Antenna mounted under roof rack on Nissan Xterra--OK??

Scott Stephens · 05-28-2003, 01:21 AM

I've got a Nissan Xterra and have my Terk antenna mounted, as recommended, on the rear part of the roof with the wires feeding into the cargo area.

The problem is the antenna is positioned just under one of the bars of the roof rack (bar is about 2.5 inches wide and made of aluminum). Is this going to affect my reception? I do experience dropouts quite occasionally (only a few seconds usually) but I've attributed that to my location--I live right at the base of the Rocky mountains...I mean really close. Could the roof rack be causing or contributing to the dropouts?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Diallo B · 05-28-2003, 10:38 PM

In my experience anything that blocks the antenna is cause for poor reception. The antenna should have a clear open path to the sky for the best reception.

djb

Jason Merrick · 06-03-2003, 01:38 PM

Scott,

It may or may not be the roof rack, the mountains can definitely cause dropouts. To troubleshoot it, is it possible to either slide the roof rack bar forward or remove it completely for a few days? If you still experience dropouts, than the mountain is the problem, if not, then the roof rack is the problem.

David Rubenstein · 06-03-2003, 03:04 PM

I have my antennea mounted inside of my car (on the rear shelf) and my reception is great.

Eric T · 06-05-2003, 08:05 PM

David, do you have tinted windows? I was thinking of doing something similar, either on the rear deck or on the corner of the dash, but my rear window is tinted. Not sure if that would cause a problem...

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David Rubenstein · 06-06-2003, 04:51 AM

I don't have tinted windows. When I originally bought XM (from Best Buy), they refuesed to mount it on the rear shelf. I went to HiFi Buys (Tweeter) and they were more than happy to mount it for me. It works great and you really can't notice it.

DavidHos · 06-08-2003, 08:43 PM

Hey, I would defintiely look at an interior mounting option. I have my antenna mounted on my dash up by the window (I have a pickup) an have no reception problems. My son has his mounted on the roof of his car and, after seeing, mine, has been bugging me to move his to the inside

Michael D. Bunting · 06-10-2003, 10:03 AM

I have a Nissan Pathfinder...and mine is located on top of my truck, under the roof rack. It's only partialy under the rack though...I get an occasional drop-out - but I attribute this to the fact that I leive between 2 mountain ranges here in Seattle.

Jason Merrick · 06-11-2003, 02:25 PM

Window tinting that is metal-based (most of them are) will definitely affect your reception.

I mounted my antenna on the passenger side of my dashboard and it works great.