Antenna Rebuild / Restore

[Captain Obvious]

So @Zup, I got your chewed up (what used to be an) antenna tip     Perfect for my experiments.

The first thing I can tell you is that it's chrome plated brass, not stainless. And I expect this to be the case for those antennas on ebay. Why is that important? Couple reasons:

First, it means the prospect of buying something similar off ebay and taking a dremel to it isn't going to work unless you plan to send it out for new chrome plating afterwards.

Second, it means that the "color" is different than stainless. Now unless you think some judge at a concourse show is going to dock you points for having a stainless antenna tip instead of chrome plated........

With all that said, it was tropical storming today and I had some time in the shop. Here's some pics:

I had some other antenna here from a later year that I could mess with too:

I made two proof of concept tips. One brass, and one stainless:

The stainless would look better if I polished it. I didn't bother with that. Would still look different than chrome plating, but closer.

 

[Gav240z]

That looks fantastic to me. Are you thinking of offering them for sale? Given the amount of antenna motors I see on eBay missing the antenna itself (broken) I'd say being able to offer a repair option with the cool looking arrow tip (my opinion) could be a winner?

[Captain Obvious]

Well I hadn't thought much about a sales prospect, but I didn't hate making these.

However, I didn't make the internal threads yet* as I did not have the correct tooling. I've got that tooling (special taps) on order and if that tapping process doesn't turn out to be a disaster, then I could probably be convinced to make a couple for sale if people need.

Of course, that tapping process (especially in stainless) could still turn out to be a disaster.  I'll let you know after the taps arrive.

* The astute viewer might ask "Then how does it look like your brass tip is threaded onto the antenna in your pic???" The answer is... I drilled it out so it just slips over the threads. Proof of concept for outside shape only. I'm not really worried about tapping brass. The stainless concerns me more.

[Dave WM]

I am having some issues with my weed wacker monofilament replacement rope, it must be binding up during retraction as it will jam up on about the last 8" or so. If I pull on it you can feel slack taken up and then is works, but not very handy. IIRC I ended up trying some pretty thick monofilament (.15 iirc) after having fails with thinner stuff.

I just found on amazon some 12.5 smooth  antenna rope for sale. its for power antennas so I hope it works better than weed wacker stuff (too flexible I think). Pricey at 40$ for 5 feet but that's ok if I don't have to go thru this again.

I searched this thread hoping to find the correct length of the factory original but could not find it. If anyone has that handy please let me know. The antenna rope is due her in about 10 days, I will report on it when I get it.

[Dave WM]

found this

 

so from tip of antenna (last section) to end of plastic rope is 45".. I will check and see when I do this , I presume you would want maybe 1 full turn wrapped around the reel when fully extended. IIRC you have to set the clutch up so it slips just as soon as it maxes out so you don't end up folding over the rope by going too far, That is what he fail was on my early attempts. It would fold and then once folded it was a weak spot that kept happening.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Dave WM

[AZ-240z]

5 hours ago, Dave WM said:

I am having some issues with my weed wacker monofilament replacement rope, it must be binding up during retraction as it will jam up on about the last 8" or so. If I pull on it you can feel slack taken up and then is works, but not very handy. IIRC I ended up trying some pretty thick monofilament (.15 iirc) after having fails with thinner stuff.

I just found on amazon some 12.5 smooth  antenna rope for sale. its for power antennas so I hope it works better than weed wacker stuff (too flexible I think). Pricey at 40$ for 5 feet but that's ok if I don't have to go thru this again.

I searched this thread hoping to find the correct length of the factory original but could not find it. If anyone has that handy please let me know. The antenna rope is due her in about 10 days, I will report on it when I get it.

I have a NOS antenna mast but don’t want to screw off the tip for fear of scoring the top mast segment.  I can tell you
that, with the mast fully extended, there is 13.75” of mast filament exposed from the bottom end of the extended mast.

hope this helps.

 

[Dave WM]

helps a lot thanks!!

Edited August 22, 2020 by Dave WM

[Dave WM]

got the plastic rope in today, looks much better than the weed whacker stuff, much harder and stiffer. Will get to it this weekend.

[ajmcforester]

Glad you found something that worked the string I got originally was just as strong as the original stuff.  I know the new string I bought for my trimmer is very flexible.  It also does not brake on the trimmer as easy as the stuff I used to repair the antenna

[Dave WM]

all done, works great, I hope this it the last time I have to fuss with this. The old .15 weed wacker stuff was more flexible than this .12 stuff. Goes up and down much faster also. too bad it is so expensive. seems like a bit of a rip off, but it is works I will be ok with it.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Dave WM

[240zadmire]

9 minutes ago, Dave WM said:

all done, works great, I hope this it the last time I have to fuss with this. The old .15 weed wacker stuff was more flexible than this .12 stuff. Goes up and down much faster also. too bad it is so expensive. seems like a bit of a rip off, but it is works I will be ok with it.

Which mast did you end up using?  I’m looking for one too.  Antenna is next on the list.

 

regards

 

[Dave WM]

I reused the mast, I used the antenna rope listed in the link.

https://www.amazon.com/AntennaMastsRus-Power-Antenna-Smooth-Cable/dp/B07NYV6M1P