Does it have to 1/4 wave length. What if it was half or 3/4 wave length. You could bend it all the way back and attach it to the bumperDon't let facts get in the way of a good story. Brilliant. I'm impressed.
What if it was 1/2 or 3/4 wave length. You could bend it all the way back and attach it to the bumperTurns out that Ford was listening to their customers and it serves a purpose. AKA: We should complain about it on a forum!
The topic came up today on Jalopnik and it's an interesting read with some great comments at the bottom. Most of the comments get top marks for snark and creativity, meaning some of us B6g members need to step your games up!
https://jalopnik.com/why-does-a-modern-truck-like-the-2022-ford-f-150-lightn-1846955635
The answer, it seems, is both technical and demographic.I’ve covered the tech behind car radio antennae before, and you may recall that the reason old-school car antennas (both plurals are acceptable, I’m just mixing it up) were as long as they were is because they work best if they’re a specific fraction of the wavelength they’re trying to pick up — and in the case of FM radio, that comes to about 1/4 wavelength, or 31 inches.
Those shark fin and short, stumpy antennae have little coils of wire inside them to get to the proper length, but the truth is they’re actually less optimal for picking up FM signals, and significantly worse at picking up amplitude-modulated (AM) radio signals. They’re known as “electrically small antennas” and they have well-known and understood limitations.Now, for most modern car buyers, less-than-optimal FM isn’t really a deal breaker (it’s generally good enough) and picking up AM is just not something most SUV or car buyers care about much at all.Truck drivers, Ford has found, are different.In talking to Mike Levine, Ford’s Product Communications Manager, he summed up why Ford still uses the old whips like this:The mast antenna supports the AM/FM performance best over other design options. Rural AM FTW!I think the “rural AM” bit is the key here — if there’s a type of broadcast more likely to be consumed by F-150 buyers than mainstream SUV/passenger car buyers, it’s rural AM stations. This must be important enough that Ford is willing to keep putting old whip antennas on their trucks, even if it means they don’t get to just dip into the parts bin for a shark fin antenna, and they have to place GPS/cell antennae in another unit somewhere.Photo of the Bronco's whip antenna
Sponsored