fish bone antenna

[Gearheart]

I have a 73 Argosy with the Braund crank up antenna, fish bone style. It is not working due to a broken gear in the raise / lower mechanism. Is it worth trying to get a gear for it or is it out dated junk and not worth the effort?

[Rich W]

Is it outdated? Yes, but it still works. We use ours to pick up local HD channels on the TV. There are newer devices that can help you locate the direction of the HD channels so you don't spend so much time rotating the antenna and doing a channel search. There are portable satellite dishes if you are willing to pay the subscription fee.

Me? I'm cheap. I use the old antenna and just rotate the antenna in decreasing angles until I get something then refine my search to smaller angles. I'm retired, got plenty of time

[idroba]

It was, and still is, a fine antenna. The main problem I see is that it used flat line antenna wire (300 ohm) rather than the 75 ohm coax used on all televisions today. Changing the cable is the most difficult part of any update job, but then you would have to do it with a new antenna too. I would bet that after 41 years the old cable is shot anyway, at least the exterior part.

I think, but not sure, that parts are still available for it. I would be pretty sure that New Old Stock parts are around too. If you rebuild it, I would get the plastic parts which move the wings in and out, as well as the gear mechanism. They are (or were) all pretty cheap, but I have not re built one recently.

[nickcrowhurst]

Originally Posted by Gearheart

It is not working due to a broken gear in the raise / lower mechanism. Is it worth trying to get a gear for it or is it out dated junk and not worth the effort?

I rebuilt mine 14 years ago, and it still works very well. The gear was broken, like yours. The gear is available for $14.95 here: Search Results : Out-of-Doors Mart!, More Airstream Parts on-line than anyone!

Nick.