Name that antenna

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Roaming Wombat

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Fortress Europa
Anyone able to identify what this type of antenna is called? Managed to sheer it off :oops: while tinkering with my wipers. It was mounted on my wing, I assumed it was for the radio but I'm thinking not as it still works...
 

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If it's possible, follow the cable back to the kit it connects to.
TBH, while it does look a bit like a "special purpose" aerial, I would say that it's nothing more than the aerial for your in-car stereo. The little "coil" in the middle just adds to the technical look of the thing but there are too many turns on it to be VHF or even 27 megs.The only effect that the coil will provide is some lengthening of the element.
Aerials such as yours were quite the rage some time back.
 
I had one of those for my radio. Went very rusty and so I've replaced it with a one of similar height, but rubberised on the outside.
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You can see it lying on the wing behind the brake fluid reservoir.
 
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Any idea what the aerial type is called? As much as I could get a rubber covered one for a fiver I do like the look of the one I broke so want to get a replacement one (mine was rusty as fook too:D)
 
The actual technical name for such an aerial is a "Centre loaded whip", or at least it would be if the coil was actually a tuned element in the aerial system.
In the duty this aerial is expected to work, just as an AM/FM car radio aerial and not as a specialist dual band VHF/UHF radiating element, the coil serves no tuned purpose, it's just a blingy and technical looking method of slightly shortening to bit sticking up in the air.
 
It's only about 30cm long :eek:

If you are thinking about aerials for the 2 metre and 70 centimetre amateur radio bands then 30 cms isn't that far off the required dimensions. For instance an efficient transmitting aerial for 2 mtrs, commonly known as a quarter-wave whip would be 19 inches long (48.26 cms) and the loading coil would then appear to lengthen the whip from 30 cms to 48 cms therefore maintaining the tuning. The position of the coil is also arranged to be approximately a quarter wavelength at 70cms above the groundplane which is about 17.5 cms.

The electrical value of the coil, or the inductance is designed to present a high impedence to the 70 cms RF which stops it going further along the radiating element.

It sounds a bit confusing, being able to stop a signal travelling along a conductor with nothing more than a coil, but it is RF we're talking about which doesn't behave in quite the same way as you would expect DC to behave.

But all of that is somewhat acedemic since the aerial isn't a 2 mtr/70 cms dual band aerial, it's just a car radio AM/FM aerial with a spring in the middle doing a job you could quite easily do with a bent coathanger.
 
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