Tuner Issues w/Zenith H845

[tlavergne]

Yep, slipping. I have a syringe of very fine oil that I used to put a drop or two around. The tuning shaft has bearings...I couldn't believe it. Little ball bearings. I assumed it would have had a brass bushing. The oil helped loosen the moving parts. I put some bees wax on the tuning dial string and the spool. Works great.

[tlavergne]

I might buy a wrecked radio off the bay and tear it apart to see how it works. These things are fascinating.

[tlavergne]

Jeff,
Thanks for the info. I believe we talked a year or two ago when I got this radio. I am originally from up your way but live in Central Ohio now. I have the tuner repaired and playing as I write. I don't have the phono output but use an FM transmitter. That seems to work great. In the summer this radio sits on our screened in porch and is 2 feet away from the computer (wall in separating the two). So I either stream radio or stream off my itunes straight to the radio. It works perfectly. In the winter the radio sits next to the computer and I use it the same way. I either have it on 89.5 for the FM transmitter or 90.7 for my local NPR station so the tuner really does not get too much exercise. How would I hook an external antenna to this? I have an antenna in the attic that connects to the rest of my radios via coax. I have a powered signal boost on the antenna. I am keeping the antenna in the attic to keep it from attracting a lightning strike.
TL

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by tlavergne

Jeff,
Thanks for the info. I believe we talked a year or two ago when I got this radio. I am originally from up your way but live in Central Ohio now. I have the tuner repaired and playing as I write. I don't have the phono output but use an FM transmitter. That seems to work great. In the summer this radio sits on our screened in porch and is 2 feet away from the computer (wall in separating the two). So I either stream radio or stream off my itunes straight to the radio. It works perfectly. In the winter the radio sits next to the computer and I use it the same way. I either have it on 89.5 for the FM transmitter or 90.7 for my local NPR station so the tuner really does not get too much exercise. How would I hook an external antenna to this? I have an antenna in the attic that connects to the rest of my radios via coax. I have a powered signal boost on the antenna. I am keeping the antenna in the attic to keep it from attracting a lightning strike.
TL

Tom,

You are more than welcome. I am always happy to help out a fellow Zenith radio owner, as I have had an interest in these radios for years and have been interested in electronics since I was eight years old; got into amateur or "ham" radio as well at the age of 16 in 1972 and have been active in that, in one form or another (currently experimenting with voice over IP on the Internet with a system called Echolink) ever since.

There are two terminals on the back cover of your C845 marked "F" and "G", for "FM" and "ground" respectively. Connect your external antenna to these terminals, using a 75- to 300-ohm matching transformer such as was (and still is in some cases, notably with OTA [over the air] TV antenna installations) used to connect coax cable to older TV sets with only 300-ohm terminals; it looks like a shotgun shell. The 300-ohm side of the transformer, of course, connects to the radio's antenna terminals, while the "F" connector (it looks like the connector on the end of your TV cable) screws onto the mating connector on the transformer.

You are very wise to locate your FM antenna in your attic. Summer thunderstorms in northeastern Ohio (and I'm sure in your area as well) can be severe; an outdoor antenna of any kind, especially if it is mounted on a tall mast, atop a tower, or even on the roof of your house, can and often does attract lightning like moths to a flame.

BTW, where in northern Ohio are you from originally? I grew up in Wickliffe, an eastern Cleveland suburb about 16 miles from downtown, then moved to Fairport Harbor, 33 miles east of downtown Cleveland and a mile or so from Lake Erie, ten and a half years ago.

[tlavergne]

I was born in Ravenna in Portage County. My wife was born in Wickliffe but grew up in Lyndhurst. Thanks for the info on the antenna...I'll play with that a little bit. How many radios can I hook up to one antenna? Does it matter if you only play one at a time?

[Reece]

If you're going to hook up several FM radios to an antenna with coax, treat it as you would multiple TV's: you can use TV coax splitters which will isolate the sets.

[tlavergne]

I've got splitters on it now to serve 3 radios...didn't know if there is a limit on the number of splitters I could have.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by tlavergne

I've got splitters on it now to serve 3 radios...didn't know if there is a limit on the number of splitters I could have.

That depends on how much signal you're getting at the antenna. Every time you add another splitter, you will lose a certain amount of signal. If you have splitters for three radios now, the one nearest the first splitter (and therefore nearest the antenna) will get the most signal, the second will get a little less, and the third will get the weakest signal. I don't know how far you are from Columbus, but if you are in a weak signal area your third radio could get so little signal it won't work well. If you are in a fringe or near-fringe FM reception area for Columbus stations, you may need to use an amplifier ahead of the antenna, but remember that even an amplified signal will be weakened by every splitter it goes through on the way to the radio; long coax runs will weaken the signal as well.

BTW, I looked at the Columbus-area FM radio station listings on RadioStationWorld.com yesterday but could not find any NPR stations on 90.7 in that city, or anywhere nearby. Is your so-called "local" 90.7 NPR station in the city itself, in a suburb, or is the station a translator (satellite repeater) for another NPR station in town?

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

BTW, I looked at the Columbus-area FM radio station listings on RadioStationWorld.com yesterday but could not find any NPR stations on 90.7 in that city, or anywhere nearby. Is your so-called "local" 90.7 NPR station in the city itself, in a suburb, or is the station a translator (satellite repeater) for another NPR station in town?

WCBE 90.5, perhaps? (check that dial calibration)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCBE

jr

[tlavergne]

WGTE 90.7. It is a Toledo NPR station that has an antenna location in Lima. WCBE 90.5 is out of Columbus and I am just out of reach of their signal...great radio station by the way. I thought signal strength degraded with splitters but at 3 I am doing okay.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by tlavergne

WGTE 90.7. It is a Toledo NPR station that has an antenna location in Lima. WCBE 90.5 is out of Columbus and I am just out of reach of their signal...great radio station by the way. I thought signal strength degraded with splitters but at 3 I am doing okay.

So WGTE 91.3 Toledo also transmits on WGLE 90.7 Lima? Are you closer to Lima than to Columbus?

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=53715

Yes! each 2-way splitter divides the signal in half. (ya don't get to disobey the laws of physics )

jr

[tlavergne]

During the week I stream WUMB out of Boston, Mass and use an FM transmitter to hit the radios in the house. Weekends are usually local 90.7.

[tlavergne]

45 minutes to Columbus...30 minutes to Lima. WGTE has outpost antennas all over NW Ohio to serve this corner of the state. I guess each tower has it's own call letters but I just lump them together as WGTE. But I think Defiance has a tower...maybe Van Wert.

I wasn't sure on splitters if they halved to signal only when both ends are being used or what. I guess I was thinking of it like water pressure. If one side was not being used then all pressure (signal) goes to the other side.