker using a stubby antenna.

It is also not uncommon for larger and more popular FM radio stations to have multiple transmitters in a given area that are modulated together to give a more increased area coverage that a stubby antennas will never struggle to receive adequate signal strength and clear reception.

Unless there is an external FM signal amplifier inline with the stubby antenna, most stubby antennas sold are not a one for one equivalent of the OEM length antenna, just that for most users, they are in areas with sufficient signal strength to not notice.

If you live in the middle of nowhere Midwest, a stubby antenna is not something I would recommend if you live on the margins of the FM station transmitter you are trying to receive.

 

[mrmo]

I picked one up at auto zone and have had zero reception issues. Works as well as the stock one. Don’t remember the brand, but here’s a picture.

yep, similar to what i was sayin, except the one i found is thicker on the entire length

 

[Fundamental Jeepster]

Quadratec 16”.

Same here.

 

[Cruizer8]

The OEM antenna length is by design to balance between between AM and FM signals that have different attributes. AM is more about groundwave propagation and FM is more about line of sight.

Going shorter diminishes FM reception most times with AM being way less affected. If you live in a metro area close to FM radio transmitter that has a higher watt output, then most users of stubby antennas will never notice anything. It is those who live farther away from the transmitter that will see the margins drop off quicker using a stubby antenna.

It is also not uncommon for larger and more popular FM radio stations to have multiple transmitters in a given area that are modulated together to give a more increased area coverage that a stubby antennas will never struggle to receive adequate signal strength and clear reception.

Unless there is an external FM signal amplifier inline with the stubby antenna, most stubby antennas sold are not a one for one equivalent of the OEM length antenna, just that for most users, they are in areas with sufficient signal strength to not notice.

If you live in the middle of nowhere Midwest, a stubby antenna is not something I would recommend if you live on the margins of the FM station transmitter you are trying to receive.

Wish I had seen this before getting my stubby antenna. I have seen dozens of comments saying they work just as good as the factory antenna and not a single one saying performance was significantly affected. I live about 45 miles from most radio stations in my area. As soon as I installed it, I lost a couple channels and started getting static on most others, especially in places with lots of buildings or trees. Luckily I still have SXM for awhile but when that expires I will probably end up putting the stock antenna back on.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Wish I had seen this before getting my stubby antenna. I have seen dozens of comments saying they work just as good as the factory antenna and not a single one saying performance was significantly affected. I live about 45 miles from most radio stations in my area. As soon as I installed it, I lost a couple channels and started getting static on most others, especially in places with lots of buildings or trees. Luckily I still have SXM for awhile but when that expires I will probably end up putting the stock antenna back on.

It’s of course true that shorter antennas provide less quality reception, but not all of them are as bad as some. I live in a rural area, not at all close the the stations I frequent, and haven’t had a single problem. I did not try to get the very shortest one either though. I just wanted it short enough to not get caught on low hanging trail branches. I think mine is 16”.

 

[CorvusOver]

The OEM antenna length is by design to balance between AM and FM signals that have different attributes. AM is more about groundwave propagation and FM is more about line of sight.

Going shorter diminishes FM reception most times with AM being way less affected. If you live in a metro area close to FM radio transmitter that has a higher watt output, then most users of stubby antennas will never notice anything. It is those who live farther away from the transmitter that will see the margins drop off quicker using a stubby antenna.

It is also not uncommon for larger and more popular FM radio stations to have multiple transmitters in a given area that are modulated together to give a more increased area coverage that a stubby antennas will never struggle to receive adequate signal strength and clear reception.

Unless there is an external FM signal amplifier inline with the stubby antenna, most stubby antennas sold are not a one for one equivalent of the OEM length antenna, just that for most users, they are in areas with sufficient signal strength to not notice.

If you live in the middle of nowhere Midwest, a stubby antenna is not something I would recommend if you live on the margins of the FM station transmitter you are trying to receive.

99.99% of the time if I listen to music it's Spotify, so if I never listen to AM or FM then will it matter if I even have an antenna at all? Honestly I cannot remember the last time I turned on the actual radio.

 

[Cruizer8]

It’s of course true that shorter antennas provide less quality reception, but not all of them are as bad as some. I live in a rural area, not at all close the the stations I frequent, and haven’t had a single problem. I did not try to get the very shortest one either though. I just wanted it short enough to not get caught on low hanging trail branches. I think mine is 16”.

The one I got was only like 13" I think, so maybe I will look into getting one slightly taller. I am not fan of how tall the stock one is so if I can find an alternative that would be great.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The one I got was only like 13" I think, so maybe I will look into getting one slightly taller. I am not fan of how tall the stock one is so if I can find an alternative that would be great.

That was my feeling as well. A middle ground between 2” bullet and stock length fixed the problem of catching things on the trail, and didn’t hurt my reception.

 

[MyJeepShawn]

I originallypurchased a rugged ridge 9” and there was no reception. Second purchase was a quadratec 16” metal one and it is a big improvement over the rugged ridge….but not as good as the stock one.

 

[Oil_Burner]

For FM reception, the theoretical ideal length is 1/2 of the frequency wavelength. If you pick the middle of the FM band as a target, that would be 98 MHz. The length would then be 1.53 m, or 60.22 inches. Since nobody wants a 5 foot antenna, somewhere around a 1/4 wavelength antenna is typically used, which would put the antenna length about 30.1 inches. You can use a much shorter antenna, but expect signal strength to fall off substantially as you reduce the length. Vehicles that have those very small shark fin antennas, have a signal amplifier as part of the antenna before that signal is sent to the radio.

The Wrangler/Gladiator uses a 35 inch antenna. I suspect it's a compromise to give AM better performance, without sacrificing too much FM reception. That 35 inch antenna is tuned for 84.3 MHz, tuned slightly below the normal FM reception band.

A 16 inch antenna would be a 1/8 Wavelength FM antenna ideally tuned for 92.2 MHz, but with a reduced signal strength.

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