Aerial placement

[john wyatt]

I have recently bought an old Becker Mexico cassette player which could have been fitted to my 69 car from new hoping it will fit in along with it's amp, thing is I don't really want to drill body to mount an aerial, any good suggestions? Had thought of trying an electronic one but last experience was not great

[vee12eman]

Hi John,

I had this debate too when fitting an aerial. I went for the drill option merely because the Series III wiring loom supports a power aerial which is what I fitted. Drilling the hole was a very difficult thing to bring myself to do!

However, in investigating, I did look at windscreen mount aerials and amplified internal aerials which fit on the dash and can be secured without drilling. I can't vouch for the efficiency, because I didn't choose that route.

An alternative may be to fit a modern player with a USB input, or convert your Becker, there are several companies that will do this. This will allow you to use an MP3 player with a built in radio. This may not be very effective inside an FHC, but could work in an OTS - the easy way to try is to try the player without connecting to any in-car stereo before buying it. You will probably need a fairly good player to get reception, some actually have external wire aerials which you might be able to somehow hang out of the window and secure so it doesn't flap around - not perfect, but at least there are no holes to drill! The USB socket also allows you to take a wide range of music with you - I have 8gb of music in my E-Type, with no cds or cassettes to carry!

If you don't want a modern looking radio but still want USB input, then there are companies that can convert your system, or you can take the option I did and fit a modern radio with period 2-button appearance, mine was from Custom Autosound in US.

I have just remembered the old Cassette converters, which allow you to connect an external device to a cassette deck with a cassette shaped adaptor and cable - much cheaper than the above options if you can get an external radio that works inside the car - if you have an OTS, try running the aerial in the roof?

Hope this helps,

Regards,

[Heuer]

I have a windscreen mount powered aerial and it works - sort of. Picks up some stations but I have to admit I rarely if ever use the radio or mp3 player. The XK engine sounds so good it is the only sound track I need, music is for modern cars.

[mystery type]

which allow you to connect an external device to a cassette deck with a cassette shaped adaptor and cable

yes i have one of those, its called a cassette sd card reader
a clever way of playing music, without having to buy lots of tapes!
i would forget drilling holes for the aerial, as the cassette player will work without an aerial, and radio reception is usually bad anyway

[john wyatt]

Thanks for the replies gents, I was forgetting about the iPod having a built in radio, I have an itrip which broadcasts fm from the iPod, my roadster has just been put in to a painter in Peebles to try and improve on some of the panel fit, boot lid is looking much happier already!