My '77 Tradewind has an original Braud Skyliner TV antenna and a two Braud
power booster amplifiers, both located on the streetside, one in the front and
one in the rear. I have the manuals for both the antenna and the amplifier.
The mechanical operation of the antenna seems ok; it raises and lowers easily
and rotates somewhat reluctantly.
There is a 300 ohm cable connecting the antenna to the front amplifier and
another 300 ohm cable that runs from the front amplifier to the rear. There are
two 75 ohm cables that are attached to the front amplifier (although the
signals supplied to these cables are not amplified) that are intended for
connection to an am/fm radio.
Does anyone know where the 75 ohm cables go? I thought that one would emerge
in the compartment over the front window, but there's no sign of one there.
Possibly these cables terminate somewhere behind the interior skin and you
have to open a hole to access them?
Above the roof, the 300 ohm cable has deteriorated badly. I thought at first
that I would replace the entire run, but it looks very difficult to fish the
cable through the ceiling and wall. I've replaced the front roof vent with a
Fantastic fan and I can just barely access the cable from the inside of the
ceiling space, where it penetrates the roof. I was planning to tape a new cable
to the old one and pull it through, but when I pull on the old one it doesn't
seem to move at all. Has anyone been able to replace this cable without
removing the interior skin? Would it make more sense to just replace the section
of the cable above the roof? Are there any special procedures for splicing
300 ohm cable to minimize signal loss? Any other suggestions?
My final questions relate to connecting the outlet of the amplifier to the
TV. The outlet consists of two simple holes, apparently intended to receive the
stripped wires of a 300 ohm cable. Since my TV has a 75 ohm antenna input, I
plan to plug a 300 ohm/75 ohm matching transformer into the amplifier output
and connect that to the TV with a 75 ohm cable. Any problems with this? Any
better alternatives?
Thanks for your help,
Lincoln Soule
'77 Tradewind