What is that " fork " thing .. ?!

[Winkelman]

Surely I am not the first one to wonder what the purpose of this construction is , under the barrel of Panzer IVs ?

Can't find any info online , and now that I found a good closeup picture , I still can't guess what it is for ..

[Winkelman]

Close up :

[me6_130]

An aerial deflector.

Carles

[Winkelman]

OK , thanks !
All I could come up with is that the device itself was some sort of antenna .
Still , I would think this solution would eventually wear out / break the antenna ..

[me6_130]

It was for the coax MG not to shoot the aerial off, I think. I believe they moved the aerial to the back in later models.

Carles