Magnum Dynalab ST-2 durability

A few weeks ago I got the antenna and hooked it up temporarily and was really surprised about how great the reception seemed to be. It came with coax already connected and after testing it out I disconnected from the tuner and propped it up in the corner. The coax uncoiled and I accidentally stripped on it and caused the antenna to whip up against the wall. It hit kinda hard. The next time I connected it it seemed to not have as good reception as it first did. I tried it on my Yamaha CA-1010 which I know has issues and a Marantz ST6000.

I live in a far west suburb of Chicago and reception in my truck is fantastic. I live in a first floor apartment with antenna wall on the south side of the building. I have to set it up indoors. The radio station I'm really interest is a local community college station that broadcasts jazz, blues and classical that's low power and located south of where I live. As I said I have no problems with reception while driving.

As I said when I first got it and tested it for 5 minutes flipping through channels the reception seemed great. I didn't take the time to listen carefully but it was far better than it was with a simple dipole antenna. Now it seems that with the antenna it's no better than with the dipole.

It sucks that I spent over a 100 bucks for it to break so easily.

I doubt you broke anything in the antenna, but I would check the coax fitting on the coax. Quite possible you pulled something out of place at the end where it connects to the antenna base.

John

Sprags said:

It sucks that I spent over a 100 bucks for it to break so easily.

Click to expand...

Hey shit like that happens. No matter how 'durable' the product may be. If it gets abused (of course this is not to say that you did this intentionally) in some way or another, it's going to happen.


First check/inspect the cable.

That cable for the ST-2 antenna that is supplied by Magnum Dynalab, I believe has "F" type connector ends?

http://www.amphenolconnex.com/products/connectors/f-type.html

Disconnect the cable from both the antenna and the tuner and closely inspect the center copper pins on each end of the cable. See if they are loose? Try and pull on them and see if they come out (they should not, they should be set and not move at all)?

The copper pins on the ends of cables can be very touchy to the point that even if they are loose or even if they have a hair-line crack on them this could disrupt the signal. There is the possibility that just maybe the stress on the cabel, when pulled, when the antenna fell, could have very well damaged the connection?

Using a multimeter perform a a 'continuity' check touching each end of the copper pins. If no continuity or if they pull out or are very loose then either one or both will need to be replaced?

If you don't want to use the same cable you could always buy another from an electronics store but I would just use the same one by fixing/repairing it.

Check inspect the actual connection of the antenna's cable input connector.
See if it does not have the copper pin stuck inside it? If it does, then two problems, first is you would need to remove it carefully. Second, you would need to replace the cables pin.

Hopefully it's just the cable itself that is the problem. I would call the Magnum Dynalab and inquire about the problem with the cables durabilty and how easily it has broken, that is "if" it is in fact only the cable?

Now if the cable checks out fine, then I would seriously look at the actual antenna itself and notify Magnum Dynalab about it?

Hopefully you have the 'warranty' for it?

Good Luck.

I own an ST-2 myself... the cable that came with it is fragile, the threaded collar that screws onto the femal F-jack tends to pop off the shoulder that it spins on (the rest of the crimped-on connector on the end of the cable). It works ok up to a point but will allow the body of the connector to come loose if over-tightened or yanked on. That's why I suggested he look hard at that end of the cable.


John

If you bought it with a credit card, it may be automatically insured against accidental damage for some period after purchase. Good luck!