"Ron" wrote in message
...
john zeiss wrote:
We have a small portable sony radio, and it has the usual type of
extendable aerial (antenna) that you get on small japanese radios.

It now refuses to maintain its position at an *angle*. Slowly but
surely
it drops down until it reaches the horizontal position.

The small screw has been tightened up, but even as tight as we think we
can
do it without stripping the slots in the screw head, it is not enough to
*clamp* the aerial to stop it dropping down.

Basically the aerial at its base is a square shape with one small bronze
coloured washer each side of it and that all sits in a ' U ' shaped base
with it all being clamped with a small screw.

Are there any tricks you know of, to get it to behave? Thanks.

Take the two washers out and restore the 'curl' in them by pressing them
over the shaft of a screwdriver.

This is the 'correct' fix for the problem - I have had to do it many times
to radios which have crossed my bench, and are similarly afflicted. If you
want to 'belt and braces' it, you can remove the antenna and the curl
washers from the yoke part that stays in the radio, and then treat the yoke
to a *gentle* squeeze with a pair of Mole grips. FWIW, the screw can go up
quite tight without breaking or stripping threads. Also, if you prefer to
work on it not attached to the radio, the connection inside is usually made
by a fixed strap, so you can simply undo the screw just below the antenna
base, remove it completely, and then lift the complete antenna out of its
mounting hole.

Arfa