Aerial Plugs for Vintage Philips, B&O etc. Tuners and Receivers

Around the 1980s tuners and tuner-amplifiers by Philips, Bang & Olufsen, Tandberg, Pyle and others were fitted with aerial sockets conforming to DIN 45315 (AM) and DIN 45316 (FM). (Sometimes they are erroneously described as IEC 45315 and 45316.) The plugs for these sockets are unobtainable, new-old stock having long been exhausted.

An attempt was made to produce new versions of these plugs for the benefit of vintage hi-fi collectors, analogue enthusiasts etc. Unfortunately great difficulty was encountered sourcing the metal pins. Herewith is an STL file for the plug shells, and this includes a 3D-printed plastic version of the pins.

The pin design was kept simple to avoid requiring two different types of pins (the AM plug has one pin at 90° to the others). The terminal end of the pin is intended to accept a spade terminal secured by an M3 screw, perhaps threaded and perhaps with a matching nut and shakeproof washer (this can relieve stress on the receiving thread if over-tightened).

The DIN standard sheets below were surprisingly difficult to obtain. (Click on the images to get full-size.) The socket (Buchse) specifications can be ignored; the important part is the plug (Stecker) specifications giving the pin dimensions and pitch. The FM plug has a slightly shorter plastic central locating pin, probably to prevent it being forced into an AM socket.

Some tuners, such as the Quad FM3 and the Philips receiver in the top-most image, have a more common, unbalanced 75 Ohm coaxial socket for the FM aerial in addition, but a balanced FM aerial is 300 or 240 Ohm. Cheap baluns are readily available for converting to and from 75 Ohm. The standard for tuners is that the fitted 75 Ohm socket is male (solid centre pin), while for TV's it is female (socket for centre pin). However this standard was not rigidly followed.

Perhaps some enterprising individual (with access to a 3D printer and/or CNC machine) could pick up this project. I imagine that B&O collectors in particular will be keen to obtain these plugs. This is the STL file to download.