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Review on πŸ“» Vktech 44-UA200 Universal Power Amplified Window Glass Mount AM FM Radio Antenna - Enhanced Reception and Easy Installation by John Vann

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Five stars for car accessories

This works great. I installed it in a 5th generation Monte Carlo. In these vehicles, the antenna amplifier is integrated into the heated rear window and often fails. I place this block between the windshield and the headliner, just behind the rearview mirror. I routed the cables over the headliner and down behind the passenger side pillar and also behind the passenger side panel into the dashboard where I connected them to my Sony head unit. Overall, this is a very clean build and not visible from the outside. in a car or in a car. When I hooked it up to the main unit wiring harness for the first time, I connected the 12v wire to the yellow power supply. As mentioned, this is the power supply for the radio's memory and the antenna is constantly powered. On the other hand, even with this connection, the total parasitic drain on my entire car's battery was only 17 milliamps, showing how low the current draw of this antenna should be. Anyway, I fixed that bug and instead soldered the 12v antenna power to the red wire on the radio harness which turns it on and off when the key is turned and removed from the ignition. The signal cable from the antenna was the right end to fit directly to my Sony Drive 5 head unit without an adapter. My only complaint was the short 4 inch ground wire. While it wasn't a big deal to solder a piece of 12 gauge car wire to it and shrink that 4 inch of bare wire, it would be nice to have something really usable as few cars have a proper ground connection in such close proximity. to the windshield. I then routed this ground wire the same way as the others and found solid ground behind the dash. In summary, the power wire should be soldered to the RED wire on the heae unit wiring harness, and the ground should be connected to every metal point in contact with the frame, which can be checked with an ammeter between the ground wire and the intended ground. In terms of performance, this works pretty well. Because I replaced the antenna with a faulty amplifier, my car stopped picking up 3 FM stations while I was in the driveway until about 35 stars. I definitely recommend this antenna.

Pros
  • Few competitors
Cons
  • Unreliable