Zenith Wavemagnet Antenna

Beside of the Receiver himself, a Power Supply a.k.a. Battery Eliminator and a Loudspeaker we need an antenna to operate this radios from the 1920ies. In those old days wire antennas of 80 feet length and more were used, which is in nowadays difficult to install and to maintain. An interesting and very efficient solution is to use this Zenith Wavemagnet Antennas from the 1930ies. Zenith used this Antennas in the large radios like the Cathedral and Tombstone types. By observing eBay in the USA it is easy to get this antennas for $10 to $15. Ok, this is not really stuff from the 20ies, that's right, but myself I don't care about 8 or 10 years difference. A Zenith Wavemagnet antenna is essentially a loop antenna surrounded by a grounded wire grid, which forms an electrostatic shield. The shield shall eliminate electrostatic interference from the received signals and improve the signal-to-noise ratio. I managed to get one of the this Wavemagnet Antennas in very good condition. I used strong cardboard to stabilize the old Zenith package containing the antenna. The antenna stand is build from beech tree, a quick and cheap work. The antenna can be rotated, the terminal is made from a piece of pertinax with thumb screws. I connect both windings of the antenna in series. At one end of the higher resistance winding (ca 60 ohms) the receiver is connected, the free end of the lower resistance winding (ca 5 ohms) connects to ground.

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Last update: 23/October/2004