[Arran]

I wonder if his antenna coil was gone and this was no he repaired it.

I'm not sure, most of the 1940 Philcos have a built in loop antenna for broadcast, and this one is no exception. It does not look very official though, like someone wound a coil around a toilet paper roll. Maybe it's some sort of home made noise filter since it only has one winding by the looks of things? Pull the chassis out and see if anything is smoked under there.
Regards
Arran