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In the Forum: Off Air Audio
In the Thread: REL Precedent Tuner - Antenna Connection

Post Subject: REL connectorPosted by Joe Roberts on: 1/27/2009

Yes, that WAS a common connector but this won't help you now. Radio Shack sold those as recently as ten years ago.

Since the female side of the connectors has spring terminals there is some variability permitted in the diameter of the male contacts. I suggest trying speaker cable pins and test probe pins. Speaker pins tend to be a little thinner than the pins on that connector, but might work. In a pinch, a few pieces of 16 ga. or so solid core wire might work.

Most antennas today would not be 300 ohm balanced twinlead. If you consult the manual, I believe that you will find that 75 ohm unbal only connects to one side of that connector and ground.

Check the connector from the back and see if it is possible to thread wires through the connector holes, in which case you can have a ground coming through one hole and a hot coming through the other. Terminate these wires in a 75 ohm F or BNC per your requirements. Of course with the coax connector installed, you will no longer be able to remove the cover but how often will you need to do that?

The other alternative is to get a 75ohm to 300 Balun and solder solid core wires or pins to the side with the spade lugs in order to plug into the connector. This is what I did when I used my last twinlead connector. There will be some loss with your average cheap balun but the REL has excessive sensitivity for urban situations anyway, so you should be fine.

One other suggestion: look on ebay for old rabbit ear TV antennas that might have that connector. Although most had spade lugs, I have seen some with the moleded lucite twinlead plug that you need. As you suspected that is a 1950s item. By the sixties, most FM/TV twinlead terminations were screw terminal.

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