My AVIC-D1 didn't come with the "metal sheet" that's talked about in the installation manual.

It says reception will be much poorer without this metal sheet. What is it, exactly? Just a piece of sheetmetal? Is it steel, copper...??? About how thick, and what are its dimensions? I figure I can make my own if having it really makes a difference.

GnatGoSplat said:

My AVIC-D1 didn't come with the "metal sheet" that's talked about in the installation manual.

It says reception will be much poorer without this metal sheet. What is it, exactly? Just a piece of sheetmetal? Is it steel, copper...??? About how thick, and what are its dimensions? I figure I can make my own if having it really makes a difference.

It is magnetic (I guess that makes it steel) and is approximately 2 inches square.

I have no idea why the reception would be poorer without it though......

Perhaps someone else can shed some light on that.

I'm not really 100% about this but I believe that it has something to do with the satellite signal bouncing off the metal plate to the underside of the antenna. Like I said I'm not 100% sure but I do know from experience that it makes a huge difference in the reception.

Thanks, I'll cut a 2" square out of sheetmetal and see if that works just as well.