Rear Defroster

[Noloc]

Can some one provide some insight here. I thought I remember my one of my rear windows ( on the side of the truck before the rear windsheild) having the ability to defrost when I hit the defrost button on my dash? Is this something I completely imagined?

 

[BlueGP]

Those lines if I am correct are for your diversity antenna for the radio.

 

[bulldog-yota]

Yep only the window in the hatch has defroster strips, what you see on the side window is the radio antenna.

 

[ZonaT4R]

I was under the impression that the drivers side rear window had the antenna, while the passenger side rear window (the one you could see out of when in the drivers seat) housed a defroster....

???

 

[Noloc]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

 

[kglueck]

I was under the impression that the drivers side rear window had the antenna, while the passenger side rear window (the one you could see out of when in the drivers seat) housed a defroster....

???

nope, according to the shop manuals, they're both antennas, NOT defrosters...only the back window has the defroster on it.

Kev

 

[ZonaT4R]

nope, according to the shop manuals, they're both antennas, NOT defrosters...only the back window has the defroster on it.

Well if the Toyota bible says so, it must be... Not sure why they would split the antenna like that... with a different stripe pattern (and across the whole window)..


NOLOC.... Maybe it was just wishful thinking on our parts that there was a defroster on that window. Ice that baby up and giv'er a test run for fun.... I'd try it but I live in Tucson, we don't have ice here

 

[dancojgl]

Not sure why they would split the antenna like that... with a different stripe pattern (and across the whole window)..

Radio waves are vertically-polarized when they leave the transmitter's antenna. To get the best reception, your vehicle's antenna needs to be polarized in the same plane as the radio signal--that's why car antennas are vertical whips. But, when radio waves bounce off mountains, buildings, or other obstacles, they often become polarized in a plane off-vertical.

As the angle increases between the radio wave and the antenna, signal strength will decrease; at 90°, your antenna won't pick up the signal.

With the 4Runner's dual-antennas phased 90° apart, as radio waves arrive with a random polarization angle between 0-90°, the signal strength on one antenna will increase as it decreases on the other antenna. This keeps the signal more-or-less constant, giving optimum radio reception.

It's actually a pretty innovative approach...

--Dan

 

[ZonaT4R]

Dan,

Thanks for the great reply and education...