I purchased this Shark Fin antenna
OEM 09 11 Kia Forte Koup AM/FM Shark Fin Antenna - eBay (item 170604206815 end time Oct-13-11 23:17:05 PDT)
but once I opened it up I seen that there were no internal components like antenna wire or signal gain booster like in our 2010 factory antennas so using it would result in a major loss of reception since the antenna cable from the radio had nothing to plug into. The Shark Fin looks great though and I wanted that style, so here is a DiY article on how to mod this antenna from the stock components. Remember that this is the EX antenna that doesn't have satellite reception.
The factory antenna looks like this opened up.
antenna-Stock-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
First take out the two screws.
antenna-switch-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
You will notice that the circuit board doesn't come off after taking the screws out because it is soldered to the power connector circled here.
antenna-switch-2 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-3 by RAmable, on Flickr
So you will need a solder iron.
solder-iron by RAmable, on Flickr
The connector was seated into the boards groove then bent at a 90 degree angle before they applied the solder so when you desolder it you will need to take a needle nose pliers and bend it back straight for the metal piece to fit back out of the board slot. This has to be done while applying the iron's heat to keep the solder in liquid state.
antenna-switch-4 by RAmable, on Flickr
This is the hardest part of the whole mod.
Next you need to line up the circuit board onto the Shark Fin base. I found that using a micro screw driver it fit snuggly into the hole to give you a guide to lining up the board.
antenna-switch-5 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-6 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-7 by RAmable, on Flickr
After you line up the two mounting holes and mark them with a pencil you can remove the screw driver guide and drill out the hole so the antenna cable can fit in it. I used a 1/4 inch bit and had a little play still but moving the drill in a circular angle trimmed out all of the sides evenly and smoothly so nothing stops the antenna cable from sliding in all the way.
I used two computer case standoff for mounting motherboards as the standoff for this circuit board since I had them laying around.
antenna-switch-8 by RAmable, on Flickr
They were just the right height and thread size. You could also use two small short spacer tubes/bushings or such and some nuts and bolts. I used metal cement to glue the standoff onto the antenna base. I could have drilled throught the base and screwed it to the stands if I chose to go that route.
antenna-switch-9 by RAmable, on Flickr
Next you need to solder a power wire to replace the desoldered power connector on the stock base.
antenna-switch-10 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-11 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-12 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-13 by RAmable, on Flickr
You now need to create an antenna wire inside the Shark Fin housing for the circuit board to provide a gain for. I used a piece of nylon tubing from my extra computer liquid cooling supplies. For wire I used 20 AWG stranded wire. 31 inches wrapped around evenly and fed the wire through small holes in the tubing at each end which kept the wire tight and couldn't unwind.
antenna-switch-14 by RAmable, on Flickr
Kia has done a similar setup in their satellite Shark Fin antenna from the pictures Automotive Apple has kindly produced on his ebay site after I requested him to.
OEM 08 10 Kia Forte Satelite Shark Fin Antenna Cerato | eBay
I glued my antenna into the housing and attached a circular wire fitting to fit into the circuit board attachment.
antenna-switch-15 by RAmable, on Flickr
You will need one male connector for the power wire.
antenna-switch-16 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-17 by RAmable, on Flickr
You can now fully assemble the Shark Fin and mount it on your car.
antenna-switch-18 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-2 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-3 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-4 by RAmable, on Flickr
Enjoy.
but once I opened it up I seen that there were no internal components like antenna wire or signal gain booster like in our 2010 factory antennas so using it would result in a major loss of reception since the antenna cable from the radio had nothing to plug into. The Shark Fin looks great though and I wanted that style, so here is a DiY article on how to mod this antenna from the stock components. Remember that this is the EX antenna that doesn't have satellite reception.
The factory antenna looks like this opened up.
antenna-Stock-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
First take out the two screws.
antenna-switch-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
You will notice that the circuit board doesn't come off after taking the screws out because it is soldered to the power connector circled here.
antenna-switch-2 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-3 by RAmable, on Flickr
So you will need a solder iron.
solder-iron by RAmable, on Flickr
The connector was seated into the boards groove then bent at a 90 degree angle before they applied the solder so when you desolder it you will need to take a needle nose pliers and bend it back straight for the metal piece to fit back out of the board slot. This has to be done while applying the iron's heat to keep the solder in liquid state.
antenna-switch-4 by RAmable, on Flickr
This is the hardest part of the whole mod.
Next you need to line up the circuit board onto the Shark Fin base. I found that using a micro screw driver it fit snuggly into the hole to give you a guide to lining up the board.
antenna-switch-5 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-6 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-7 by RAmable, on Flickr
After you line up the two mounting holes and mark them with a pencil you can remove the screw driver guide and drill out the hole so the antenna cable can fit in it. I used a 1/4 inch bit and had a little play still but moving the drill in a circular angle trimmed out all of the sides evenly and smoothly so nothing stops the antenna cable from sliding in all the way.
I used two computer case standoff for mounting motherboards as the standoff for this circuit board since I had them laying around.
antenna-switch-8 by RAmable, on Flickr
They were just the right height and thread size. You could also use two small short spacer tubes/bushings or such and some nuts and bolts. I used metal cement to glue the standoff onto the antenna base. I could have drilled throught the base and screwed it to the stands if I chose to go that route.
antenna-switch-9 by RAmable, on Flickr
Next you need to solder a power wire to replace the desoldered power connector on the stock base.
antenna-switch-10 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-11 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-12 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-13 by RAmable, on Flickr
You now need to create an antenna wire inside the Shark Fin housing for the circuit board to provide a gain for. I used a piece of nylon tubing from my extra computer liquid cooling supplies. For wire I used 20 AWG stranded wire. 31 inches wrapped around evenly and fed the wire through small holes in the tubing at each end which kept the wire tight and couldn't unwind.
antenna-switch-14 by RAmable, on Flickr
Kia has done a similar setup in their satellite Shark Fin antenna from the pictures Automotive Apple has kindly produced on his ebay site after I requested him to.
I glued my antenna into the housing and attached a circular wire fitting to fit into the circuit board attachment.
antenna-switch-15 by RAmable, on Flickr
You will need one male connector for the power wire.
antenna-switch-16 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-switch-17 by RAmable, on Flickr
You can now fully assemble the Shark Fin and mount it on your car.
antenna-switch-18 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-1 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-2 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-3 by RAmable, on Flickr
antenna-top-4 by RAmable, on Flickr
Enjoy.