I just got a new radio installed in my 85 jag and the power antenna was broken so they installed an in dash radio and I was only able to pick up one am and no am stations. The stereo shop said it was due to the jag being built like a tank that no signial could penetrate..so the then installe a winshied antenna and ido get a few more stations but as soon as I get more than 5 miles from town I lose them all...anybody else have this problem or any ideas???

 

Tom, yes, especially the older cars, the need for an antenna is a must. The windshield ones are ok at best. Personally, if you can, replace the power antenna with either a new power antenna or remove the power antenna and put in a fixed antenna. Either way, you want something on the outside of the car. Radio waves tend to travel inside the steel, not through it. So, if you have the radio inside the dash, the body of the car is going to shunt the radio waves around in the body and not let them escape to the interior of the car, where the radio is sitting. The antenna essentially is a piece of metal that can absorb the radio waves and then shorts them directly to the radio itself.

Where I work, I am inside of a steel tube that shields everything. I can't get a cell phone or radio signal inside of the tube if I wanted to. If we need to get a signal, we either have to walk over to the opening or we have to run a cable to inside the tube with an antenna on the end. Gotta love working inside of a submarine.

 

Jags are built like tanks, yes. If you have a crash, pity the pour soul you run into.

You could replace the broken antenna with an aftermarket power unit for $100 or so, or just install a fixed mast type.

Cheers
DD