Has anyone tried one of the 3" carbon fiber antennas? They come in multiple colors, and help avoid the installation of a switch to control the antenna operation.

 

If you're talking about the item on e-bay at less than $20.00, a quote from their description - "This antenna is a dummy and has no antenna feature." indicates it won't do you much good.

I have the same feeling about the antenna. Rev. Sam has a thread on a hidden antenna installation. This e-bay listing is a possibility. Hidden Antenna Kit 2000 thru 2004 Jaguar XKR | eBay

Give it a try and let me know how it works.

 

The ebay listing sounds like the ticket as it comes with the Euro adapter for our cars. I'll take the bait and order one tomorrow as I've been looking for a resolution to the 4' wip on these cars, very old school and looks silly IMO.

 

The listing I looked at does not say anything about it being a dummy.

 

The hidden antenna with the supplied ebay link is inexpensive enough for me to give it a try like Jandreu is doing. Hopefully the days of looking like a radio controlled car when the sound system is on are over. For $30.00 I'll soon find out.
RB

 

Interested and subscribed.

 

OK, my hidden antenna from ebay came in today and I installed it.

Works OK, not as good as the 4' whip but it picks up all the stations on Maui that I listen to.

The adapter, at first, looked like it would not fit but it does.

There is one wire that has to be supplied 12vdc, when you unplug the stock power antenna the plug has three wires on it. The green with black stripe is switched 12VDC when you turn the radio on so I used this wire to power the new antenna. Just striped back a little insulation and soldered the new wire to it.

The hardest part was getting the power plug off the stock power antenna. PIA, I ended up taking the nav and CD changer out to get to it. Now that I know how to work the plug I think I could remove it without taking everything out.

Here's the trick. Look at the two white plugs on the side of the amp, you will see they have a round white button on top of them. This is what locks the plugs in place, you push it down and it will stay down and the plugs freely pull out. The antenna plug works the same way but the little round button is on the back side against the fender where you can't see it. If you can get a finger behind the plug and push the button it will come off. Experiment with the amp plugs first to see how it works.

Be sure to tape the antenna signal wire at the junctions so it does not pull apart

I can diffidently tell a difference in signal strength when the power is not connected.

The instructions say to not surround the little box by metal, this is a challenge as all the connections are in the trunk. However if you look behind the trunk cover against the back seat at the top on the right side you can see a small cutout that opens to the area behind the seat where the top folds. If you wiggle your fingers in that cutout you can feel the rear top storage area cover. So with some determination I found a way to wiggle the antennae box into this cutout so now it sits just inside the rear window covered by the carpet liner.

Anyway I'm a happy camper, no more whip antenna . Not sure it would work for long distance stations on the mainland but works for me.

 

My antenna arrived yesterday. Using your vehicle specific installation instructions will make my install a snap as the supplied installation direction sheet is very generic. Thanks for jumping through what would have been all my hoops for me.
One thing that seemed kind of glossed over in the printed instructions was mention of a dedicated ground for the new antenna. Did you created a dedicated system ground or was/is the antenna coax cable enough? The factory 'fishing pole' antenna system is bolted to the car which is a pretty decent ground.
RB

 

No extra ground, you are completely disconnecting the factory antenna so it's out of the equation. There's no place on the hidden antenna to attach a ground. I must have missed that part of the instruction.

 

Even with the great how to's getting the power feed connector free from the factory antenna was, in reality, a [sounds like itch]. Big hands are a huge handicap when trying to unplug the connector. The factory coax cable was a snap to disconnect and re connect thanks to the supplied adapter cable.
Now connected and ready to test the mood went form elation to disappointment. If you live out in the country like I do this antenna solution [to the fishing boat antenna mast] was a flop. I'm sure that in a more metropolitan environment the remote antenna will work very well but in the 'out back' where I live the remote hidden antenna could only receive one station where the factory mast could pick up many. That's a shame because the device seems to be nicely made and should work well in the right location but skip it out in the country. Anyone that lives in a more metro location where this antenna should thrive that's interested in one of these remote antennas for a $10.00 discount can send me a PM with an email address. It's yours for $20.00. If you live in the US I'll eat the shipping. This antenna is 5 hours old and as new. I sure wish it worked, damn.
RB

 

That's to bad, but like I said in my post this is a short range solution.