Orion wrote:OEM Motorola plugs/sockets are generally not designed to be removed and reused once installed.
That's what I just found out! I ended up cutting off the female plug as it could not be completely opened up to repair it. I thought I could just wire the two halves together. BUT the actual antenna wire looks like a SINGLE very thin strand of copper. I can't imagine how to strip that! Thanks for the info!
Can you post a photo of the wire?
This wire should be coax, it will have a center wire covered by an electrical insulation which is covered by a fine wire which can be braided or may be spiraled around the center wire insulation..
Like this illustration.
Another view of coax would be similar to this..
(you would not have RG-6) but what you will have is a much smaller version which should look similar in some respects.
It would be highly unusual for any vehicle manufacturer to not use coaxial wire for the antenna. The outside shield is connected to vehicle ground and helps to reduce RF noise generated from the vehicles engine and electronics from getting to the center conductor.
There are many types of coaxial cable, you may have a sub miniature size which will have extremely fine shielding and a very fine center conductor which can be a real pain in the rear to strip back.
There are some versions which use just a foil shield and a single strand of wire intertwined with the foil.. With that type, you need to remove some of the foil to get to the center conductor..
On edit..
After some noodling, the coax used for car stereos is 125 Ohm, Belden 9857, RG-93..
Data sheet can be found HERE in PDF format.
There is a picture in the PDF, the center conductor will have a little plastic strand wrapped around it, then the insulation and then a wire braid then the outer jacket..
Nominal diameter of the coax should be .405" (10.3mm)
Orion wrote:
The radio failed again so I pulled the car apart and found that the problem does not appear tp be in the male plug. I can hold it and tug it any way, in and out , and the signal does not fade. My body acts as a pretty good antenna! So the problem must be in the soldering in the female part, or the way that they connect together. I can't see any way of opening it up!
OEM Motorola plugs/sockets are generally not designed to be removed and reused once installed.
You would need to buy a replacement female end and cut off the original one..
They are available HERE
Although, since you have multiple extension pieces, you could try replacing the suspect extension..
Metra sells a variety of extension cable lengths..
HERE
Of course this is assuming that the radio antenna input is not at fault which is a real possibility.
If you are sure it is not the radios fault, replacing the entire OEM antenna system with an generic aftermarket antenna and cable may be the better route which will get rid of the janky multiple extensions.
That is a standard car radio antenna plug (AKA a "Motorola" plug) used on car radios since at least the 1960s and perhaps earlier.
OEM plug is soldered in one like this..
The one the OP pictured is a solderless replacement.
I would be amazed that anyone used that anywhere else other than right at the back of the radio. Unless they really needed to extend the wire length.. Can be a problem at times since they tend to get loose over time.. You can buy Motorola plug antenna cable extensions if needed..
OEM plug is soldered in one like this..
The one the OP pictured is a solderless replacement.
I would be amazed that anyone used that anywhere else other than right at the back of the radio. Unless they really needed to extend the wire length.. Can be a problem at times since they tend to get loose over time.. You can buy Motorola plug antenna cable extensions if needed..
