[caver01]

Ok, I did it. It took a while, but I did it. I have NO visible antenna on my car now.

I will post pics tonight, but basically, what I did was this:

First, I already have a spring-wire antenna setup. This was a solder job that is necessary for my new INTERNAL antenna to work correctly. I carefully bent the spring wire forward 90 degrees at a point about 4-5 mm above the edge of the circuit board cover. This resulted in my spring wire antenna pointing straight forward.

Next, I took a small round tool (screwdriver shaft would work) and tightly wrapped a double loop into the spring wire situated vertically. This double loop is slightly smaller in diameter than a pencil eraser.

So, if you can picture this now, I have a tiny round looped spring wire (loop is on edge, in other words, the circule can be seen from the side). This loop is situated JUST ABOVE the center of the circuit board. Getting this? The idea is that this loop is going to serve as a spring-fitting connection point to the UNDERSIDE of plastic body. Now, when I place the body on the car, this loop touches the inside center of the roof with slight compression. The point is that I want to make electrical contact to the part described below:

Now for the Nokia-style antenna. . .
I started with a paper cutout of what amounts to a flattened body layout. My plan was to cut out a copper sheet (.003 mm I think, not quite foil but a little thicker than that) and once I had the copper fitting correctly, cut it into an elaborate zigzag. This plan failed. It was just too hard to get a pre-fit and I found that I was constantly making adjustments to position, cut a little copper here, cut a little there etc. Solution was to start over with a new piece and totally ignore my paper template. This was MUCH better:

I started with a 2mm strip of copper that was 18" long. (sorry for mixing metric with inches!) The sheet I had was only 9" long, so I cut a 4mm piece and cut that lengthwise, leaving the end attached so it was one continuous piece 2mm long. In addition, I left a square tab at the end of one part to serve as a starting point and electrical contact under the roof of the car.

Now that I had the copper ready, I started out by trimming the larger tab at one end so that when placed on the roof, my spring-wire antenna above would touch the center of it. I taped it in place on the roof (this tape will come off later). Next, I began running the copper strip, flat along one of the roof struts to the back, folding it and flattening the folds where I needed to make turns. I made my way to the rear deck lid, went horizontally, then back along the rear of the body. Next, over the rear wheel well, a "W" on the door, a "M" on the front hood, another W on the other door, then to the back roof strut, and back to the roof where I trimmed off the excess. I taped it down the whole way to keep it in place. Eventually, I untaped the starting point which needs to be unobscurred copper so it can make electrical contact. By that point, the rest of it was taped down, so I could start to neaten the tape and tape down the end so it did not bump the start.

I went around the job and retaped where necessary, cleaning up my work and checking position so the flat copper strip could not be seen through the windows. When I was satisfied that it would not catch on the wheels, tape was not seen through windows, etc. I attached the body to the chassis! The looped spring antenna now touched the copper tab on the roof, and following my zig-zag, I now have a TOTALLY HIDDEN, 15-inch copper strip antenna!

Does it work? That's the real quesiton isn't it. After spending 3 hours screwing around with this idea and ruining my previous antenna to get here, I was excited and scared to test it. It works like a champ! I am only getting a SLIGHT increase in range (I have never had the best range anyway) but my car now has NO visible antenna and at virtually NO sacrifice in weight and space. I can easily re-route my contact spring antenna so as to minimize body cavity intrusion (to make room for LED battery etc.).

I DEFINITELY recommend that someone else try this to see if you get similar results. I had already tried coiling my stock antenna and had signal problems. I don't think the stock antenna with the insulation it has works all that well coiled around inside the body. The copper strip is the only way to go for me now.

Drawbacks?
I don't see any yet! No more kitty bites on the stock antenna, and no drag or balance issues associated with the stock wire. I do have to mind the copper in case I add LEDs or something else inside so I don't short something. I may make a second version with thinner strips to make more zigzags and increase the length. My tape job is functional, but something more permanent now makes sense. Pics coming soon!