I have been thinking about doing shark fin mod, but always have second thoughts on the antenna reception quality. I read ppl are saying if you live in a metro area (I live in San Jose, CA), there doesn't seem any noticeable degradation. So I am planning to take the horse whip antenna out, and try out the reception without it. Is it a fair statement to say that Shark fin antenna will definitely get me a better reception vs No (horse whip) antenna? thanks
I'd think the shark fin will get you much better reception than no antenna and it will look a lot better too. My shark fin gives me better reception than I had in my Camry with the standard steel antenna. At one set of traffic lights which in behind a hill my radio in the Camry would struggle, I have never noticed that in my Prius.
I stupidly busted the mount on my stock antenna. I have been driving for 3 weeks with no antenna, and essentially no radio, at least not that I want to listen to. I live in a semi-rural area and mainly listen to the Albany classical station and NPR through the local repeaters. I could not get either without the antenna. A couple of the strongest local rock and religious stations came through. On a trip to Boston I got several stations (althoug with some breakup in the downtown skyscraper area). I just put on a sharkfin, and VOILA !! all my old favorites are back. Whether better than the stock I cannot tell, but I will know tomorrow after a commuter, which always involved a bit of static with the stock antenna. Conclusion: Antenna makes a big difference, unless you are in an area with strong stations you like.
