An alternative to the ugly antenna. Feedback welcome.

[txgcoupe]

Just received this today.

Painted to match the Dark Currant. Matches perfectly.

As soon as I get the car washed I'll install it and snap some better pictures.

I had one of these on my Mazda and it worked great with no signal loss on either AM/FM or Satellite.

John

[luvEX35]

John, Looks really sharp, where did you get that, did you install yourself?

[EibachMBZ]

Wow! Thats nice!

Is this the cover they sell you just put over your antenna base with like a little wire attach to it?VG Shark Antenna or something...

[MagicMan2000]

Very nice indeed!

Please do share whether or not you have any interference for XM/NAV (I believe the antenna for the AM/FM are located in the rear window so changing to the shark fin won't affect those).

I believe there was a thread about changing over to the shark fin and how it would screw up your XM signal...if it doesn't, then this is a great option! If it does, well, you'll need to decide if looks are worth giving up XM for...

[txgcoupe]

The AM/FM is not in the rear window. The roof unit is the combined AM/FM/SAT antenna array.

The removeable whip is for the AM/FM.

John

[SDMF]

I believe it is from http://www.visualgarage.com/home.html

The EX35 needs the VG Shark Fin Antenna Mark II

It is not officially out yet on the web site, but try to email them.

[txgcoupe]

That is correct. This is one of the first Mark II's. Fits over the factory unit perfectly.

I've bought from them before and these do work well.

Give them your paint code and they paint to match.

John

[mandelbloom]

Any word on how this affects or dose not affect XM reception?

[JCL622]

is it wrong that i actually like our stock antenna?

i mean i can certainly understand why u wouldnt like it, but for this type of vehicle i think the kind we have stock is very fitting...lol

but if you're going for that full luxo look then yea, this looks great john

[mandelbloom]

Yea I kinda like it too...but that looked cool I see you had a 2009 and a 2010. Did you notice much diff? I got an 09 for a good price always wondered if I should have gone 2010.

[MagicMan2000]

Alright, did some research on the RF locations in our vehicles:

- The AM/FM antenna is the rod sticking up out of the base- The base is the XM antenna- The GPS antenna (for those cars so equipped) is located in the dash just in front of the center channel speaker.- There is also an FM-Sub antenna which is located in the rear window.- Bluetooth antenna is located in the dashboard also near the center channel speaker.

Applying this antenna to your vehicle will require you to remove the AM/FM rod and plug in the shark fin into the screw hole where the AM/FM antenna was located. Since you plug in the shark fin into the contact where the AM/FM antenna connection is, there shouldn't be any AM/FM signal loss. You are, however, covering up the XM antenna...but again, since it is a digital signal, as long as the signal dBw is high enough to penetrate, there shouldn't be an issue.

[OneOfOne]

no its not wrong because there is nothing wrong with it and no reason to even think of it unless youre getting poor reception. I only think of mine when I happen to see it and then only for as much time as it takes to leave my field of view.

[txgcoupe]

Here are pictures of the Shark Fin antenna cover installed. Notice the car is clean too.

Note that there is no loss of AM/FM/SAT signal whatsoever.

You'll note the quality of the paint too.

If interested, this product can be found here:http://www.visualgarage.com

John








Modified by txgcoupe at 3:29 PM 1/21/2010

[kamiguy]

Looks great!! Glad you found the time to wash your car with all the mods you have been doing recently... . I wonder how it will look with the burnt tips on your Megan exhaust!! Was that not too subtle??

[OneOfOne]

no question that dark courant is the best color for the EX. people will question you about it all the time when they see it. a true luxury color unlike all the boring shades of gray and black.