What's a good old antenna

[PoohBang]

The radio's never been touched... When I got it... "second owner" it wasn't working... I pulled all the tubes, cleaned them off, cleaned off all the dust and off she went... After a move, something got shifted I guess.

I need to get all the caps replaced I'm sure. Anyone know of a good repair place in Los Angeles?

I'll start on the antenna this weekend.! Thanks for all the advice....

 

[W4ASZ]

I'm only doing these for me, and a careful "by ear" is usually plenty good enough. I do have the alignment instructions in hand when I do this. And, I must confess to using the instruments now and then.

As to antennas, only the truly insane would try to use a terminated coaxial cable running along the ground as a receiving antenna. It's been done before, of course, but it works a lot better than it should, like "by ear" alignment. Film at 11:00.

Y'all have a fine holiday weekend.

73.

 

[W4ASZ]

The radio's never been touched... When I got it... "second owner" it wasn't working... I pulled all the tubes, cleaned them off, cleaned off all the dust and off she went... After a move, something got shifted I guess.

I need to get all the caps replaced I'm sure. Anyone know of a good repair place in Los Angeles?

I'll start on the antenna this weekend.! Thanks for all the advice....

That set is most worthy. Enjoy !

 

[bob_amos]

A number of years back I picked up an antenna kit from Radio Shack for something like $8. Not sure if they still offer them and the price is certainly higher now. I live in So. Cal and have one of those Ranch houses. I went up in the attic and strung the antenna from end to end and tapped into it at both ends. I ran the feed wire down into the bedroom at one end as well as one at the other end into the living room. This has always worked well for me.

I like that idea of running the wire behind the crown molding too.

 

[W4ASZ]

A number of years back I picked up an antenna kit from Radio Shack for something like $8. Not sure if they still offer them and the price is certainly higher now. I live in So. Cal and have one of those Ranch houses. I went up in the attic and strung the antenna from end to end and tapped into it at both ends. I ran the feed wire down into the bedroom at one end as well as one at the other end into the living room. This has always worked well for me.

I like that idea of running the wire behind the crown molding too.

RS is hardly what it once was. I am partial to Fair Radio Sales in Lima, Ohio for my "special" needs, such as the Budwig Hye-Q insulators to which I remain attached. lol

There is a rich tradition behind the attic antenna, electrical noise being the limiting factor sometimes.

Happy listening !

 

[bob_amos]

Like I said, I don't know if they still offer them. One thing I do know about RS and that is the sales people don't always know what the company offers. I sometime go to the web site and find the part number and then hand it to the sales clerk. Then, they just might find it. But this antenna was real inexpensive and easy to set up. If they still offer it, it sure is worth having. I suppose it's available elsewhere but I do know the Shack once had it.

 

[38lasalle]

Classic-Era Radio Antennas

Most sets built prior to 1940 required outside antennas to function well. This is somewhat of a soft date since examples can be found with and without internal antennas a few years on either side of 1940. The type of dwelling the set is used in significantly impacts reception: homes with aluminum siding (all the rage before vinyl siding pretty much displaced it in the 1970's) are in effect a "Faraday Cage" and will severely attenuate radio signals, making an outside antenna almost mandatory. Homes with a lot of steel in the superstructure (rebar or wall-stud framing) can also be problematic. If your cell phone has "dead zones" in your home then you are probably a candidate for owning a good outside antenna for your vintage radio.

Other reasons to install an outside antenna are electrical noise sources inside the home. SCR light dimmers raise hob with AM radios, and so do some personal computers. An outside antenna with a shielded lead-in cable will significantly reduce these household electrical noises and make AM radio listening a pleasant instead of trying experience.

-Multiple 1930's Radio Owner (Zenith/Philco/Grunow...and so on) in America's Wasteland (Oops- I mean Iowa)

 

[John in Covina]

I recall there being an Antenna splitter from the electronics supply places like Radio Shack that allowed one to use their roof top tv antenna for the radio, but it may have been for FM only.

 

[38lasalle]

Antenna Splitter

An analog-TV antenna would probably be better than no antenna at all, but not much. The old TV rooftop antennas were designed to be highly directional and the analog TV channel frequencies were high above those used for the "traditional" AM broadcast band; so use of an analog-TV antenna to feed an old AM radio would have been pretty disappointing. Digital TV antenna- forget about it!

A simple outside AM antenna consists of a single horizontal wire around 50-60 feet long, as high off the ground as practical, and away from any large metal bodies like steel-clad sheds or the like. Good lightning-protection is a must, and a heavy-duty knife switch located where the lead-in enters the house is advisable so that the antenna can be grounded when not in use (to eliminate the possibility of a nearby lightning strike "running in" on the antenna lead-in wire and damaging the set to which it is connected).

For those raised only on transistor radios and their tiny (but surprisingly efficient) built-in ferrite-core antennas, a decent tube set (with tracking RF amp stage) connected to a good outside antenna is a revelation.

 

[FStephenMasek]

You usually don't have to mess with the alignment unless you replace mica capacitors in the RF/IF circuits

I find that most are fairly far off even with the original mica capacitors in place. A good alignment with the right equipment makes a world of difference.