radio aerial (antenna) won't stay in position

[Desk Rabbit]

Richard Crowley wrote:

"Desk Rabbit" wrote ...
Richard Crowley wrote:
"Desk Rabbit" wrote ...
You might as well replace the aerial with a new one. They are so cheap
and the time taken to fit a new one would be exactly the same as it
would be to make a lash up repair.
That would be a practical response *IF* one could find an exact
replacement. Alas, there are thousands of different varieties of these
things, and they tend to be custom-designed for each model. Even
if there were exact replacements in a warehouse somewhere in
central Asia, finding one and getting it shipped to you would be
far less pratical than just tossing the radio and buying a new one.
The OP said it was a Sony. Parts should be readily available for such a
major brand. That said, most of these aerials are pretty much the same
shape and size on even the cheapest brand.

How many of these have you repaired yourself?
Or are you guessing? I'm speaking from first-hand experience.


I've been a City & Guilds qualified Radio & Television engineer since

the early 1970's

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:nu2dnaZd-LH6QDPUnZ2dnUVZ8g-WnZ2d@bt.com...

GregS wrote:
In article <goloa7$bp4$1@news.motzarella.org>, "john zeiss"
bluestar@mail.invalid> wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but
surely
it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we think we
can
do it without stripping the slots in the screw head, it is not enough to
*clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small bronze
coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U ' shaped base
with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave? Thanks.



Cyanoacrylate


Geez. It`s just gone a bit floppy, the spring washers have lost their
tension, it shouldn`t be beyond the wit of man to either retension them,
find an old aerial from which the springs can be salvaged or if it comes
to it, purchase a replacement aerial from which the springs can either be
used or if he`s lucky enough to find a good match, the whole twig can be
used.

Here in the UK several companies spring immediately to mind who stock
quite a good range of generic replacement aerials, a bit of fiddling will
probably result in a workable solution.

Ron

I agree Ron. I've never seen so much nonsense spouted about what is
fundamentally a simple problem, which those of us in the trade see all the
time, and have posted back here how to fix with a minimum of fuss and
tools - certainly not including drills ... !

Arfa

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:yr2dnYrMVM9Q8zPUnZ2dnUVZ8syWnZ2d@bt.com...

john zeiss wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but
surely
it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we think we
can
do it without stripping the slots in the screw head, it is not enough to
*clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small bronze
coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U ' shaped base
with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave? Thanks.

Take the two washers out and restore the 'curl' in them by pressing them
over the shaft of a screwdriver.

This is the 'correct' fix for the problem - I have had to do it many times
to radios which have crossed my bench, and are similarly afflicted. If you
want to 'belt and braces' it, you can remove the antenna and the curl
washers from the yoke part that stays in the radio, and then treat the yoke
to a *gentle* squeeze with a pair of Mole grips. FWIW, the screw can go up
quite tight without breaking or stripping threads. Also, if you prefer to
work on it not attached to the radio, the connection inside is usually made
by a fixed strap, so you can simply undo the screw just below the antenna
base, remove it completely, and then lift the complete antenna out of its
mounting hole.

Arfa

 

[Bill Wright]

"GregS" <zekfrivo@zekfrivolous.com> wrote in message
news:gomlbn$33j$1@usenet01.srv.cis.pitt.edu...

In article <goloa7$bp4$1@news.motzarella.org>, "john zeiss"
bluestar@mail.invalid> wrote:

Cyanoacrylate

Look, what he does in bed is nothing to do with you!

Bill

 

[Frank Erskine]

On Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:38:33 GMT, zekfrivo@zekfrivolous.com (GregS)
wrote:

In article <goloa7$bp4$1@news.motzarella.org>, "john zeiss" <bluestar@mail.invalid> wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but surely
it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we think we can
do it without stripping the slots in the screw head, it is not enough to
*clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small bronze
coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U ' shaped base
with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave? Thanks.



Cyanoacrylate

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits

--
Frank Erskine

 

[Keyser Söze]

Frank Erskine <frank.erskine@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:06pvq41k6f328ok7iuomp0q576sea4lck5@4ax.com:

On Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:38:33 GMT, zekfrivo@zekfrivolous.com (GregS)
wrote:

In article <goloa7$bp4$1@news.motzarella.org>, "john zeiss"
bluestar@mail.invalid> wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but
surely it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we
think we can do it without stripping the slots in the screw head,
it is not enough to *clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small
bronze coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U '
shaped base with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave?
Thanks.



