Does anyone know where I may be able to find a schematic of the Wave Magnet Roto Antenna for the Zenith 8S463? Unlike most Wave Magnets, it has a 5 pin connector. The antennas I've been seeing for sale are all 4 pin. Heck, this one was in such bad shape I'd even consider finding another if I could.

I've been turning over every rock I can. I had this radio pumping out beautifully with the eye closing almost all the way. It sounded great!
As the last part of this project I rebuilt the casing for and re-wired the 5 wire harness to the antenna, now I get nothing. Well, not really nothing, I get am 570 out of DC here, but that's all I get and no matter where I tune, no matter the position of the tuning condenser, I still get am 570 with no fluctuation on the eye. That may just be an RF thing, but there are more powerful stations in the area.
There's got to be a short in the antenna somewhere. The only thing I changed was the wiring (because the original was literally falling apart). A lesson in leaving well enough alone.
Thanks as always, Dan

Dan,
One thing I noticed when re-wiring a built in antenna was the wire. The bulk of the radio was wired with #22 solid, except for the tuning, osc and antenna (all RF) circuits, wired with #22 stranded. I suspect that in all cases the solid wire would alter the inductance of an osc coil as well as the antenna circuit, and probably de-tune the whole set. The fact that you only get 1 station though, would lead me to believe that the antenna coil and oscillator circuits are mis-wired, and not actually tuning.

marv

:Does anyone know where I may be able to find a schematic of the Wave Magnet Roto Antenna for the Zenith 8S463? Unlike most Wave Magnets, it has a 5 pin connector. The antennas I've been seeing for sale are all 4 pin. Heck, this one was in such bad shape I'd even consider finding another if I could.
:
:I've been turning over every rock I can. I had this radio pumping out beautifully with the eye closing almost all the way. It sounded great!
:As the last part of this project I rebuilt the casing for and re-wired the 5 wire harness to the antenna, now I get nothing. Well, not really nothing, I get am 570 out of DC here, but that's all I get and no matter where I tune, no matter the position of the tuning condenser, I still get am 570 with no fluctuation on the eye. That may just be an RF thing, but there are more powerful stations in the area.
:There's got to be a short in the antenna somewhere. The only thing I changed was the wiring (because the original was literally falling apart). A lesson in leaving well enough alone.
:Thanks as always, Dan

Marv,
Thank you for the tip. I'll give that a look this evening. You wouldn't happen to know the pin outs on that antenna would you? That's where I'm tripping up. Thanks again, Dan

:Dan,
:One thing I noticed when re-wiring a built in antenna was the wire. The bulk of the radio was wired with #22 solid, except for the tuning, osc and antenna (all RF) circuits, wired with #22 stranded. I suspect that in all cases the solid wire would alter the inductance of an osc coil as well as the antenna circuit, and probably de-tune the whole set. The fact that you only get 1 station though, would lead me to believe that the antenna coil and oscillator circuits are mis-wired, and not actually tuning.
:
:marv
:
::Does anyone know where I may be able to find a schematic of the Wave Magnet Roto Antenna for the Zenith 8S463? Unlike most Wave Magnets, it has a 5 pin connector. The antennas I've been seeing for sale are all 4 pin. Heck, this one was in such bad shape I'd even consider finding another if I could.
::
::I've been turning over every rock I can. I had this radio pumping out beautifully with the eye closing almost all the way. It sounded great!
::As the last part of this project I rebuilt the casing for and re-wired the 5 wire harness to the antenna, now I get nothing. Well, not really nothing, I get am 570 out of DC here, but that's all I get and no matter where I tune, no matter the position of the tuning condenser, I still get am 570 with no fluctuation on the eye. That may just be an RF thing, but there are more powerful stations in the area.
::There's got to be a short in the antenna somewhere. The only thing I changed was the wiring (because the original was literally falling apart). A lesson in leaving well enough alone.
::Thanks as always, Dan

:Marv,
:Thank you for the tip. I'll give that a look this evening. You wouldn't happen to know the pin outs on that antenna would you? That's where I'm tripping up. Thanks again, Dan
:
:
:
::Dan,
::One thing I noticed when re-wiring a built in antenna was the wire. The bulk of the radio was wired with #22 solid, except for the tuning, osc and antenna (all RF) circuits, wired with #22 stranded. I suspect that in all cases the solid wire would alter the inductance of an osc coil as well as the antenna circuit, and probably de-tune the whole set. The fact that you only get 1 station though, would lead me to believe that the antenna coil and oscillator circuits are mis-wired, and not actually tuning.
::
::marv
::
:::Does anyone know where I may be able to find a schematic of the Wave Magnet Roto Antenna for the Zenith 8S463? Unlike most Wave Magnets, it has a 5 pin connector. The antennas I've been seeing for sale are all 4 pin. Heck, this one was in such bad shape I'd even consider finding another if I could.
:::
:::I've been turning over every rock I can. I had this radio pumping out beautifully with the eye closing almost all the way. It sounded great!
:::As the last part of this project I rebuilt the casing for and re-wired the 5 wire harness to the antenna, now I get nothing. Well, not really nothing, I get am 570 out of DC here, but that's all I get and no matter where I tune, no matter the position of the tuning condenser, I still get am 570 with no fluctuation on the eye. That may just be an RF thing, but there are more powerful stations in the area.
:::There's got to be a short in the antenna somewhere. The only thing I changed was the wiring (because the original was literally falling apart). A lesson in leaving well enough alone.
:::Thanks as always, Dan

Dan,

You may take a look at the 8S462 in the resources on this site. It has a 5 wire wavemagnet. It may help with tracing out the wiring of your wavemagnet. Note that the external antenna ground is returned to B minus thru a capacitor and not to chassis as yours.

