The thing with the antenna
09/26/2021
Modern drivers have probably never even bothered with their car aerial, it is simply vaporized in the windscreen and works. Decades ago, however, you usually bought your car without an aerial and then had to fit one for the first time.
And if you forgot to carefully retract the multi-part rod antenna - usually with muscle power - then it was possible that someone would "accidentally" knock it over. And the next one was due. They weren't that cheap. And even retracted antennas were not safe from destruction if they were not secured.
That's why the key antenna was invented, where a small key was inserted to release the head before opening. Now the valuable receiving part was protected from vandals. Key antennas were already available in the late 1950s, for example from Hirschmann.
Fuba also offered the key antenna for the VW Beetle, complete with installation template and for DM 24.
And for people who didn't like rod antennas, Fuba offered an antenna integrated into the side mirror, which was hopefully vandal-proof, or not.
The hand-operated rod aerials had one thing in common: without work, radio reception was only half as good. So before setting off, you had to remember to raise the antenna to its maximum height. In return, they offered the best reception and you could live with the wind noise they produced (back then) ...
P.S. By the way, manually extendable rod antennas were still being installed in the 1980s and beyond ...
