S70 Antenna Replacement.

Post by **Brucebo** » 21 Jan 2012, 22:05

I need to replace the antenna 'cause it got bent (wife in carwash).

1. Bought new antenna from IPD.
2. Removed fender nut.
3. Turned radio "ON" and lifted old antenna with toothed tape out of tube.
4. Inserted toothed tape of new antenna.
5. Had daughter turn radio "OFF" whilest I tried to guide tape in.

6. Here's the problem, as soon as tape engages gear the tape goes about 1/4" and motor stops. I tried this many times. This procedure worked fine on my wife's 850. Is there something I'm missing?

-Bruce

gilhuly · Post by **gilhuly** » 22 Jan 2012, 09:30

Are you sure that there isn't any zip cord down in the housing? Sounds like something is binding or being fed in in an orientation that is incorrect.

Post by **Brucebo** » 22 Jan 2012, 17:17

Problem fixed. The issue was not leftover cord in the mechanism. I had this problem on two S70s I tried it with. The problem was the leading tip of the toothed tape was jamming at the 6 o'clock position of the gear mechanism. See attached image. The tape engages the drive gear at the 2 o'clock position, is driven down to the 6 o'clock position, and instead of going up the ramp on the left hand side into the rotary magazine (not shown, removed), it detours downward and jams into the little well at the bottom.

: Antenna motor, rotary magazine removed.; motor.jpg (391.3 KiB) Viewed 1475 times

The solution was to put an initial bend/curve at the end of the tape. See next picture. I did this by holding the end of the tape with a pair of vice grips (not too tight so you don't damage the teeth) and hanging the antenna assembly while I heated the end of the tape with a heat gun. Too much bend will cause it to jam at the feed bushing at the 2 o'clock position. After just a little bit of initial bend in the tape it fed in nicely.

: Intial bend in tape.; tape_bent.jpg (443.17 KiB) Viewed 1475 times

Post by **Brucebo** » 23 Jan 2012, 10:24

By the way, I've found that a "missing antenna hole plugger" for temporarily pluging the antenna hole to keep out moisture and creepy crawlers are those squishy foam ear plugs. You squish it up and stick it into the hole. It then expands nicely to seal off the hole. The only propblem I had with this is our (still kitteny) cats noticed it and yanked it out.

-Bruce