Could have flush imbeded XM antennas in side mirrors, but might be costly
Paul830 said:
OH... Thanks for the information. Why didn't they put it in the mirror or somewhere else instead of smack dab in the middle of the beautiful deck?
BUT I still LOVE the SOLSTICE!!!
Thanks, Paul
I suppose it would be possible to have a pair of antennas (for symmetry) built into the mirrors. (The pair would also provide "dual diversity" for enhanced reception.) However, they would probably be very visible to the driver and passenger.
Placing the XM on the trunk does interrupt the lines of the rear deck, but I think it's a reasonable first choice for placement based on keeping the costs down.
Remember, every customization adds to the cost, so when you're engineering the vehicle, building custom flush mounted antennas into the side rear view mirrors would have added to the cost and prevented the use of existing mirror designs. To make the antennas work, the mirror body would then have to be made out of plastic, rather than metal. The plastic looks OK for a few years, but the surface will start to oxidize, and they get a bit dull looking after a while. Sure, you could then paint the plastic, heaven knows Saturn's aren't the first car with painted flexible parts, but it would have added cost.
After the Solstice has proven itself, you'll see some of these concealment technologies applied to future models.
I had a GM with its regular FM/AM antenna sandwiched almost invisibly in the windshield as I discussed in the following thread:
link to thread " For 2007: Pontiac please..." post "More existing GM technology"
This is another piece of GM technology that already exists--even on a Pontiac, no less!
I had a 1975 Catalina station wagon with a single dipole antenna embedded directly in the glass of the windshield. It had phenomenal reception, much better than an external metal whip antenna.
All you saw was two
VERY thin (think cross hairs in a periscope) black wires which headed up about a finger's width apart up the center, bending and heading in opposite directions for the top outer corners, following the top of the windshield about 1 inch down from the top of the glass:
It would be possible to rid the machine of the FM/AM whip antenna.