C2 Power Antenna

[Enzo C.]

Re: C2 Power Antenna

You are correct, his close friend made an attempt but no luck in the process.. unfortunately will have to use alternate but probably not good

[Ronald L.]

Re: C2 Power Antenna

You are correct, his close friend made an attempt but no luck in the process.. unfortunately will have to use alternate but probably not good

Enzo
to what does this statement refer?

[Richard M.]

Re: C2 Power Antenna

Enzo
to what does this statement refer?

Ron, I have the same confusion.

I'll first discuss why we're confused, likely due to the "Display" Mode in a thread when reading and Replying to previous Posts. I suspect Enzo is using Display mode "Hybrid". In this mode, it shows a non-sequential array of Posts, identified by date & time, however the Posts are not in true time sequence. They are sporadic. This is a mode that's built into the vBulletin software. It's actually best to NOT use this mode. Linear Mode is best as it keeps the posts in constant date/time sequential order.

Display Modes are selected inside a Thread, shown in the Upper gray bar at the top of the thread. This mode can also be set inside the User Profile Settings.

Here's a portion of the Hybrid post list, which is shown at the top of the Thread. (note I've truncated names manually)

Gary B. (2575) C2 Power Antenna December 11th, 2023, 06:15 PM
James W. (18379) Re: C2 Power Antenna December 12th, 2023, 10:09 AM
Richard M. (13499) Re: C2 Power Antenna August 27th, 2024, 07:48 AM
Ronald L. (50931) Re: C2 Power Antenna August 27th, 2024, 05:26 PM
Enzo C. (54308) Re: C2 Power Antenna Yesterday, 07:49 PM
Ronald L. (50931) Re: C2 Power Antenna Yesterday, 09:42 PM



I think Enzo was reviewing the Thread, then he saw James's Post(Dec 23, 2023). He hit the Reply button in that Post. Note the above trace which can be viewed in Dispay Mode "Hybrid". Follow the dotted lines from Enzo's post, back up to Jame's post. This is how I speculated who he was replying to.

Because he did not hit the "Reply with Quote" button, it can be confusing to others who read it.

This was Jame's Post.....

Gary,

To my knowledge, Greg did not pass the torch to anyone. From what I've read, he stopped restoring them due to parts becoming unavailable.


Best Regards,

James W

Enzo's reply.....

You are correct, his close friend made an attempt but no luck in the process.. unfortunately will have to use alternate but probably not good

Again, I'm speculating, but I believe that's what happened.

Rich

[Bruce M.]

Re: C2 Power Antenna

Rich, you've done quite a deep dive into the vexing antenna repair so I hope you can answer a simple question for me. My whip is frozen fully extended as best I can tell, and it rotates freely in the next mast section. I have injected various penetrating oils and rust removal products and tapped on the tip for long intervals without movement. The rest of the assembly extends and retracts properly. Is it possible the whip is still properly attached to the cable and if I freed it there would be no damage?

Greg Thompson judged my antenna at the 2014 FL Regional and told me to just leave it alone, without explanation. I was too wrapped up in everything else to get more detail from him. That was before all my soaking and tapping.

Many thanks,
Bruce

[Richard M.]

Re: C2 Power Antenna

Rich, you've done quite a deep dive into the vexing antenna repair so I hope you can answer a simple question for me. My whip is frozen fully extended as best I can tell, and it rotates freely in the next mast section. I have injected various penetrating oils and rust removal products and tapped on the tip for long intervals without movement. The rest of the assembly extends and retracts properly. Is it possible the whip is still properly attached to the cable and if I freed it there would be no damage?

Greg Thompson judged my antenna at the 2014 FL Regional and told me to just leave it alone, without explanation. I was too wrapped up in everything else to get more detail from him. That was before all my soaking and tapping.

Many thanks,
Bruce

Bruce, I had one with the stuck whip like yours. Hours of time to try to free it also. All methods failed.

That cable on yours is likely rusted and expanded so tight that it'll never get loose.

All I can suggest now is keep trying to hit the top with the wood block method to support Mast #1.

Rich

[Joseph S.]

My '66 power antenna, rebuilt by Greg Thompson a few years back has developed FM reception problems. The raising and retracting or the antenna is fine however, when I removed coax receptacle from the antenna housing the wire connecting the male coax pin to the antenna is broken off flush with the plastic insulator on the coax receptacle. I tried pulling up the green wire which I assume connects the antenna to the coax pin but was unable to do so. I cannot seem to pull the antenna out of the cylindrical cover to get access. (black bushing on the antenna is very tight) . Is there a repair procedure without having to disassemble the entire unit?
Also concerned with parts. If I try to solder to the broken wire in the coax receptacle I will most certainly melt the plastic insulator.

