I'm working on restoring a 1950 Mercury 106 chassis combo TV/Radio/Phono. The internal antenna has a foil covering that is falling apart and I am missing some pieces. I would like to repair this and even if it is not perfect it would be nice for it to work again.

I've considered using foil tape but I am really not sure how that would work as an antenna or even just as a patch. Does anyone have any opinions on this on how I might go about fixing it? I do have the back to this TV so it will be at least not visible when finished.

Foil might work, but it looks like the base material (cardboard?) is falling apart too. Maybe get an aluminum sheet and cut it in this shape?

(Hard to tell what the dimensions are from your photo.)

If it's small enough to cut from one piece of heavy duty foil, then maybe make a new support and use that with the foil.

If the cardboard substrate is fine and the foil is coming in glued you can glue it back down. If it isn't aluminum you can get some copper tape to bridge the gaps...solder it in and tin over it to hide the copper color...If it is aluminum I got no clue how to fix it.

There are almost no low power analog TV stations left anywhere so that antenna probably has no practical purpose anymore unless you won the OTA lottery or run your own low power transmitter(if you do you could move the transmitter antenna closer to the TV antenna).
If you want to run the set off a DTV box you would be better served with a separate indoor or outdoor antenna...the internal antennas on most TVs sucked even compared to the average separate antennas of their time. Most internal antennas in TVs were meant for sets used in strong signal urban areas where you could get good signal on almost any piece of metal you wanted to use as an antenna....the owners manuals of most sets would advise an external antenna in most moderate and fringe reception locations.

There's little need to fix one of these...it is more original if left be and there are better solutions/workarounds than fixing it.

Foil might work, but it looks like the base material (cardboard?) is falling apart too. Maybe get an aluminum sheet and cut it in this shape?

(Hard to tell what the dimensions are from your photo.)

If it's small enough to cut from one piece of heavy duty foil, then maybe make a new support and use that with the foil.

It is made of cardboard and what appears to be aluminum foil. It is literally stapled to the top of the cabinet. I was thinking about either adding more staples or just cutting an entirely new piece using the old one as a template and then maybe covering it in foil glued to it with Super 77. Also, the size is just about 15" so I could get foil that size easy. But would it work as an antenna?

If the cardboard substrate is fine and the foil is coming in glued you can glue it back down. If it isn't aluminum you can get some copper tape to bridge the gaps...solder it in and tin over it to hide the copper color...If it is aluminum I got no clue how to fix it.

There are almost no low power analog TV stations left anywhere so that antenna probably has no practical purpose anymore unless you won the OTA lottery or run your own low power transmitter(if you do you could move the transmitter antenna closer to the TV antenna).
If you want to run the set off a DTV box you would be better served with a separate indoor or outdoor antenna...the internal antennas on most TVs sucked even compared to the average separate antennas of their time. Most internal antennas in TVs were meant for sets used in strong signal urban areas where you could get good signal on almost any piece of metal you wanted to use as an antenna....the owners manuals of most sets would advise an external antenna in most moderate and fringe reception locations.

There's little need to fix one of these...it is more original if left be and there are better solutions/workarounds than fixing it.

I am leaning towards thinking that it is aluminum, it feels just like foil.

So why I am even bothering trying to fix this is I have a couple of Blonder Tongue modulators that I transmit a very low power signal on a couple of channels. That keeps me from having to use DTV boxes on everything and it also allows me to get to test the tuners out on different stations other than 3-4. So I was hoping to see if I could repair this and see how well it pulls in stations.

If your modulator is set up optimally the set should be able to pull in a decent signal on that antenna even if some of the foil is missing... I'd try it before going to the trouble of fixing that antenna.

If your modulator is set up optimally the set should be able to pull in a decent signal on that antenna even if some of the foil is missing... I'd try it before going to the trouble of fixing that antenna.

I set up my antennas for the two channels following the formulas for their stations. They are good approximate. I have them set up in my second story which overlooks the entrance hall of my house and I get pretty good reception with them set on a very low level. But I still use some rabbit ears on my sets as none of my other TVs had any internal antenna so I am not sure what to expect with one.

Also, I would already be able to test this but I am sitting on my hands waiting on some power resistors to arrive I bought online. I am pretty much got the rest of the set done, except in this picture you can see one big huge multi-section electrolytic capacitor that is still in place because I am waiting to remove its last two sections as I want to install the power resistor and new electrolytics on the same terminal strip.

Electrically, a few feet of wire looped around in the same configuration will do the same job. Unadjustable built-in antennas were never intended to 'work' anyway, except in very strong signal areas.

Foil tape would be awesome, except the adhesive on the tape would probably be too much of an insulator to effectively connect two pieces of metal or tape.

Electrically, a few feet of wire looped around in the same configuration will do the same job. Unadjustable built-in antennas were never intended to 'work' anyway, except in very strong signal areas.

I figured they weren't that great. I will probably rebuild this one with cardboard and new foil just to make it nice even if it doesn't work great and I will be the only person who ever sees it. I am kinda strange that way.

Foil tape would be awesome, except the adhesive on the tape would probably be too much of an insulator to effectively connect two pieces of metal or tape.

That is what I was thinking as well.


By the way, I just wanted to say WOOHOO!! I spent the last week working on this 1950 Mercury that I could not get hardly any service info except one page in Riders, it has been broken since 1965 or so according to the previous owner. I did the first power on tonight and had no high voltage, I spent all night testing the flyback, checking wires. I was pulling my hair out and starting to question myself when I found a broken wire coming off the transformer that was making good enough contact to get voltage readings but not good enough to power the set. I fixed that and powered it on again and boom FULL bright raster!!

Nice!

Good job. Bad connections can be tough to find.

Nice!

Thank you!

Good job. Bad connections can be tough to find.

Thanks! Last night turned into one of those times where you start doubting your test equipment. I kept getting full voltage then it would drop to millivolts and it was across the entire chassis. But I would check the next place and the voltage would be right on, come back and it was .07mv, then check again and right on again. I started to think my Fluke meter was reading incorrect or my probes had gone bad. I dug up another meter and got the same readings. So I just went back to the transformer and started seeing where I had rock-solid voltage and where it stops, and it happened to stop on the first connection off of the B+. That is where the wire was broken and just touching the terminal strip.

Anyway, I will soon be able to experiment with that antenna. I still am waiting on some resistors and I need to do some finishing work and alignment on this TV. But I will do something to fix that antenna like I said even if I am the only person who sees it.