Philips 5X23A aerial advice

[MyDadsRadio]

Hello there,

This is my very first visit. I have inherited a Philips 5X23A radio which is essentially in excellent condition. The balance dial seems to be dead but apart from that all seems well- though it might enjoy a bit of switch spray.

I would love some aerial advice as reception is limited and completely non existent when it comes to FM.

The aerial bit on the back is a complete mystery to me. And anything else you feel like telling me about the radio would be great!

Thank you.

[vinrads]

When on FM is there any noise from the speaker? This is a very nice radio and should work very well on FM try a piece of wire in one of the top sockets any one, about three foot of wire you should get something. Also may need the push button switches and valve bases cleaning.

Mick.

[MyDadsRadio]

Good stuff! A horrible bit of wire from an old hifi got something going. Is there something that would fit properly and work better still?
And if you could explain what all those little diagrams on tHe back mean that would be amazing.

Many thanks.

[Mr 1936]

Hi MyDadsRadio

It looks to me as though the upper two sockets are for an FM dipole with a balanced feeder. There is probably an internal centre tapped transformer, so an unbalanced aerial can be used instead by connecting to just one of the sockets (the radio chassis then acts as the "other half" of the dipole).

The lower two sockets are for an external AM wire aerial (RHS) and earth (LHS).

In addition, there seems to be an internal AM aerial connected to the little movable metal link, and an internal FM aerial connected to a wander plug (not visible in photo).

The little diagrams show how to connect for different combinations of External and Internal aerials, with large capitals denoting External and small capitals denoting internal.

You might be lucky and find the internal aerials satisfactory, but more often than not an external aerial will give better results. If you use an FM dipole with a coax cable (unbalanced), ideally you need a balun transformer at the radio end to convert to balanced. In the real world, if you connect the coax inner and outer to the two sockets it may work well enough.

The sockets look as though they are designed for 3 mm "wander" or "banana" plugs, which usually have springy split pins.

[Herald1360]

Mr_1936 is close to the mark except that the connector is likely to have been a Philips special of some sort. Any plugs that fit will do as a substitute, you can get 2mm, 3mm, 4mm etc individual plugs if you trawl eBay or suitable sized split (cotter) pins can be used with a bit of soldering and tape or heatshrink if needed.

You can find the circuit here:

https://nvhrbiblio.nl/schema/Philips_B5X23A.pdf

(I couldn't find it "up top"- I've added a snippet below in case I missed it!)

[MyDadsRadio]

Thank you both. I can't pretend to understand all of what you have said. But... would something like this be an improvement on the little strand of FM wire currently resting in the socket?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07...AG3XUTK4&psc=1

And would one of those may little black squares wrapped in wire from a "modern" stereo be a first step to improved AM reception?

Historically it was connected to an outside aerial. Should I move that little metal "tag" near the aerial sockets ?

Many thanks, again.

[Mr 1936]

Hi

That's what I would call a "FM Ribbon Dipole". Quite useful if placed reasonably high up in a room. You'll need to chop off the coax plug and fit two separate wander plugs to the wires, to mate with the upper two sockets on the back. Or wedge them in with matchsticks

The "black coil of wire on a small square plastic frame" type would work for AM. Connect it to the lower two sockets, marked Aerial and Earth. The coil should be in the "standing up" position, not laid flat. It will be directional to some extent, so worth rotating it a bit (as seen from above) for best results.

The metal tag isn't needed (its for the internal AM aerial) so just leave it pointing down and not touching any of the 4 sockets.

[MyDadsRadio]

Excellent. Delighted to know that banana plugs / matchsticks / Lego are all accepted materials.

[Gabe001]

I've used 4mm banana plugs in both my Philips sets and they fit nicely.