Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Philco Antenna Insulator
#1

I found an antenna insulator in the beams under a floor in a house that was probably no older than the late 1930s. It's porcelain, glazed brown, marked Philco with three terminals, one for ground, one for antenna, one for "set". There is also a plastic-cased capacitor to bridge the antenna-set connection. The back is filled with "tar" or whatever you want to call that hard black fill material. Has anyone else seen one of these? I'll be happy to send photos to the group.

Damon
St. Louis, MO
#2

You most probably found a (partial) vintage tube type Radio "outdoor longwire antenna kit"! The porcelain insulators (usually 2 included, were to string uninsulated wire between points from house out to a tree, or another outdoor building strung horizonally high above ground level as possible). These type vintage antenna *kits*, come up for sale on eBay from time to time. The outdoor longwire antenna-kits were originally sold as many vintage radio brands of the 20s- late 1930s required them to be connected to the radios ant terminal to get reception. Many sets back in those days didnt have a factory balanced "built-in" factory loop antenna as the later sets of the 1940s-50s-60s tube type radio receivers. The *condenser* in tar in your kit, was to be used to keep the sometimes "excessive-lengths" ,... of stung outdoor antenna wire from *overloading* the chassis antenna input capacity! Some vintage radio sets required more outdoor antenna length than others ( rural farm areas,etc), depending on how far the listeners were from the Radio Station Transmitters during those days!!
Hence, if you lived in NYC back in 1920/30s era, with a fairly powerful AM station(s) a few miles away , the capacitor would come in handy indeed!! Otherwise, not using the added condenser in *tar* would allow some listener in the middle of farm land in Nebraska, to use the longwire antenna to hear NYC also at night!
And of course, outdoor longwire antennas were most definately required to receive Shortwave Bands reception on the many vintage tube radios sets of that era that offered a SW band listening also.You can also bet if it has the name Philco stamped on it, it is very high quality outdoor LW antenna insulator indeed!! Icon_wink Randal
#3

I think that this doo-lolly is a lightning arrestor from an antenna kit, as supplied with new sets by the manufacturer.

My father bought a new 37-650X Philco for Christmas, 1936, and a rather impressive antenna kit came with the set. The doublet antenna was there, with the twisted pair lead-in, and some knob-type insulators. There was such a lightning arrestor included in the kit. The one in ours was black porcelain, but the color of the finish had no meaning.

Thre is one of those kits in my garage now. I should look at it.




Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)
[-]
Recent Posts
Jackson 715 not working
Now that you posted the schematic, I don't know why that Sprague electrolytic cap is across the meter, as it is not indi...MrFixr55 — 05:51 PM
HiFi (Chifi) tube amp build - but my own design.
What may be lacking in the PP Tube amps may be the 2nd harmonics, which some, especially RCA back in the day called &quo...MrFixr55 — 05:32 PM
Jackson 715 not working
Usually in an emission tester, the tube under test is measured as if it were a diode. So, some testers connect all the g...RodB — 04:17 PM
Restoring Philco 37-604C
Yep. F5 is green, D5 is Red. Red is Bad. Green is Clean.morzh — 01:30 PM
Jackson 715 not working
I did start to do that but I stalled out because I could not figure out how the grid and plate get voltage. In this diag...daveone23 — 11:52 AM
Restoring Philco 37-604C
(Insert Homer Simpson "DOPF" Here.) When all fails, look at the can. Took the Ron Ramirez advice, red Caig D...MrFixr55 — 09:23 AM
Philco 91 Speaker Replacement
From your text I am not sure if you intend to use the existing speaker with a resistor instead of the field coil. It wo...morzh — 08:44 AM
Philco 91 Speaker Replacement
My field coil is bad. I am still hoping to find an original, but if I can't I will go with a fitting Philco speaker, 125...dconant — 08:34 AM
Philco 91 Speaker Replacement
As Rod said, it is OK to use a fitting speaker, and then look for an original one. If you buy a Hammond 125 output tr...morzh — 08:15 AM
Philco 91 Speaker Replacement
Yes, I often have to substitute, then keep an eye out for an original. In the meantime, the radio is working and being e...RodB — 08:02 AM

[-]
Who's Online
There are currently no members online.

>