Customer Reviews

Metra 44UA200 Univ Glass Mnt Amplfd Ant

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I put an after market deck in my 2000 Monte Carlo about a year ago. The immediate downside to the project was the loss of AM reception. I used the adapter for the existing stock antenna, and tried two or three other after market antennas. This one finally did the trick.

Here's the thing, unlike converting to stock, or the other after market antennas I tried, this one plugged directly into the back of my JVC deck (no converter). That may have played a role, but that point aside, this antenna performs better than the original deck ever did, or the decks in my other vehicles. I had it installed in about 45 minutes, after deciding where to position it and if/where to ground it. In my case, grounding made a huge difference in reducing static.

I live about an hour north of Milwaukee and can now pull in Milwaukee (and Chicago) AM stations clear as a bell, and was actually listening to a station out of Eastern Iowa for kicks. I can finally listen to sports again!!! FM reception wasn't an issue with my other antennas, and this one seems to pull in everything up and down the dial. Your mileage may vary, but I found this to be the perfect solution to my reception problem AND easy to install.

I purchased this antenna because I have an older vehicle and the stock antenna was no longer working due to the cable becoming rusted. I wanted to test the reception before disassembling the dash and routing the wire, so I temporarily hooked up the antenna wire, power and ground. I was just holding the antenna by the base up on the windshield and using scan to pickup stations. It didn't find any more stations than I could get with my failing antenna, and even the strong local one seemed to have more static than before. I tried moving the antenna to different locations on the windshield to see if that affected performance and inadvertently pulled the power wire off its temporary location and the signal got better! I ended up leaving just the antenna and ground wire hooked up and can now get many stations that I couldn't before, and all local stations come in perfectly.

Summary: Don't hook up power wire.

I installed this on a 2003 Suzuki Aerio whose roof mounted antenna had cracked and deteriorated from age. Rather than remove the lining this antenna easily mounted on the front right (passenger) side of the windshield. I used the A-frame molding to route the leads down into the dash. It is a powered antenna so I jumpered into the radio power and was all set. Great reception! A small red LED lights to let you know it's functional. Great price and much less labor than I expected. Entire job was done in less than an hour and looks professional.

Installed this antenna on my 1983 GMC truck. Pulled the instrument panel face off and slid it up under the dash. Works great. I didn't hook up the amp lead and it works fine. Screwed the ground into an instrument panel screw and it seemed to make a slight difference in clarity.

Works great, a little big, but I have a 94 civic that I use for commuting, so I'm not too worried about aesthetics. Not hard to install, I just hooked up the antenna wire and power wire and left the ground disconnected sounds fine with no engine noise etc....

I purchased this Metra 44-UA200 antenna to restore operation of my FM 1 and 2 analog radio bands after using the factory mast antenna to connect my added Peripheral HD tuner by iSimple for OEM radios, which had caused me to lose RDS and time setting features provided on the analog band setting (the added HD band functions don't provide RDS and the time feature provided on the factory radio's OEM FM1 analog band).

This Metra antenna has a roughly 1"x3" box at its center. The ends extending from this "box" are a 1/16" thin electronics board looking material which appears to only be only somewhat flexible. Overall length of the antenna section is roughly 14".

The antenna "box" has a small red LED lighted when powered. It also has a short woven grounding strap, and a long length of antenna cable with an attached positive power lead bonded to it. The radio plug is standard Motorola. There are also three ample areas on the antenna section with adhesive for mounting.

I used a Metra 40-GM21 adapter with this Metra antenna to adapt its standard Motorola connector to the OEM radio in my 2007 Silverado Classic - which uses the male "mini" antenna connector provided on the Metra 40-GM21 adapter.

I wrapped the entire antenna in about a 1/4" of poly foam and used some duct tape to hold this in place. After removing the factory radio, I found a place just rearward of the center dash windshield vent and used a nylon cabe tie to anchor the antenna in place - totally hidden under the 2007 Silverado dash. I also drilled a small hole in a grounded bracket there and used a small eye "crimp" connector and screw to secure the ground.

The Metra 40-GM21 adapter had a 90 degree bend I also removed, as a bend in the coax was not needed in my install - as such a bend, or a pinched cable, can severely degrade electrical performance of any antenna system. This was done by simply spreading the metal crimp, bending the tang straight, and crimping it back lightly to avoid any pinching of the coax cable on the adapter.

Once I had the antenna and radio installed, I checked the performance. The antenna provided good signal for local FM without connecting the power wire for its amplifier. This was enough to restore my RDS and "auto" time setting features. The analog band AM was very weak by comparison. But, once the power wire was connected, AM returned to the analog radio band at roughly what it had been using the OEM fender mounted mast antenna - and my FM improved to the point of adding the more distant FM stations that had been previously provided by the mast antenna. The small internal amplifier of this antenna just helps overcome losses from its long and very thin coax - a good reason for connecting the short included grounding strap. A shorter and better shielded coax with a larger center wire would probably make the power wire un-necessary - especially considering the added adapter connection I used probably created a 3dB signal loss. Overall, I'm pleased with this antenna and would recommend it, as it did exactly what I wanted and needed - and for the fact I was able to totally conceal it and still have very good performance using it.

made in china

Bought this antenna looking for something that would be inside the truck. The car wash I take my truck to forgot to remove my metal rod one and broke it off. I didn't want that concern in the future. I mounted it at the top of the windshield behind the rearview mirror. I was amazed to find that this new antenna worked much better than the old metal rod. I can tune in radio stations from neighboring cities and have absolutely no static with local stations in the greater Houston, Texas area.

Only 2 negative things I could say. First, it doesn't come with a detailed instruction booklet. I have been installing stereo equipment for over 22 years. I kind or know what to expect. The average Joe may not. Second, it would be nice if it came with a fuse also. There are no specifications given that told me what the power consumption was to properly protect the unit with and aftermarket fuse. I installed a 3 amp fuse and the unit seems to be working properly.

Overall it was one of the best purchases I have ever made. Get yourself one and never worry again about breaking your outside antenna. You'll be surprised and impressed with the new reception you get!

This is the worst out of all my experiences with antennas!!! I am some what of an audio freak so I have alot of experience with antennas and I could not stand the crappy signal that I COULD NOT receive with this hunk-o-junk!!! I tried multiple mounting areas and the best signal I picked up wasn't good enough to even listen to comfortably let alone support my hd radio!!! I would not recommend this product to any one!!! The signal pick up with the power amp hooked up is no better than with out it hooked up and they are both HORRIBLE!!!

I installed this in a horizontal position which did quite well until the antenna pointed directly at the stations ... a vertical orientation probably would have avoided this issue.

now that it is glued to the window hard to change the alignment.

still it works pretty well giving me almost as good reception as my old antenna and much better than after the antenna was broken off.

This antenna worked very well and is un-noticable stuck on the windshield above the rear view mirror. I get more stations than i did with the factory antenna. I had to hook up the power wire unlike some people who reviewed this product. I got a good amount of stations without it hooked up, but it did a lot better hooked up properly. Very happy with the product.