Pulled out my antenna cord. Now what?

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cruiser

cruiser

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Hi All: When I went to remove the antenna lead from its receptacle in the side of the AM radio in my 1974 Duster, the coaxial cable pulled out of the male plug that goes into the radio receptacle. The male end was still in the radio, and I had to extract it. It appears that the male end is crimped onto the coax antenna cable in some fashion. Has anyone ever put a new male end on your antenna cord? Does anyone sell these new? If I had a new male plug, I could repair the existing antenna cable instead of trying to find a new antenna cord. Ideas, anyone? Thanks - BOB
 
Sounds like you need a new cable.
 
Since the cable is crimped into the antenna too, that means a new antenna. You should be able to install the cable back into the plug and recrimp it if it came out that easily.
 
Look for a NOS antenna cable. Use the Service Manuel when installing
 
Probably just broke the copper center conductor off inside the skinny part of the plug.

You can heat the tip of the plug up with a solder iron and while the solder is still liquid bang it quickly on your workbench and the broken part will probably drop out. You’ll see the skinny end has a hole in it.

Then just roll the shield back, strip a little of the insulation off the center conductor, stick it back up in your plug until you see the center conductor come out the hole in the skinny end of the plug.

Solder the center conductor back to the tip of the plug and you’re good to go. It’s an easy fix!

Edited for clarity
 
mopardude62 said:
Probably just broke the copper center conductor off inside the skinny part of the plug.

You can heat the tip of the plug up with a solder iron and while the solder is still liquid bang it quickly on your workbench and the broken part will probably drop out. You’ll see the skinny end has a hole in it.

Then just roll the shield back, strip a little of the insulation off the center conductor, stick it back up in your plug until you see the center conductor come out the hole in the skinny end of the plug.

Solder the center conductor back to the tip of the plug and you’re good to go. It’s an easy fix!

Edited for clarity
Click to expand...
This^^^ !
 
If you're familiar with satellite/cable and how you install ends on that cable, it's very similar. I had to do it on our 67 cuda. It's not hard, with the work you've shown here, you can fix it, aaaandddd sleep well. :thumbsup:
 
I repaired mine. I bought the plugs from a local stereo supply place. You need to strip the outer rubber coating. The centre wire got soldered into the plug end, and then fold back the copper mesh and slide over the outer shell. I crimped it as best I could and then secured it with black electrical tape. It works perfectly.

IMG_20220701_160657816_HDR.jpg


IMG_20220702_144349969_HDR.jpg
 
Bingo! And I think I even used a coax crimp ring from satellite cable.
qkcuda said:
I repaired mine. I bought the plugs from a local stereo supply place. You need to strip the outer rubber coating. The centre wire got soldered into the plug end, and then fold back the copper mesh and slide over the outer shell. I crimped it as best I could and then secured it with black electrical tape. It works perfectly.

View attachment 1716312588

View attachment 1716312589
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, everyone. I was able to repair the old plug using your recommendations. My tiny little code R-11 two watt factory AM radio is working like a champ now. Fired it up and the first song that came on my favorite AM seventies station (WDGY 740 on your dial here in Minneapolis) was "Play That Funky Music White Boy" by the fabulously talented group Wild Cherry. Clearly, this song shows why the zenith of music and culture was the 1970s. Cheers, all!
 
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