I can't believe its happened again!

[The-Acre]

After having my roof aerial chewed off three times I replaced it with a plastic shark fin which looked really good, this morning footprints on the car and a hole chewed in the aerial!  This is driving me nuts.  Looking at the prints I would say it's a cat.  Now I've got to park on the street!  Maybe it's coat hanger time.

 

[gdh300]

29 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Maybe it's coat hanger time.

 

Wow, what are you going to do to that cat with a coat hanger?!

[Hadrian]

I doubt  it's a cat ..

[true blue]

Hi I also do not think it will be a cat (I'm not a cat lover as a gardener !! ) it is probably a squirrel they seem to like the oil/plasticiser in plastic ;good luck with getting rid of one of these .Check in the engine compartment they are known to cause problems in there also

Dave

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, true blue said:

Hi I also do not think it will be a cat (I'm not a cat lover as a gardener !! ) it is probably a squirrel they seem to like the oil/plasticiser in plastic ;good luck with getting rid of one of these .Check in the engine compartment they are known to cause problems in there also

Dave

I was hoping it was a cat because we do gardening as well and I was looking for an excuse to like them less than I do!  I've ordered another shark fin and I think I'm going to set up a camera to discover what's doing it.  If anyone can advise on a cheap system of surveillance it would help, I don't want to spend much just to find the guilty creature.

[Malc]

14 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

on a cheap system of surveillance

stay up all night   

Malc

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

stay up all night   

Malc

I would but it'll be sods law that I drop off just as it happens!

[Texas]

I'd try giving it a coating of Tabasco and see if that is a deterrent!

paul m.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, Texas said:

I'd try giving it a coating of Tabasco and see if that is a deterrent!

paul m.

I did do that about three aerials ago. I mixed some cayanne pepper with chilli and grease.  Trouble is it looked a tad unattractive!  I've ordered another one and I will put something similar on again.  I'm thinking of getting a cheap dash cam and putting it under a cover with the biggest SD card it will take.  I've got an electric supply so I can use a 12v transformer, maybe on a timer as I'm guessing it happens late at night.

[Neil E]

You just can't (b)eat the original electric retracting telescopic aerials. They give the best reception and are far less tasty.

More likely this fella's grey cousin, leave some peanuts out, make friends and maybe the aerial will be spared.

 

[Haylands]

On 11/18/2018 at 3:22 PM, The-Acre said:

After having my roof aerial chewed off three times I replaced it with a plastic shark fin which looked really good, this morning footprints on the car and a hole chewed in the aerial!  This is driving me nuts.  Looking at the prints I would say it's a cat.  Now I've got to park on the street!  Maybe it's coat hanger time.

 

Phil, how is your new aerial..?? Can I ask how the original one comes off and what type of sharks fin one you used to replace it..?? Cheers.. 

[The-Acre]

9 hours ago, Haylands said:

Phil, how is your new aerial..?? Can I ask how the original one comes off and what type of sharks fin one you used to replace it..?? Cheers.. 

