About car aerials:
The car aerial/antenna is used to provide the driver and passengers with strong radio reception. Most cars have external aerials located on the side or roof of the vehicle.
In most cases, the aerial / antenna is connected to an aerial cable which runs through your vehicle and plugs into the back of your head radio unit/navigation system. This allows for the transfer or radio signals, which are then played through the car speakers.
Learn more about how aerials work >
Causes of a broken car aerial:
When the aerial is damaged, you may experience reduced radio reception or no reception at all. This can be annoying, making long drives seem even longer. Below is a list of common causes:
Bent or snapped aerial – The aerial can become bent or snap (often from leaving it up in a mechanical car wash), significantly reducing its effectiveness. Be careful when taking your vehicle through a car wash, as the car cleaners can knock and damage the aerial.
Loose/damaged cable – The cable that connects the aerial to the radio head unit may have lost connection. If this is the case, there will be no signal at all.
Faulty head unit/car radio – The car radio head unit may be defective. This could cause the car radio to not work correctly. If your car’s radio head unit is defective, we can install a new one for you.
Partially broken off aerial – if you car aerial is snapped or partially broken off then you may get poor, fussy, static filled noise through your car speakers. This is because radio aerials or antennas are designed to be a certain length to pick up certain signal radio waves at a certain signal strength. When they are shorter than expected they only pick up part of the wave, and you can get a lot of static and interfering noise through your radio.
Electric car aerial wont go up or down – if your electric car aerial is stuck down, then you either won’t get any radio reception, or very poor radio station reception. The radio may be patchy in its radio station coverage and fade in and out of reception. It may also have a lot of static which makes the radio hard to hear / listen to.
Installing a new car aerial:
Most of the time, installing a new aerial is a simple, straightforward job. Below is how the aerial is replaced:
- The cable is disconnected from the car radio head unit and checked for damage.
- The nuts that hold the car aerial in place are undone and the old car aerial is removed.
- The new car aerial cable is plugged into the car radio head unit and fed through to the outside of your car, where the new car aerial / car antenna is connected.
- The car aerial assembly is fastened into place to prevent it from coming loose.
- The radio stations are checked and tuned in to make sure you can listen as desired.
Car aerial replacement and installation in Hamilton
At Grimer Motors, we can quickly and correctly install a new car aerial for you. This will allow for improved radio listening. We are also able to provide replacement cables in the event that the cable has broken.
For installation of anew car aerial in Hamilton, contact Grimmer Motors today!