FM antenna (indoor) for old Pioneer Hifi

[Stephen.J.Williams]

I have recently got my old Pioneer Hifi down from the loft. It is a XC-L7 and was made sometime in the 1990s. It is old in age but basically brand new due to lack of use, and comprises CD player, cassette deck and an inbuilt tuner. Basically it's vintage but is sufficient for me. My problem is that the FM antenna has gone missing and I ordered a new cheap wire indoor aerial that has a male coaxial cable. However, the male connector is too big for the female receiver at the back of the hifi. Probably because of the age of the hifi. I can't get any radio reception without the aerial. I know nothing about hifi but wondered if there are any solutions to getting a basic aerial for an old hifi where the female coaxial cable on the tuner is smaller than the standard male connector on the aerial? Any advice much appreciated.

 

[nopiano]

Hi Stephen, and welcome!

The standard 75ohm coaxial aerial connection has been used for TV and FM radio for several decades. I've never come across different sizes and that's because they are a standard size. Maybe youve got both ends as male or both female - it can happen. Or the old set has a non-standard aerial input.

Just any bit of wire will pick up FM, not brilliantly, but fine if you're not too far from a strong transmitter... A length that goes up to the curtain rail or behind a tallbookcase was one of many old tricks to keep it hidden!

A photo would be great but I've never managed the instructions here, but you may be more capable than me.

 

[chebby]

The 75 Ohm aerial socket on the back of your system is a totally standard type going by this ...

http://www.kamatrina.de/2013_MAI/PIONEER_XCL7/15.JPG (bottom left of the picture and looks like a co-axial TV aerial connection).

Maybe It is your new indoor aerial that is non-standard. Get some advice from a proper aerial installer for the best performance from radio.

A half-wave dipole (vertically aligned on your TV aerial pole) will serve well for FM and DAB in most decent reception areas.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/fmanddabradio.html

If you are using one of those 300 Ohm indoor 'ribbon' FM aerials ('T' shaped with the top of the 'T' blu-tacked or fixed along a picture rail or similar) they will often only have two spade connectors so you'll need a balun to go between it and the co-axial socket on your system ...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/balun-30075andohm-fd78k

 

[Stephen.J.Williams]

Thank you all for your replies. It turns out that the hifi needed an FM aerial with a female coaxial connector (rather than the male connector that was supplied). The simple solution was to get an adaptor for 23p from Homebase! Sorry, I'm really not very knowledgeable but your replies were really helpful.

Im no hifi purist (obviously), but for a relatively basic system for its age, with a bit of adjustment to the settings it sounds really good. Although, I now assume that the audio cassette separate now belongs consigned to history. Thank you all again.