ok, so i have a belkin fm transmitter for my ipod that i use in my car. if i let the antenna go up then my reception ranges from poor to mediocre, but if i force the antenna to stay down then my reception is crystal clear. I have looked through my manual to see if it was possible to remove the fuse that supplied power to the antennas motor. i found out that the fuse for the antenna is also the one for the starter (im writing this from memory so i am not certain its the starter but it is a critical component) what i am wondering is would there be a way of making it so the antenna stays down but still lets me start and drive my car. I have a 2004 s40 g2

How do you force the antenna to stay down? If this improves your sound quality what made you do such a thing? Disconnecting the power plug from the antenna base would probably be the easiest solution.

well to force my antenna down i would start my car and quickly get out and hold the antenna down. i realize that this is extremely bad for the antenna, which is why i decided to ask about this on here. thanks for the advice i will try disconnecting the power from the base of the antenna tonight.

Just made my day with holding the antenna down with your hand, but what made you think of doing it to improve the sound quality?

well, i was sitting in my car one day trying to listen to my ipod but the signal from the radio station kept cutting in and out. i though about it for a moment and remembered that during the winter my antenna would get frozen and be unable to go up and that i had gotten good reception when it was like that. i decided to try it and it worked. i unplugged the power from the antenna and it works great now thanks for the tip. i want to attach a switch to one of the wires for the antennas power and then put the switch on the dash somewhere so if i wanted to listen to the radio i could turn the antenna on.

can you please explain how you unplugged the antenna? i would appreciate it very much!