Hi All - putting the old AWA back in and want to shorten and fix the dodgy connection at external aerial end as a lot of the copper shielding is broken - how do you go about it?
My advice is "don't touch it." If not all the braid is broken, it still makes a secure electrical connection. If you can persuade some heatshrink over the brass piece (and even stretch it to go), and then shrink it over the exposed braid, it'll provide some much-needed strain relief.
The alternative is way worse. The "ferrule" is press-fitted onto the brass nut, and generally you end up damaging it beyond use if you try to remove it.
If you really, really want to redo the coax connection, then -
Get a couple of screwdrivers under the ferrule and lever it off the brass nut.
Unsolder the centre conductor from its eyelet/washer.
Straighten the ferrule and slip it over the cable.
Strip maybe 1/2" of the outer jacket off the cable. Beware: Do not nick the braid. Use a sharp knife, and bend the cable to make the outer jacket tear.
Spread the exposed braid out.
Push the brass nut up the cable until it goes "home" against the outer jacket, but not into it.
Estimate how much insulation and centre conductor protrusion you'll need to reassemble the connector. Strip the insulation to suit, slide the washer/eyelet up the centre conductor, trim the centre conductor and solder the washer/eyelet.
Press the ferrule down over the braid, and trim excess braid off.
OK so after the above warning Ive decided to leave old dogs lie and put some shrink tube over the damaged end and ordered some Copper RF shielding tape to wrap around the entire aerial length - maybe even two layers to be sure to be sure.
Spoke to a chap with a HR with V6 in it had the same issue with AM band from all the electricity motors of the modern V6 - will see how that goes - I'm going to have heaps left as rolls are 16.46meters long so if anyone wanting to do same but not wanting to buy full roll let me know - delivered about 60$ for the roll
It is 3M 1181 self adhesive copper shielding for those wanting to buy
Copper tape is a nice thought, but the braid of the coaxial cable (should) perform exactly the same function.
You need to make certain that the cable outer is well-grounded to the car body where the antenna is mounted. And there needs to be a good connection between the radio's case and the outer braid of the antenna cable.
The case of the radio needs to be well-grounded to the car body (ideally to the firewall). The radio should have a mounting stud or bolt which goes through the firewall. Use toothed lockwashers liberally, and scrape the paint off to get a good radio-frequency connection to ground.
The engine has to be well-grounded to the car body. Even to the point of using a braided earth strap directly from the engine to the point on the firewall where the radio mounting stud goes through.
You may have to ground the bonnet to the body with an earth strap.
If you have a portable AM radio, you can use it as an interference-detector: tune it between stations, start the engine, and by holding the radio close to various components you can find out the source of the interference.
No - different aerial and connectors and the angle on the rubber looks to be off a different body shape - too steep.
I'll work on all the earth contacts and see where that gets me Rob but the main issue was the braiding was failing at the connector end so may be why it's and issue at all - the radio end seams to be in good shape
All sorted - pics of the two panels plenum and cowl together - they essentially should meet - i put a little silastic between as an extra precaution when reasembling
Thanks for the photos Rob. My panels didn't seem to be at all parallel like yours. Wound up filling the holes and will probably put the aerial in the guard. I've had them there before with no issues.
Cheers
Clay
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