When I bought the SC430, it came with a busted off antenna which seems to be pretty common.

I am just really not excited about replacing it. I am not a fan of retractable antennas. So I have been looking at hidden antennas and deleting the retractable antenna mechanism and mount.

Has anyone had any luck with hidden antennas? Any brand or mounting position they could recommend? The best reception would probably come from being outside of the metal of the car. Perhaps the rear package tray?

 

I've done A LOT of work with the antennae (windshield and rear). Firstly, I have to ask, how much do you listen to AM/FM? Secondly, would you rather prefer to keep the telescoping antenna or something a little more modern like a billet style or rubber stubby? Since you're doing lots of work (and have experience) behind the radio, this would be the best time to make some changes to your antenna setup.

 

Honestly, not often and the reception from the front windshield antenna seems to work fine in most cases at least in the city. However, my windshield will need replaced here pretty soon and, as I understand, I will be losing that antenna as a result.

And no to the telescoping antenna. I want to remove the existing mechanism and completely delete the mounting stub. My preference is no visible antenna at all. But a stubby antenna might be ok.

Once I switch over to using MP3s and internet radio, I doubt I will use the radio much at all but I don't want to lose the ability to do so completely.

 

What would be really ideal is a low profile bump-out on the top front pillar with the antennas in there. Possibly housing an XM antenna and a cellular antenna as well.

However, I have never seen any such thing on any other car or in aftermarket offerings. If anyone has ever heard of such a thing, please let me know.

 

I know there are some very small magnetic Siurus/XM antennae for sale on ebay. These would be perfect above the A-pillar as you described. Would just have to hide the wire within the exterior metal windshield A pillar cover. For anyone who's ever had a windshield replaced they remove this piece, there is a channel that allows access to the interior white A-pillar panel via this route. Would be perfect for running the antenna lead into the car. I ran my XM antenna lead from the center console, under the rear seat compartment, under the rear bench seat, behind the rear seat back, and under the glass wind defector via the rubber grommet hole, and placed the antenna base on the package tray. I get good to great signal reception at this location. I originally tried behind the plastic trim piece behind the rear headreast, but signal dropped too much so moved it to the package tray. No drop outs now..

If you happen to do a google images search with keywords, "SC430 XM antenna," there are a few installs of the antenna in various locations. Some look really great, especially body colored ones above the front windshield top cross bar.

 

ShawnOK, thanks for the call and all the suggestions. I think you gave me a good temporary solution while I try to find or develop the top pillar antenna idea.

Have a great dinner with your family!

 

Where did you get the idea that you lose your windshield antenna with a glass change? Not true!

 

I replaced the OEM telescoping antenna with a short Carbon Fiber stubby from TRD. The reception is ok but not great. I have a Carbon Fiber trunk lid now and wonder if a hidden antenna under the CF trunk lid would work - any comments?

Another idea is that the rear center brake light is in a plastic housing. The bottom can be removed from the top and a hidden antenna might work fine there ...

 

When my antenna failed, I simply had it retracted and asked the mechanic to disable power to it. It simply doesn't come out anymore when I turn on the radio.

AM reception is almost completely gone, and FM reception is at about 50%. If you stream most of your music from your phone, it'll be just fine. Never had to urge to remove the antenna, probably too much effort.

 

Mine is broken off all the way down to the bottom I think. ShawOK suggested pulling the fuse for it as well and then using an adapter to convert the antenna plug from the windshield antenna to the bigger main antenna.

Hey, Shawn, I tried the tip you gave me about pressing AM and DISC for 10 seconds but I got no response from the radio or the antenna. I couldn't hear the antenna motor running at all. If you get a chance to double check what the steps are, I would be grateful!

 

I replaced my telescoping antenna with a 5" stubby using the Tundra mount that was described in a previous thread. Receiption is OK but not as good as the original antenna. I also had my windshield replaced by Safelight. Not thrilled with the windshield but the antenna that is imbedded in the glass seemed to provide slightly better reception than the OEM.

 

Hey Retro, here's the pdf that should give you all the info you need. As I was saying that you can fully remove the broken mast and replace with something for aesthetics and function to keep water out of the motor. Then pull the motor fuse and you'll never hear the motor running. I kept my fuse b'c I have hard wired the antenna motor power as the REMOTE wire to my amp. This way, when I kill the radio, the amp powers off too. No battery waste. I've also attached the link to my antenna mod. Hope this helps, buddy.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...ns-please.html

 

Thanks again Shawn. I'll give those instructions a try!

 

Dumb question, I’m sure, but I’m new to the SC430 and don’t know how to stream music from my phone. I have a Bluetooth connection in my 2006 SC430 and can’t figure it out.

 

You need to connect your phone to the SC sound system. There is few way to accomplish this. In my case, I just use Monster Cassette Adapter then connect your BT device to it. Contrary to many thought, the sound is great just like you connect to the AUX jack.