ETR fuse?

[MancheKid86]

going through my fuse block on my 87 lwb comanche,

 

the etr fuse was blown so i tossed a new fuse in. at this moment i heard a big clunk in the engine bay

another big clunk when i removed it.

 

this is with the key removed from the ignition

 

so i am assuming it powers some giant solenoid?

 

i did a quick google and it says its for "ETR (Delco OEM) radio, Power antenna"

 

now with this being said, i do not see how a solenoid would be needed for either of the two items mentioned.

 

any thoughts?

[JYau]

Yesterday I found my battery dead and I traced it back to this fuse (ETR). I wasn't sure what it was used for but looking at the wiring diagrams, the ETR fuse is used for the power antenna option of the radio. I do have the AMC digital tuning radio that I got out of a Grand Wagoneer and that might have come with the power antenna feature but my Comanche certainly didn't, so I popped the fuse out and the drain on the battery is gone.

 

Not sure why the ETR fuse was populated in the first place, maybe the last owner put it in not knowing what it did. But, that being said if you don't have a power antenna it's probably best to remove that fuse, better to leave one less chance of some electrical issue killing your battery or causing other issues.