Radiodoc

Dan,
The one I worked with and drew schematics/pinouts and pictorials was on an RCA 16T2. It was a 12" x 5" flat wound oval with 5 separate coils, and mounted to a rear fiberboard panel. Although I'm not familar with the Zenith "Wavemagnet", there may be some similarities. I provided Thomas D. with those items via email. If you think they'll be helpful, to you, contact me by email.

marv

:Marv,
:Thank you for the tip. I'll give that a look this evening. You wouldn't happen to know the pin outs on that antenna would you? That's where I'm tripping up. Thanks again, Dan
:
:
:
::Dan,
::One thing I noticed when re-wiring a built in antenna was the wire. The bulk of the radio was wired with #22 solid, except for the tuning, osc and antenna (all RF) circuits, wired with #22 stranded. I suspect that in all cases the solid wire would alter the inductance of an osc coil as well as the antenna circuit, and probably de-tune the whole set. The fact that you only get 1 station though, would lead me to believe that the antenna coil and oscillator circuits are mis-wired, and not actually tuning.
::
::marv
::
:::Does anyone know where I may be able to find a schematic of the Wave Magnet Roto Antenna for the Zenith 8S463? Unlike most Wave Magnets, it has a 5 pin connector. The antennas I've been seeing for sale are all 4 pin. Heck, this one was in such bad shape I'd even consider finding another if I could.
:::
:::I've been turning over every rock I can. I had this radio pumping out beautifully with the eye closing almost all the way. It sounded great!
:::As the last part of this project I rebuilt the casing for and re-wired the 5 wire harness to the antenna, now I get nothing. Well, not really nothing, I get am 570 out of DC here, but that's all I get and no matter where I tune, no matter the position of the tuning condenser, I still get am 570 with no fluctuation on the eye. That may just be an RF thing, but there are more powerful stations in the area.
:::There's got to be a short in the antenna somewhere. The only thing I changed was the wiring (because the original was literally falling apart). A lesson in leaving well enough alone.
:::Thanks as always, Dan

I only see 4 wires in the schematic that go to the chassis. However, whatever the case may be, this coil shouldn't present any trouble to you when rewiring it. You seem to have a small coil and a large coil according to the schematic. A tel-tale would be that the small coil connects to a fixed condenser, and the large coil connects to a variable trimmer condenser. Your wavemagnet/antenna switch has 6 contacts to it, 3 per side. We'll call the side that has the center terminal connected to the antenna terminal the "antenna side." The top two terminals, as shown in the schematic, would be those that the switch would make contact with when the switch was set to "antenna." The bottom two terminals would be those that the switch would make contact with when the switch was set to "wavemagnet." Keep this in mind. The large coil's inner end is the one that connects to one of the wavemagnet shields through a trimmer condenser. This inner end should connect to the RF choke within the radio that connects to the band selector switch. The outside of the large coil should connect directly to another terminal on the band selector switch. Going clockwise with the small coil (large coil positioned so that as you go clockwise you begin on the outside and finish on the inside), the end that begins as you go clockwise should connect to the antenna coil primary within the radio, as shown in the schematic. The end of the small coil that ends after you have followed the coil in a clockwise direction, should connect to the wavemagnet switch terminal that's on the antenna terminal side of the switch and is on the side where the switch would be placed to use an external antenna. The only remaining wire that goes to the wavemagnet, connects teh ground terminal to the radio's chassis.

Thomas

Also, when the antenna wiring is bad, it is always a good idea to replace it. Otherwise you can't rotate the antenna for best reception. In the future, though, replace only one wire at a time. Also, keep the wires separated somewhat, perhaps by using thick insulated wires (although I don't think that the originals had thick insulation). If the wires are placed too close together, the capacitance between them will keep the set from tuning high.

The ideal set-up is found on a Zenith portable, where the wires are sewn on each side of a cloth band. They are kept about 1.5 inches apart at all times.

T.

Thank you all for your responses!

I think it's that 5th wire that's really creating the problem. There was a 5th wire coming out of the wave magnet, but was NOT attached to the chassis when I started the restoration. There was, however, an open pin on the connector...silly me, I assumed that that was where it was supposed to go (again, that wave magnet isn't drawn out in the kind of detail I need). If that 5th wire doesn't get wired to chassis, where should it go?

Thanks again.

:Also, when the antenna wiring is bad, it is always a good idea to replace it. Otherwise you can't rotate the antenna for best reception. In the future, though, replace only one wire at a time. Also, keep the wires separated somewhat, perhaps by using thick insulated wires (although I don't think that the originals had thick insulation). If the wires are placed too close together, the capacitance between them will keep the set from tuning high.
:
:The ideal set-up is found on a Zenith portable, where the wires are sewn on each side of a cloth band. They are kept about 1.5 inches apart at all times.
:
:T.

You should take pictures of your antenna (the inner guts). Take detailed close-ups. Use the portrait setting on your camera, or use the manual focus setting.

Thomas