Cyanoacrylate

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits

Horses have bits, people have pieces ;-)

--
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties,
nations, and epochs it is the rule. Nietzsche

 

[Baron]

Arfa Daily Inscribed thus:

"Ron" <ron@lunevalleyaudio.com> wrote in message
news:nu2dnaZd-LH6QDPUnZ2dnUVZ8g-WnZ2d@bt.com...
GregS wrote:
In article <goloa7$bp4$1@news.motzarella.org>, "john zeiss"
bluestar@mail.invalid> wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but
surely
it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we
think we can
do it without stripping the slots in the screw head, it is not
enough to *clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small
bronze coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U '
shaped base with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave?
Thanks.



Cyanoacrylate


Geez. It`s just gone a bit floppy, the spring washers have lost their
tension, it shouldn`t be beyond the wit of man to either retension
them, find an old aerial from which the springs can be salvaged or if
it comes to it, purchase a replacement aerial from which the springs
can either be used or if he`s lucky enough to find a good match, the
whole twig can be used.

Here in the UK several companies spring immediately to mind who stock
quite a good range of generic replacement aerials, a bit of fiddling
will probably result in a workable solution.

Ron

I agree Ron. I've never seen so much nonsense spouted about what is
fundamentally a simple problem, which those of us in the trade see all
the time, and have posted back here how to fix with a minimum of fuss
and tools - certainly not including drills ... !

Arfa

A simple paper washer probably is all it would take !

--
Best Reagrds:
Baron.

 

[Owain]

Ron wrote:

Bill Wright wrote:
... Attach a balloon to the tip of the aerial.
... and the Greenie environmental lot chewing you
out for using latex balloons.

What about latex condoms? Thought the Greenie lot approved of birth control

Owain

 

[Ron]

Owain wrote:

Ron wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:
... Attach a balloon to the tip of the aerial.
... and the Greenie environmental lot chewing you out for using latex
balloons.

What about latex condoms? Thought the Greenie lot approved of birth control

Owain


Nah a condom wouldn't help, even full of helium. Just needs a bit of

fettling, or a new aerial.

Rn

 

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009 04:22:54 -0000, "Bill Wright"
<insertmybusinessname@f2s.com> wrote:

I've never seen such a set of ludicrous and impractical suggestions. The
solution is simple. Go to a birthday party and obtain one or more gas-filled
balloons. Attach a balloon to the tip of the aerial. This will hold it up,
and will also look nice.
Bill

The offshore radio station laser tried that in the 80's and gave up

after the exposure to the winds over the North Sea quickly removed
them . An apocryphal story tells that one ballon ended up around a
traffic bollard in Colchester.

G.Harman

 

[Richard Crowley]

"Desk Rabbit" wrote ...

Richard Crowley wrote:
How many of these have you repaired yourself?
Or are you guessing? I'm speaking from first-hand experience.
I've been a City & Guilds qualified Radio & Television engineer since the
early 1970's

And I've been repairing and constructing electronic equipment for at
least 10 years more than that. Repeating: "Perhaps you don't have as
many different radios in your world, or you are more lucky than me."
In either case, you seem to be in a better position to match replacemnt
antennas with consumer equipment. I'm happy for your success.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits

Two bits is a Quarter.


--
http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

Goggle Groups, and Web TV users must request to be white listed, or I
will not see your messages.

If you have broadband, your ISP may have a NNTP news server included in
your account: http://www.usenettools.net/ISP.htm

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits

Horses have bits, people have pieces ;-)

Not true. Lots of people have been bit. Some were even bit by
horses.


--
http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

Goggle Groups, and Web TV users must request to be white listed, or I
will not see your messages.

If you have broadband, your ISP may have a NNTP news server included in
your account: http://www.usenettools.net/ISP.htm

 

[Keyser Söze]

Michael A. Terrell <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:a4idnQwtbp4RsC3UnZ2dnUVZ_oULAAAA@earthlink.com:

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits


Horses have bits, people have pieces ;-)


Not true. Lots of people have been bit. Some were even bit by
horses.

I was pieced [sic] by a rat once.

--
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties,
nations, and epochs it is the rule. Nietzsche

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Michael A. Terrell <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:a4idnQwtbp4RsC3UnZ2dnUVZ_oULAAAA@earthlink.com:

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits


Horses have bits, people have pieces ;-)


Not true. Lots of people have been bit. Some were even bit by
horses.

