Justwondering
Well-Known Member
This new project was caused by 1) ugly, hot weather and 2) Darth Car's lack of tunes...
I should be working on replacing hoses on my 87 Fifth Avenue but each time I get out enough household chores done so I can get outside the heat index is over 100. So I need an inside project.
The garage has no windows yet and is completely boarded up to try and keep the heat from telegraphing upstairs to the rest of the house since I don't have the downstairs walls finished. But there is just enough work area that is reasonably cool.
Last month Darth Car sent me his broken power antenna and his universal antenna.
To use the new antenna would require several mods:
1. take the old antenna to radio line out and run a new one
2. change the mounting location on the inside fender well
3. cut and crimp several leads to get the power to feed to the new unit
Not terribly complicated but exceptionally tedious and time consuming.
The old radio line:
The old radio line runs through the dash and above/behind the glove compartment. Pulling the dash to run a new line is ugly. Course, you could leave the old line and just run a new line. Only run the new line down low under the glove box and across then up to the back of the radio. Leave the old line in there and confuse the hell out of the next repair person.
Get/make an adaptor cable
The old radio line uses a banana plug at the back of the radio but a reverse polarity, not quite standard size uhf-like plug at the antenna. The new antenna uses a current standard radio plug (sma /smb type). Darth Car checked in his world (motorola chippies) and I checked in my world (electrical geek chippies, kick-ass current auto stereo chippies, on-line chippies, mcmaster-carr, grainger, etc.) No one has the old, non-standard connector. Can't make an adapter cable.
Put a new mast in the old antenna
The new, universal antenna mast is larger diameter than the old antenna mast. This means you can't thread the new mast up through the center of the old antenna 'inner' tube. The new mast is the same size as the tube.
Well fudge bucket.
I should be working on replacing hoses on my 87 Fifth Avenue but each time I get out enough household chores done so I can get outside the heat index is over 100. So I need an inside project.
The garage has no windows yet and is completely boarded up to try and keep the heat from telegraphing upstairs to the rest of the house since I don't have the downstairs walls finished. But there is just enough work area that is reasonably cool.
Last month Darth Car sent me his broken power antenna and his universal antenna.
To use the new antenna would require several mods:
1. take the old antenna to radio line out and run a new one
2. change the mounting location on the inside fender well
3. cut and crimp several leads to get the power to feed to the new unit
Not terribly complicated but exceptionally tedious and time consuming.
The old radio line:
The old radio line runs through the dash and above/behind the glove compartment. Pulling the dash to run a new line is ugly. Course, you could leave the old line and just run a new line. Only run the new line down low under the glove box and across then up to the back of the radio. Leave the old line in there and confuse the hell out of the next repair person.
Get/make an adaptor cable
The old radio line uses a banana plug at the back of the radio but a reverse polarity, not quite standard size uhf-like plug at the antenna. The new antenna uses a current standard radio plug (sma /smb type). Darth Car checked in his world (motorola chippies) and I checked in my world (electrical geek chippies, kick-ass current auto stereo chippies, on-line chippies, mcmaster-carr, grainger, etc.) No one has the old, non-standard connector. Can't make an adapter cable.
Put a new mast in the old antenna
The new, universal antenna mast is larger diameter than the old antenna mast. This means you can't thread the new mast up through the center of the old antenna 'inner' tube. The new mast is the same size as the tube.
Well fudge bucket.