How would you go about getting the damn antenna up manually?

[RICHARDO]

Hello again, my Q45t is a beater POS, and I'm a poor bastard. (Yeah, and I own a Q45, the irony isn't lost on me.) So, obviously, the power antenna dosen't go up or retract, so I had the redneck mechanic idea of just pulling the antenna up with a slot screwdriver or pliers, and just leaving it up.

What are your thoughts? Will it stay up? I will take care not to bend the antenna too bad or chip it.

[Q451990]

When I had a failed antenna, I didn't really notice a difference in performance with it stuck in the "down" position. Unless you're having trouble picking up a channel you want, I wouldn't mess with it. You actually have two antennas - one in the windshield (?) and the mast on the back. If you do force it up you'll probably break the plastic cable that retracts and pushes it up. I can't think of a way to rig it that would keep it up without using glue... probably more trouble than the 30-something dollars it would cost to fix it right, at least to me.

Heath

[maxnix]

I believe the diversity antenna is in the backlight.

[elwesso]

If you want to do that, at least pull the motor out, and cut the cable (im sure the mast is toast), then you can do it that way. I did that on my BMW.

If you want to replace the mast eventually itd be a shame to have ruined the motor...

I agree with heath, you shouldnt be getting really bad reception, because the Q has an antenna in the rear windshield and the mast one... Theres actually a procedure to use each antenna individually to test and see which one is getting the crappier reception.

If anything, I'd leave the antenna down, i think power antenna's look cheesy.. When I get my Q repained im probably going to have them fill the hole and take off the antenna completely.

[RICHARDO]

So that attenna above the rear window is for the radio?! I thought it was for the (long gone) carphone. lol.

You guys are right, it's not my attenna that's screwed, it's the radio! I'm getting a new one installed Monday.