Appreciate any assistance;

Joe

[Richard M.]

My '66 power antenna, rebuilt by Greg Thompson a few years back has developed FM reception problems. The raising and retracting or the antenna is fine however, when I removed coax receptacle from the antenna housing the wire connecting the male coax pin to the antenna is broken off flush with the plastic insulator on the coax receptacle. I tried pulling up the green wire which I assume connects the antenna to the coax pin but was unable to do so. I cannot seem to pull the antenna out of the cylindrical cover to get access. (black bushing on the antenna is very tight) . Is there a repair procedure without having to disassemble the entire unit?
Also concerned with parts. If I try to solder to the broken wire in the coax receptacle I will most certainly melt the plastic insulator.

Appreciate any assistance;

Joe

Joe, I had the same problem on one I worked on last year, but I already had it apart.

In your case, the only way to release the mast assembly from the gearcase is to power the motor "UP", after partial disassembly. The internal cable will be locked into the internal gearing. If you have enough wire there you may not have to remove it. Either way you'll have to remove the coax connector to resolder the wire.

The only other way to release the mast assembly is to remove the motor to release the worm shaft from the driven gear, but yours is likely "sealed", and you probably don't want to cut it up. It has to be done this way if the motor or gearcase is seized.

The green "signal" wire is fairly long but is coiled around the base mast to take up slack. Try twisting the antenna base( it's a snug fit around the black collar, but should rotate with some pressure). If it rotates, in the proper direction, it should free up some of the wire enough to re-solder to the connector, after a few more steps.

Remove the coax connector assembly from the case by removing the 2 Phillips screws. If your assembly is totally sealed, you still have to remove the connector from the base collar by cutting the sealant around the connector. If so, you could fish the wire up through the base collar and try to resolder the wire to the pin, but it'll be a tight fit. I re-read your post and you already removed the connector.

Holding the connector in a vice, from the back side where the wire broke, use a flat ended drift and light hammer and tap the pin to push it out to the front of the connector. You could also use pliers from the front, with light pressure only, to pull it out.

The broken conductor wire will have to be removed from the pin by de-soldering it.

Now you can resolder the wire to the pin without damage to the soft translucent insulator in the connector. Note that the bare wire passes through the entire length of the pin and is soldered from the top of the pin.

In your case, you may have to de-solder the wire from the mast for easier access, then resolder it to the mast later. I'm not sure how much wire is there on yours, but I'd think Greg left it pretty long, as was done originally.


Here are some photos which may help. Also, if you did cut any sealant from the assembly, you may be able to reseal it with some heat from a heat gun.

Rich


This one was seized so I had to take it apart to get the mast accessible to fix the signal wire and try to free up the assembly.
20240420_182535.png

The base mast will rotate on the black collar. It's very snug.
20240420_182040.png

Note the alignment notch.
20240420_182114.png

Remove the pin from the back side with a small drift, or pull it out the front using pliers.
Note the ring collar near the base of the connector pin. The pin will be held in a fixed position when reinstalled.
20240420_180000.png

Views of the pin insulator.
20240420_180015.png

20240420_180032.png

After removing the old broken wire.
20240420_180429.png

Repaired wire. Remove any excess at the tip with cutters.
20240420_180704.png

Feed the assembly back into the insulator and push pin until the collar mates to the insulator.
20240420_180853.png

Finished and ready for reassmbly.
20240420_181024.png

20240420_181010.png

When done, it's a good idea to test continuity to the whip.
Antenna_Group_4_Fixed_37.jpg

Also verify it's not shorted to the case.
Antenna_Group_4_Fixed_38.jpg

[Joseph S.]

RICH,
Appreciate the reply and the great pictures. I've also been talking with Dave Strickland about the work you guys have been doing on these units.
I was unable to get the black bushing loose from with the whip antenna or from the collar without destroying the bushing. However, I was able to fish an exposed wire out through the hole in the collar. I then drilled the broken wire out of the coax pin with an 1/16"bit and soldered in a 14 gauge wire. Once I solder the other end to the wire I pulled though, all was good, I again had continuity from the pin to the whip

Now all I have to do is seal the parts of the antenna I had to cut the wax off of. Tim Lang helped me out with a few hunks of sealant.
Thanks again to all for your assistance.

I've got another antenna from a '65 car that needs to completely disassembled (moves but slow and noisy)so I'll get a chance to do this again.

Joe