Why the once-ubiquitous stick antenna is now an endangered species
Associated Press
Jan 26, 2008
DETROIT–An automotive appendage that often goes unnoticed on the road – unless it loses a battle with the automatic car wash – is disappearing as it succumbs to changing technology, tastes and economics.
The stalwart stick, pole or fixed-mast antenna, mounted on the fender of nearly every vehicle two decades ago, is now on about half of all new models and its ranks continue to dwindle. When trucks are removed from the equation, it's around 25 per cent.
Its vanishing act is notable on many new vehicles. The 2008 Ford Taurus, for example, has a hidden, in-glass antenna and optional small, roof-mounted satellite radio antenna.
"There's an industrywide push to move away from a metal mast antenna," said Alan Hall, a spokesperson for Ford Motor Co. "Within the next few years, all (Ford) cars and crossovers will have transitioned to the smaller antenna.''
The stick antenna faces interference on several fronts. Designers seek to erase anything that detracts from sleek lines, engineers want to eliminate drag that increases noise and decreases gas mileage, and consumers desire signals for their cellphones, satellite radios and global-positioning system devices.
And auto executives are trying to cut costs of commodities such as steel and reduce threats to quality – even before cars reach consumers. Stick antennas are removed when the carriers deliver the cars to dealers so they aren't damaged.
Toyota Motor Corp. is mostly free of the traditional long stick antenna, except on single-cab pickup trucks and convertibles, which aren't well-suited for in-glass antennas.
One Toyota executive said the change began in 2001. Quality, fuel economy and cost of operation, drive Toyota's decision-making, said Paul Williamsen, the national manager of Lexus College, a training school for U.S. dealers.
"Both are what come out of the customer's pocketbook. And an antenna is going to lose on both."
The change has challenged antenna suppliers. Some have gone out of business or been acquired by larger suppliers as auto makers have sought to squeeze costs.
"You have to provide what they want or else you lose their business," said Jan Boring, president of Global Products Inc. and sales representative for the U.S. subsidiary of Japan-based Harada Industry Co. Ltd., one of the world's major mobile antenna makers. "There's been a demand by the industry for increased technological improvements for hidden types of antennas.''
Boring said Harada still makes stick antennas, but has moved toward roof-mounted and in-glass models that accommodate GPS, cellular and other frequencies.
The old stick probably would have vanished by now – but for one nagging thing: It has provided better reception than its offspring.
"For really good reception for low and high frequency, boy, it's hard to beat a good stick on a large field of metal,'' Williamsen said.
He said auto makers have worked for 25 years on a "diversity antenna," a field of antennas that can be embedded in the side and rear glass of the vehicles to pull in signals. It's a way of achieving similar results from the stick.
General Motors Corp. tried putting antennas in windshields in the 1970s, but they didn't offer good reception. And the standard stick also was threatened in the 1980s and '90s by power mast antennas, electronically controlled by drivers. Problem was, the power antenna was even more likely to be damaged in car washes if it wasn't lowered.
Boring said the evolution of the antenna – and demise of the stick – is positive.
"You have abilities to have navigation systems in your vehicle, cellular phones and telematics, capability of having satellite radio and others," he said. "You have these conveniences without having extra antenna masts protruding from the vehicle.''
Toronto Star
http://www.wheels.ca/article/167028
(Fred Waterer via ODXA)