I was pieced [sic] by a rat once.

Did it die?


--
http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

Goggle Groups, and Web TV users must request to be white listed, or I
will not see your messages.

If you have broadband, your ISP may have a NNTP news server included in
your account: http://www.usenettools.net/ISP.htm

 

[Keyser Söze]

Michael A. Terrell <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:4pCdnQHuxow_0C3UnZ2dnUVZ_vWdnZ2d@earthlink.com:

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Michael A. Terrell <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:a4idnQwtbp4RsC3UnZ2dnUVZ_oULAAAA@earthlink.com:

"Keyser Söze" wrote:

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers,
that you still want a decent electrical connection between the
two bits

Horses have bits, people have pieces ;-)


Not true. Lots of people have been bit. Some were even bit by
horses.

I was pieced [sic] by a rat once.


Did it die?

I think it used whitworth ;->

--
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to
an understanding of ourselves. Jung

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties,
nations, and epochs it is the rule. Nietzsche

 

[Kadaitcha Man]

Keyser Söze, ye freakish work for bread, I had rather be married to a
deaths head with a bone in his mouth, ye gnarled:

I think

BWAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAH!

--
alt.usenet.kooks
"We are arrant knaves all, believe none of us."
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 [129]

Hammer of Thor: February 2007.
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker:
September 2005, April 2006, January 2007, August 2008.
Barbara Woodhouse Memorial Dog Whistle, Official owner
and trainer of Bucky Breeder, August 2008.
Official Member: Cabal Obsidian Order COOSN-124-07-06660
Official Overseer of Kooks & Trolls in 24hoursupport.helpdesk

Member of:
Usenet Ruiner List
Top Assholes on the Net List
Most hated usenetizens of all time List
Cog in the AUK Hate Machine List

Find me on Google Maps: 24°39'47.13"S, 134°4'20.18"E

Join me for dinner. I'm cooking purulent horse flies next to putrescent
cormorant muscle, dished up in a turbid deep dish overflowing with
medium to well done parsnip, lifeless morsels of lobster, eel and
hodgepodge of calamari sauce, a side of sausage and a glass of sputum.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Kadaitcha Man <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:5el634$nd6$1@rec.arts.horror.willowy-brown-cherry.co.bosnia:

Keyser Söze, ye freakish work for bread, I had rather be married to a
deaths head with a bone in his mouth, ye gnarled:

I think

BWAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Salve amicus.

--
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to
an understanding of ourselves. Jung

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties,
nations, and epochs it is the rule. Nietzsche

 

[Kadaitcha Man]

Keyser Söze, ye legless gallfly, thy will is most malignant, ye sneered:

Kadaitcha Man <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:5el634$nd6$1@rec.arts.horror.willowy-brown-cherry.co.bosnia:

Keyser Söze, ye freakish work for bread, I had rather be married to a
deaths head with a bone in his mouth, ye gnarled:

I think

BWAHAhAHAHAHAHAHAH!



Salve amicus.

Crawler.

--
alt.usenet.kooks
"We are arrant knaves all, believe none of us."
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 [129]

Hammer of Thor: February 2007.
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker:
September 2005, April 2006, January 2007, August 2008.
Barbara Woodhouse Memorial Dog Whistle, Official owner
and trainer of Bucky Breeder, August 2008.
Official Member: Cabal Obsidian Order COOSN-124-07-06660
Official Overseer of Kooks & Trolls in 24hoursupport.helpdesk

Member of:
Usenet Ruiner List
Top Assholes on the Net List
Most hated usenetizens of all time List
Cog in the AUK Hate Machine List

Find me on Google Maps: 24°39'47.13"S, 134°4'20.18"E

Join me for dinner. I'm cooking horrific live rat embryos and tendon
conserve with fecal mole pancreas and calf muscle marinade, simmered in
a wriggling double boiler containing mangy whole spinach, endive and nut
in salt water, a side of zebra spleen and a gallon of whale milk.

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:a4idnQ0tbp6tsC3UnZ2dnUVZ_oWWnZ2d@earthlink.com...

Frank Erskine wrote:

Don't forget, with all this mention of glues and paper washers, that
you still want a decent electrical connection between the two bits


Two bits is a Quarter.

If a quarter is 25 cents, how does that work Michael ? Presumably not
possible to have one bit ? Nothing cheaper available than a two-bit whore ?


Arfa