It's nearly time for my hoolidays (although destination is tbd depending on the Younger Mrs S. actually deciding... ) but anyways... to carry everything that herself and baby S. (aka Queen of the Sith) "needs".. Ahhhh I've been searching for a roof box.

I worked out that I need one of aboot 130-140cm in order to fit between the aerial and the leading edge of the roof, so it's balanced and doesn't arrive at my destination hours before the rest of the car does.

So far, a few likely contenders on fleabay have resulted in disappointment (mainly since some peoples have no hesitation in paying nearly the new price for a manky and well second-handed piece of kit)... so I'm still looking. Anyone with a Thule Ocean 100 gi's a PM.

By roundabout thought.. all this ^ has led me to wonder whether a sharks fin radio aerial will work on my old beast (the tenuous link being whether I could get a longer roof box and fit it further back, where it would foul the current aerial)... I happened to see one on a BMW 1-series (or it may have been a Kia Soprano etc.) and it looked quite cool. It would also fit under a longer roof box... (although I probably wouldn't do that, since such a long roof box would be bigger than the car.

I presume they just have a regular signal wire and an earth so I would just need to attach it to the car via an existing or new drilled hole and connect it to my existing wires. Assuming someone parks a Kia Soprano etc. in my street and I can nick the aerial one evening... how easy is it/has anyone done it to replace my aerial with a blade and have it immediately work?


Ralf S.

You mean this sort of type:

https://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/product/sharkfin-dab-fm-car-aerial/

Aye! That one looks like a DAB variant (my old stereo is merely steam powered) and the extra hump looks taller than my current post aerial (the BMW 1-series/Kia had a lower and more sexah item of kit)... but essentially that's what I'm talking about.


Ralf S.

Ralf S. said:

Aye! That one looks like a DAB variant (my old stereo is merely steam powered) and the extra hump looks taller than my current post aerial (the BMW 1-series/Kia had a lower and more sexah item of kit)... but essentially that's what I'm talking about.


Ralf S.

Click to expand...

Ralf S

The one linked to is 70mm high to it's highest point. They are also DAB & FM, so IF you upgrade your stereo later you won't need to change the aerial, it has connections for both AM/FM and DAB+. They have other shark fin aerials on that site that are more BMW type... but they are 65mm high, so not much in it really. How low do you really need to be ?

I don't have a height in mind.. it just needs to look saucy.

But I guess the lower the better).


I might have a root around the breakers, to see if I can find something not too dear so I can fiddle about and see what's needed to make it work. If I get something with the same number of wires as my post aerial, then there's more chance that it will be a bolt-on job. Until I see it and decide like it, I'll be reluctant to start chopping the car or its wiring up..


Ralf S.