[aprssig] Re: Mounting 2M Xcvr in '05 Toyota Camry

[KC2MMI (Jared)]

"my new 2006 Jetta TDI has an antenna embedded in
the rear window.  Somehow they are utilizing the defogger grid in the
rear window as "
 You may remember GM went to using a dipole wire in the front windshield in the
70's models. This was to show how advanced and sleek they were and supposedly
car-wash and vandal-proof as well. There was some talk that internally it was
also more PROFITABLE, less wiring and less body installation work to do.
 GM scrapped the idea shortly after because they in-glass antennas just don't
work well in Kansas and other places with weak signals. No doubt VW is trying
the same thing for the same reasons--sleek, modern, vandal-proof, PROFITABLE,
but it is going to have the same weaknesses, same directional issues. With AM
radio going away and XM becoming more popular...maybe they'll get away with it
this time.

 But most everything a car company can do boils down to profit, save a dime on a
million cars and you've made a nice bonus. Technology is a faint #2 to that. I'd
like to make a million dimes this year too!

 Remember too that the antenna on a car is designed with only rx in mind,
locations for an even tx pattern will put a totally different priority on tx
antenna positions.