Antennas in exterior mirrors

Dude... Is the barricade OK? Thanks for the pic, interesting...

@DonD
Would you have avoided this accident if your Model S had power folding mirrors?

Curious as to which antenna is for what.

NigelM said:

Curious as to which antenna is for what.

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I suppose small antenna for radio. Longer antenna for navigation. You need bigger antennas for higher frequencies.

Raffy.Roma said:

@DonD
Would you have avoided this accident if your Model S had power folding mirrors?

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They'd probably need to be auto sensing folding mirrors then, no? :wink:

There is all sorts of stuff like that throughout the car. Really neat

jomo25 said:

They'd probably need to be auto sensing folding mirrors then, no? :wink:

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No because as the driver realizes that the mirrors have to be folded he pushes a button.

Raffy.Roma said:

No because as the driver realizes that the mirrors have to be folded he pushes a button.

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... *if* the driver realizes ... (which obviously wasn't the case here)

Raffy.Roma said:

No because as the driver realizes that the mirrors have to be folded he pushes a button.

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So you are saying the driver intentionally ran the mirror into the barricade to get a good look at the antennae? :tongue:

Volker.Berlin said:

... *if* the driver realizes ... (which obviously wasn't the case here)

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Not so obvious. The driver didn't consider exactly the distance and for this reason had the accident. Maybe that the driver at the moment of the accident was also in a hurry. I think that in a difficult situation if the driver had the option to fold the mirrors he could have avoided the accident.

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jomo25 said:

So you are saying the driver intentionally ran the mirror into the barricade to get a good look at the antennae? :tongue:

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This is nice. I laughed a lot for this.

But as I said sometimes the driver doesn't has the right perception of measurements and power folding mirrors can be useful.

I can confirm that the antennas for the radio and navigation are not in the mirrors, at least not in my Sig. The antenna amplifiers are located in the trim panels of the rear liftgate on the left (AM/FM) and right sides (XM). The GPS antenna is located in the upper left corner of the rear liftgate glass, which must be removed for access.

The antennas in the mirrors are likely to be the key fob antennas, that would align with my experiences with keyfob behavior as I approach the car.

I had a similar encounter with a barricade last December (in my current car, the S is still in production sequencing). Damage was very different though -- just a smudge on the mirror casing that came off with a very mild abrasive (with no visible damage to the paint). But the mirror glass popped out and shattered -- then was hanging by the heating element wires and banged against the door until I could pull over. Left a series of scratches on the door (that I'm finally getting buffed out this weekend...).

If this accident was anything like what I experienced (I misjudged how close I was to the barricades, and the one I hit was just a tiny bit closer to the traffic lane than the others), motorized folding mirrors would not have helped.

FlasherZ said:

I can confirm that the antennas for the radio and navigation are not in the mirrors, at least not in my Sig. The antenna amplifiers are located in the trim panels of the rear liftgate on the left (AM/FM) and right sides (XM). The GPS antenna is located in the upper left corner of the rear liftgate glass, which must be removed for access.

The antennas in the mirrors are likely to be the key fob antennas, that would align with my experiences with keyfob behavior as I approach the car.

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Makes perfect sense to me.

FlasherZ said:

I can confirm that the antennas for the radio and navigation are not in the mirrors, at least not in my Sig. The antenna amplifiers are located in the trim panels of the rear liftgate on the left (AM/FM) and right sides (XM). The GPS antenna is located in the upper left corner of the rear liftgate glass, which must be removed for access.

The antennas in the mirrors are likely to be the key fob antennas, that would align with my experiences with keyfob behavior as I approach the car.

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Hmmm, but why two antennae in the mirror?

AM/FM, Satelite, and Cellphone?

NigelM said:

Hmmm, but why two antennae in the mirror?

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If the two antennae are the key fob antennae as above stated maybe that the key fob has a two frequencies signal. One signal could be useful to open the car, another signal could be useful to open the trunk and the frunk.

FlasherZ said:

The antennas in the mirrors are likely to be the key fob antennas, that would align with my experiences with keyfob behavior as I approach the car.

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If so, I wonder why Tesla recommends putting a fob with a low battery at the lower edge of the windshield? You'd be better to set it on top of the mirror.

Raffy.Roma said:

If the two antennae are the key fob antennae as above stated maybe that the key fob has a two frequencies signal. One signal could be useful to open the car, another signal could be useful to open the trunk and the frunk.

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Key fob antanna is on the inside of the door at the end of the dash.