The PHILCO Phorum
1936 Ford Philco Radio - Printable Version

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1936 Ford Philco Radio - Brad Chilton - 01-08-2021

       

I have a 1936 Ford Philco radio installed in my 1935 Ford Fordor.[/font][/size][/color]

how would you recommend connecting the coax cable wire coming from the radio to the roof antenna (chicken wire under the cloth roof)? It works great, but I haven’t been able to figure out a way to connect the antenna where it stays in place—tape just doesn’t hold it. It has the original connector to the roof. I also have another male connector that matches the male connector from the roof—don’t have a female connector to connect the two male connectors. Photos are attached.

1. There is a female connector with the coax cable from the radio—note the two pictures—one showing a side view of the female connector with the coax cable connected to one end and another picture showing the open end of the connector which looks like it would take some type of a pin connector.

2. The picture with the clutch and brake in the background shows the original male connector from the roof antenna. Another not connected male connector part is shown in a picture with the green antenna wire curled up. One other picture shows the two male connectors next to each other—I don’t have a female connector to join the two male connectors.

What do I need to connect the roof antenna?

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Radioroslyn - 01-09-2021

Hi Brad and welcome,

So what do you have? Is you wire long enough to go from the antenna to the radio w/o any unions between? The shiney one looks like it may fit into a bayonet connector of some sort. There are some lamp holders that may work. Most of the antenna connectors I've seen for car radios look a bit like RCA long connectors.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=%2347+bulb+socket&tbm=isch&chips=q:%2347+bulb+socket,online_chips:bayonet+base&usg=AI4_-kQVPuYLIKthPqLY3F70IkDXjiIi5Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiEt4TQ_43uAhUMlFkKHeovBE0QgIoDKAF6BAgBEAo&biw=1280&bih=661

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Chas - 01-09-2021

FWIR the early Ford antenna connectors pre-date the later "Motorola" style (that look like RCA). What is important is maintaining the shield integrity from the chassis at the antenna to the chassis of the radio. Most cables for auto radio are of the low capacity type. The internal conductor is a fine, copper plated steel wire in a hollow insulated tubing."common" coax has far too much capacity for such purpose. Though it will work but very poorly as it will be impossible to match the antenna to the radio with the radio antenna adjustment.

May have to go to an auto specialty restoration parts company for a cable assembly. It appears there may be a missing connector nut... chas

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Radioroslyn - 01-09-2021

Chas,
Would RG-58 fall into the category common coax?
Just curious.

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Brad Chilton - 01-11-2021

Thanks for the suggestion of the lamp holders... I’ll explore that option...

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - fenbach - 01-15-2021

brad,
i have an original female connector. will the antenna lead reach all the way to the radio? if so, does the radio have the little pill box on the outside where the antenna goes in? or does the antenna wire just go thru a hole into the case?
contrary to what chas said, Ford [in my experience, anyway] used a braided internal conductor, 18 or 20 gauge. i'm using a modern coax cable. works fine.
a BA9 bulb socket will work, but is slightly oversize for the male plug.

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Brad Chilton - 01-23-2021

I tried your suggestion—a BA9s socket — provides a good connection to the roof antenna connection. Thank you!

What type of radio noise suppressors/capacitors do you recommend for this 1936 Ford Philco radio? I have capacitors installed at the usual spots; however, I suspect one or more are not working — any easy to identify the bad capacitor(s) other than trial and error?

Again, thank you for the idea!

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - fenbach - 01-23-2021

i haven't needed external caps in my '36, like on the oil pressure sender, for example. i do use resistor plugs, however. i found that running a ground wire directly from the speaker to the radio chassis helped cut down on interference. if you're using an original power+speaker harness, make sure the braided shield is attached at both ends. and make sure the antenna wire shield is grounded at both ends. also that it's attached to the shields of the M and F plug terminals.
you can test the caps, of course, or just try replacing them [trial and error] with a modern 0.47 uf cap. there's nothing special that i know of about the original ones in metal cans. and the old ones likely do leak.
hope that helps.
bob

RE: 1936 Ford Philco Radio - Brad Chilton - 01-24-2021

Very helpful, Bob... Thank you!