JD
Well-Known Member
As you may know, the G1 A band antenna for the Sk100 body packs has been discontinued and is very hard to find. Many of us still have G1 packs as they live forever (or it seems so!) The antennas were very easy to replace as they simply screwed on. Although some fail when the steel wire inside snaps, most of the failures are more cosmetic, when the rubber sheath crumbles and falls off, leaving just the bare steel wire. The following trick works well on the G2 and G3 packs, but those antennas are still available. Still, because the antennas are soldered in, it may be an option as well.
I have a collection of bare G1 and G2 antennas on my bench as well as a few of the ME2s, that had failures other than the TRS connector. I noticed the outside sheath on the ME2 cable is exactly the same OD as the antenna insulation. I cleaned the antennas, right down and into to the strain relief then stripped off the outer sheath of the ME2 cables. Next I painted the bare antenna wires with contact cement, and slid the sheath all the way down and into the strain relief. Snipped off the last 1/8th inch of sheath so the wire just pokes out the end, and glued on the end nub. Visually, they look good and electronically the performance hasn't changed. They look like they will hold up, but only time will tell for sure.
I have a collection of bare G1 and G2 antennas on my bench as well as a few of the ME2s, that had failures other than the TRS connector. I noticed the outside sheath on the ME2 cable is exactly the same OD as the antenna insulation. I cleaned the antennas, right down and into to the strain relief then stripped off the outer sheath of the ME2 cables. Next I painted the bare antenna wires with contact cement, and slid the sheath all the way down and into the strain relief. Snipped off the last 1/8th inch of sheath so the wire just pokes out the end, and glued on the end nub. Visually, they look good and electronically the performance hasn't changed. They look like they will hold up, but only time will tell for sure.