Hi Peter, this is the one I used. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Universal-Auto-Car-Roof-Radio-AM-FM-Signal-Shark-Fin-Aerial-Antenna-WT/192593664019?hash=item2cd77a1813&enc=AQADAAADAFjVrDbVsZ8oH%2F8PNHtt9VX4%2Fw7FZcmMuqsX8uaFEduVhXvoTouLhcUcY79O78ElPnZzBugTCpGGaisaCDtm%2B%2FrXokaBRTzLwQiuScUAvYJfZ0sBYA8PuGZcYGAXcXG6MNi8CTZiP6Ggeodo3d68agfYV6ZRbrsM94XBU0YxeLRGdhHepskNOCDTxP0XCuAzSvoiYW6r2o%2BF3kOmTmyVTa9XbRYp5IBNAs%2BcCnO9XwMc70yWhB2y7QLYUwFnivdKP%2BwqIfrnnpl7UFEuP0u2oizArHwT8TGBYHKKb3gRWyEQ0lb57l4D5C5UXWGPtM%2Fl5%2F8HKCXbXJXP%2BZ07SvaPQW16vokPcDNeC%2F0WxairwmCFEMOoHo2BvTOYo3JjPTCaHYuftIaIwxpZ0wTXyhwBUHML0uOz746EZHVJTj0jYbqL5VMQpqGTkk87BBZlzSRkmkMzTFPFp%2BLZnFrg75slmjfNv554kekKUbs9SBtRXRYNQw1NM2dt4WZeh3yagrZn%2FBOKMJEeRBL1f%2FsgUVZ%2BWr8mN%2Fwf6wRIueGJIRjhRZN4SZdipQaDPz8K22pLC8Q3rHFDY43o7I3QtmckRhi0WIht%2BnIVIq2xLaAns%2BsVtCF%2Fx8p7lz9vzxDghgvNLVBJYslzgRvgtYUX0M6Fe%2BXfezDvfbVcb3FIBlS0usQERvKnWgsfltoxYx9D%2BZKBio2mYLDfDkCcRQVhuo4OTB4Ak6T0XazwYqSLCZZy1YxBg1f7tKnM5vdqeysndJiJsQZ09OSbrCBL7dj8f9u3qVpqnHsSewTramkZEZ1jvUrz%2FvWkv4F%2Bp2NDSxuK3ToZd0iwVYMCqEK17yWLIFiN0AMGT9eK6jxGeZwYfV9yQGW2Wgp0aXYQIg2GVbds079WQ6YTteqE44i9rA6hiJVFQ9hJyAZlyGU3q%2FU0Pgfc%2BkGbj8tmu%2BCHgs4%2BIoCqQuh2kxko0Sz7AUUtdcGVYUsFl4AKq%2FJqpqeoU4uWI3hT4RkTzmHMH2m8EQSbOPfqwn2An4s%2FOA%3D%3D&checksum=19259366401972ec63dba8a44b67a608b6408fc62f45 

It works fine and the chewing has stopped!  As a creature removed it originally I'm guessing it just pulls off.  I put the original remains back on (after retrieving it from the ground) and it just pushed back in place.  The day before I installed the new one I removed the small screws from inside and sealed it (Stixall) then screwed the plate back on.  It's all fairly obvious when you see it.  The double sided tape they supply is naff so I bought some better stuff.  When the old aerial comes off there's a piece of plastic inside the wire to keep it upright, that just pulls out.  The back of the roof is slightly curved so as soon as the shark fin was fixed down I sealed the edges, Stixall again, then cleaned it all up.  It sounds a bit amateurish but it looks very neat and tidy.  3 months later and all is good.  Also worth mentioning, I used a hair dyer to warm the new one up as it was being fixed, just to help the adhesive as it was very cold. 

And I've no idea why the eBay link is sooo long!

[Haylands]

Thanks Phil, I presumed you would have to take the old one completely off and that means removing the headlining...!!! The plastic on mine has just died, it's flaking off...!!! I shall copy your great idea, cheers...

[The-Acre]

8 hours ago, Haylands said:

Thanks Phil, I presumed you would have to take the old one completely off and that means removing the headlining...!!! The plastic on mine has just died, it's flaking off...!!! I shall copy your great idea, cheers...

No, the old base stays, you just remove the stick, so no work to be done inside the car. The wire from the original aerial is soft, like the outer part of coaxial cable so that simply connects to the new one, then it all fits inside the shell of the shark fin.  This was mine taken yesterday morning.

 

[Herbie]

On 3/19/2019 at 7:08 AM, The-Acre said:

And I've no idea why the eBay link is sooo long!

If you want to post a link, click the chain icon on the toolbar and paste the link in the top box then add text in the bottom box and it becomes the clickable link like this.

[Haylands]

5 hours ago, The-Acre said:

No, the old base stays, you just remove the stick, so no work to be done inside the car. The wire from the original aerial is soft, like the outer part of coaxial cable so that simply connects to the new one, then it all fits inside the shell of the shark fin.  This was mine taken yesterday morning.

 

Cheers, according to the manual it's a phone aerial so I don't think it's used anyway...

I have ordered one... 

[The-Acre]

I'd be surprised if it was just for the phone as the pre-facelift had the same aerial but no Bluetooth.

[Haylands]

On 3/20/2019 at 1:30 PM, The-Acre said:

I'd be surprised if it was just for the phone as the pre-facelift had the same aerial but no Bluetooth.

Seems to be..!!

On further reading it appears to be part of the Lexus Link System, there is a separate emergency GPS module in the boot... I presume it is like the GM onstar system, probably only offered in the USA... 

 

[The-Acre]

Interesting, so presumably the roof aerial on the pre-facelift is for the GPS, on the facelift its GPS and phone? I might have known that nothing in a Lexus would be straightforward!