[cgholly]

I picked up an excellent condition 40-180 a couple of months ago and of course the rubber wiring is shot. I've rebuilt the chassis and now need to work on the antenna. Is there a way to disassemble the paper coated antenna without destroying it in the process? As expected, the paper is brittle but not to badly. Any advice?

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi

Not that I am aware of. Plus, there are fine wires embedded in that paper covering, which is an electrostatic shield for the loop antenna.

In the past, I have pulled off as much of the old rubber insulation as I could, then slipped on the appropriate color of heat shrink tubing to go as far into the antenna as possible, applied heat to shrink the tubing and moved on to the next wire. I did not want to try removing the cover and destroying the electrostatic shield in the cover.

If you really want to remove the cover, the antenna will still work without the electrostatic shielding. Somewhere around here I have the frame of a 1940 Philco "muffler" antenna, which is actually complete except for lack of a cover. I've used it for resting purposes, and it does work without the shielding.

[cgholly]

Thanks Ron,

I got bored yesterday evening, removed all the old staples, unsoldered the ground wire and carefully slid the paper cover off the frame. I'm happy to report the paper came off without incident! I noticed the wires in the cover and thank you for answering the question generated with that discovery. I did find on the paper cover a place where some component appears to have been connected at one time, any idea what that may be?

Thanks