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Power antennas are great. You can make them go up, and, well, down, and... well, they make the radio work. The radio's important so that you can listen to, uh, well, sometimes there's good music. Anyway, they're fun to watch, and I want to keep mine working.
When Nissan (or whoever Nissan handed the specs to) designed this specific antenna, they didn't bother to weatherproof it. Sure, the mechanism has a little spout at the bottom to let the rain out (which, if I lived in Seattle, or Florida, would be all it needed), but around here, moisture will pool in the housing during the day, then freeze at night. Then the nylon gear rack inside the antenna breaks into pieces and I have to tear it apart again.
So I got to thinking, and then to hacking. Here's what I came up with: the pop-bottle cap antenna protector. (Also my first instructable! And entered in the Transform It! challenge.)
(Disclaimer: Cut metal has sharp edges, and wire has a way of whipping around and poking you in the eye if you aren't careful. Bits of wire sometimes take flight when you cut them off. Work carefully.)
Check out the vid:
When Nissan (or whoever Nissan handed the specs to) designed this specific antenna, they didn't bother to weatherproof it. Sure, the mechanism has a little spout at the bottom to let the rain out (which, if I lived in Seattle, or Florida, would be all it needed), but around here, moisture will pool in the housing during the day, then freeze at night. Then the nylon gear rack inside the antenna breaks into pieces and I have to tear it apart again.
So I got to thinking, and then to hacking. Here's what I came up with: the pop-bottle cap antenna protector. (Also my first instructable! And entered in the Transform It! challenge.)
(Disclaimer: Cut metal has sharp edges, and wire has a way of whipping around and poking you in the eye if you aren't careful. Bits of wire sometimes take flight when you cut them off. Work carefully.)
Check out the vid:
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Signing UpStep 1What you Need
You need:
A bottle cap or two (beer caps are more fun to look at, I used an Izzie cap because it matched the truck)
The motor from a wind-up toy car (we need the steel spring inside; just hit it with a hammer and it'll come apart)
Epoxy
Duct Tape
Wire (I used a tangle of aluminum wire I found beside the road; avoid wire that will rust)
(Optional) Turtle Wax and a rag
Tools:
Tin snips
Pliers
Something to mix the epoxy on, and with
A bottle cap or two (beer caps are more fun to look at, I used an Izzie cap because it matched the truck)
The motor from a wind-up toy car (we need the steel spring inside; just hit it with a hammer and it'll come apart)
Epoxy
Duct Tape
Wire (I used a tangle of aluminum wire I found beside the road; avoid wire that will rust)
(Optional) Turtle Wax and a rag
Tools:
Tin snips
Pliers
Something to mix the epoxy on, and with
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I think a more plausible solution would be to simply drill one or two holes in the bottom of the antenna motor housing, to allow drainage. You could also attach a piece of vacuum line to direct the drainage if you wish. That's all they really do on the ones that are made to do this already.
I applaud your creativity here! Excellent mod!
Adding a bottlecap drogue chute on the end could modify the antenna into a new instructable - how to replace a bent/broken power antenna.
Your mileage may vary, depending upon road conditions and driving habits. ;)
Nice fix - good work.
One suggestion though. You might want to find a way to prevent the cap edge from being sharp. Or perhaps it is better to say you want to prevent any scratching and keeping the friction to a minimum.
Great idea. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, and the most fun.
Still, you have not noticed any change in signal strength, so I was wrong in this regard. The only other consideration with the metallic cap is the possibility of rust.
That said, I also agree with the poster who suggested a simple 'top-hat' design would be simpler. Perhaps that could be combined with some sort of socket collar around the base in order to make a better seal...or an O-ring under the top-hat section itself for simplicity.
My only recommendation would be to clean your fingernails before your next post on Instructables - sorry, but it's gross!
I was about to comment that the poster's nails were of the perfectly appropriate length in order to serve as the God-given, free and incredibly useful tools we were all born with...dirty or not. Too many folks clip, grind, chew or otherwise mutilate their nails until they are nearly useless appendages.
If they only knew how useful fingernails are; but they never will.
Now, as a lil present to those so unfortunate as not to have such a power antenna, why not glue (or Sugru) a bottlecap the the tip of your existing antenna!.. Watch others as they stand in disbelief that you have a power antenna in a place where its impossible to have one! and, of course, with no moving parts ..
(I think its more elegant than those dumbo lil plastic balls they fix to antenna tips, anyway)
Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, awesome instructable, if I had a car, I would so build that.