stupid question

[midlifecuda]

Okay, what am I doing wrong? I have two radios that I'm trying to bench test. I have them hooked up to a car battery, lights are working. I have a car speaker hooked up as well as an antenna. No sound from the speaker except crackling when I first touch the wires to the speaker. What am I missing? If its a ground, what would I be hooking that up to since I'm at my work bench? From where to where? I can't imagine both radios are bad. One is an am, the other is am/fm. I have the am/fm switched to am.

 

[RedFish]

antenna ?

 

[cuda65vpt]

Yep the antenna needs to be grounded. Picture it installed in a vehicle, what is grounded there needs to be grounded on the bench.

 

[TrailBeast]

You are probably not doing anything wrong if you have lights and any sound at all from the speaker (even just a connection sound from the speaker)
Some of the newer stereo's with a memory wire (usually yellow) require both power at the red (or power wire) as well as to the memory wire, but most of those will not power up at all without both wires connected to power.

The outer shell of the antenna connector grounds the antenna, but you can try grounding the antenna seperately.
Don't think it matters though, at least not that I have ever seen.

 

[midlifecuda]

so a wire from the antenna to the neg of the battery? I did that with no results

 

[cuda65vpt]

How old are these radios? AM/FM should be a transistor type. I would tweak with that one first or better yet one that you know works to set up your bench station.

 

[Daves69]

What vintage radios?

AM radio, your on a bench, and inside a building? Did you try setting up outside?

Another antenna maybe?

Tune the radio to a close and known to be operating station frequency.

 

[mopar head]

Try grounding the case.:coffee2:

 

[WoodenNickle]

Try grounding the case.:coffee2:

yup. what he said.

 

[midlifecuda]

ground to what???!!!! 65 cuda am and 65 antenna....73-76 a body am/fm

 

[TrailBeast]

If the internal lights come on the case is already grounded.
Running a wire from the battery ground to the radio case is what Mopar head means.

 

[67Dart273]

Do not ground the antenna.

DO not ground the antenna.

DO NOT ground the antenna!

DO NOT GROUND THE ANTENNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's what you WANT

1...The radio case must be grounded to battery negative

2...The speaker must be connected

3...There is a "T" shaped connector with two wires, generally red and orange. Orange is the dial light, the other wire is power. That wire hooks to battery POSTIVE

4...Then take a "random length" of wire, say, 5 ft long, and carefully insert into the middle of the antenna connector. You must make contact with the inner "hot" connector of the coaxial connector.

The antenna connector looks like the red one here, so you must "get in" deep to the center connector