Hooking the power antenna up to a manual switch?
 

So, I'm getting ready to install a basic stereo that I mostley am going to use to listen to my iPod in the car. Since I almost never listen to radio I don't need to have the mast up all the time. However my wife hates my music and requires her music in the car, but that's okay. If she can put up with the buzzy exhaust and the funny smell from the hollowed out cat, she can listen to whatever she wants.

Now, I have a box full of those ricer-style "military toggle switch with the fancy red hat". Some are red, some are blue, but I'll be wanting to use either the carbon fiber or the black, haven't really decided.

What I want to do is use the toggle switch to manually tell the mast to go up and down. Arm the switch and it goes up. Drop the switch and it goes down. There's a ton of wires behind this dash board. If I connect one of them to ground or power and the other one to the antenna, will it work? Also, what wire do I connect to the toggle switch and should I connect the other pole of the switch to power, or ground?

Mine already does that stock... cant yours? its the button beside the defroster and headlights.

Nope. I have three buttons. One for hazard lights, one to raise and lower the headlights, and one or the defroster. THere's a fourth tab, but it's not labled and doesn't rock back and fourth. I assume it's a dead panel and not a faulty switch.

So if it's done from the factory, is my idea going to work?

So, you have a few options. The FB's don't have a switch to lower the antenna like the SA's do. (at least 84 and 85s don't) The extra switch you are talking about works the rear wiper.

What you can do is splice a switch into the blue-yellow wire on the antenna. That is the wire that sends the 12v ground signal to make it go up. If you are running an aftermarket antenna, run a switch to the blue wire that sends a 12v + and then tie that to your switched source.

I should have clarified, I have an 85 GS without the rear wiper.

So the factory antenna uses a switched ground? If I want to use the factory antenna I need to run a wire from ground to the antenna with my toggle switch in-line? Or am I getting confused?

why not just connected to the radio output if it is an aftermarket radio the blue color cable called remote does the trick

because that would raise the antenne at all times the radio is turned on. To include the CD player. He is wanting to be able to lower it when not using it...

so basically all you need to do is put a switch in between the wire on the deck that sends power to the antenna relay to let it up, whats so hard about that?

That's what I'm thinking, but I was hoping to find someone who has tried this before I hack into the factory wiring.

oh, sorry. No i havent done it before, but i guess i was thinking about it. Im going to have to here soon because i gotta install a new antenna, but i was thinking of just plugging the hole and putting in glass antenna, the type that you mount to the inside of the windsheild or the ones that act like little wires that run along the window itself.

Wouldn't recommend this. Even the factory ones the GM uses suck.

thanks for the heads up, good adjustable ones are only 20 bucks a CDN tire anyways, they even have our app haha

I eventually swapped my stock power antenna (reverse triggered) out for a regular power antenna and instead of wiring it to the radio, I wired it to the something in the ignition area with a rocker switch. It was no longer automatic but went up/down when I wanted it to and the exact amount I wanted. I once ejected a tape while in a car wash and had it go up...

Here's what I did. Went to autozone and got a manual operated antenna. I took out the old power antenna that literally weighs like 3 pounds. Put the new manual operated antenna in, plug in the antenna thing to the radio thing...lol. So, I go to best buy, buy the ipod cassette adapter.. I have original working cassette player..put the cassette adapter in the tape player... I plug it in to the ipod and listen. The antenna doesn't have to be up for the ipod. I can still listen to the radio with the antenna down, if they are the good stations, If I want all radio stations just pull the antenna up. Really simple. The sound is great too.