im thinking about getting one.i have a wilson 1000 on the truck now.i hit some tree branches with the 1000,but not many.the wilson is about 5' tall(ill get exact measurement tonight)
the truck is a 95 ford F350 crew cab,8'bed 2 wheel drive.id like to stick with a mag mounts but it would have to be a single magnet as my roof as stiffener ridges that start at the back of the cab lights and end about 6 inches from the back of the roof.ill go roof if i have to as long as i dont need to worry about it tweaking my roof if it grabs a tree or causing the sheet metal to spider crack from the antenna flexing it.
where on the roof should it go?can i keep it on the back of the roof like my wilson or should it be in the middle of the roof?what size shaft,whip do i need?sorry i suck at measureing stuff.
thanx again for any help :D
predator 10K???
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Rex_foxhound
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rayray1963
grease monkey wrote:
I would think that if you have the Wilson 1000 mounted where its getting low swr's that's the same place I would start with the Predator. And as far as length of shaft you might look at the 9 inch or the 12 inch SW model. (SW standing for short whip) I have a 12 inch mounted on the mirror bracket of my big truck and I work in the oil field, I hit tree limbs a lot and haven't seen any damage to it, the great thing about Predators is if they do get damaged you can simply replace the part and your back in bussiness....where on the roof should it go?can i keep it on the back of the roof like my wilson or should it be in the middle of the roof?what size shaft,whip do i need?sorry i suck at measureing stuff.
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jessejamesdallas
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I would go (in your case) with the SW Predator 10K. w/ the 12" shaft, or a Dual Coil w/ the 17" shaft (the 17" dual coil 10K would give you the best swr of the two)
As for using a single magnet mount however...That just wont work! The 10K catches too much wind, for it to stay on, using just one 5" magnet.
You should be able to use a Tri-Mag mount, and just position the magnets over the roof supports. It may be a little off-center doing this, but at least the antenna would not blow off!
And yes, I would place it where you have your Wilson now, "IF" the antenna tunes well there now.
As for using a single magnet mount however...That just wont work! The 10K catches too much wind, for it to stay on, using just one 5" magnet.
You should be able to use a Tri-Mag mount, and just position the magnets over the roof supports. It may be a little off-center doing this, but at least the antenna would not blow off!
And yes, I would place it where you have your Wilson now, "IF" the antenna tunes well there now.
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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rayray1963
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fireball894
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If you are just going to run a 2 pill, youre fine with the 1000. If it's the big coil look you're after, go with the 10K, if it's worth the extra expense.
Having owned an open coil antenna, I have to tell you, be careful where you drive. I run a Wilson 1000 mag mount, and if I go slow, I can drive under limbs that are only maybe 6 or so inches off the roof of my 4X4 pickup, and it doesnt budge the magnet, and the whip bends with it. My Dominator would have been a mangled up mess with half of the stuff that I drive through. Good thing it was trunk mounted on my Cutlass.
It doesnt matter how good of a magnet mount you use, if you bend the shaft and coil it's junk. If you want to try this, use a Predator 10K, then at least you can buy parts if something breaks.
Having owned an open coil antenna, I have to tell you, be careful where you drive. I run a Wilson 1000 mag mount, and if I go slow, I can drive under limbs that are only maybe 6 or so inches off the roof of my 4X4 pickup, and it doesnt budge the magnet, and the whip bends with it. My Dominator would have been a mangled up mess with half of the stuff that I drive through. Good thing it was trunk mounted on my Cutlass.
It doesnt matter how good of a magnet mount you use, if you bend the shaft and coil it's junk. If you want to try this, use a Predator 10K, then at least you can buy parts if something breaks.
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SmallTruckBigRadio
I would be VERY worried about having the 10K through the roof. You're doing quite well with the Wilson 1000. I'd stay put for a while.
I'm usually an advocate of the 10K's great performance, but I wouldn't want one through my roof.
It's not just tree branches, if you hit a bird with that sucker, you'll be doing body work.
I've been very happy with this mount.
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Your antenna setup is so near perfection, it will be hard to notice a huge difference with the Predator in the roof with your current setup.
I hear that the 10K's do have a heavier advantage with skip though.
I'm usually an advocate of the 10K's great performance, but I wouldn't want one through my roof.
It's not just tree branches, if you hit a bird with that sucker, you'll be doing body work.
I've been very happy with this mount.
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Your antenna setup is so near perfection, it will be hard to notice a huge difference with the Predator in the roof with your current setup.
I hear that the 10K's do have a heavier advantage with skip though.
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buzzyt517
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That is one sweet mounting system.
TomB
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jessejamesdallas Verified
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One good thing about the Predator roof mounted, is the shaft that is used on them is very sturdy. Wider than most, and although it can be bent, you would be surprised as just how much it can stand before bending.
Now as SmallTruckBigRadio was saying, if your going to permanently mount one to the roof, you first need to make sure you have enough support on the roof, so when you hit something with it, the antenna doesn't rip you a big hole in the roof!
This was one of the reasons I started installing a circular saw-blade to the underside of the roof, like a giant washer! It keeps the antenna from ripping off the roof, and causing serious damage to the roof.
I hit a (or rather it hit me!) Red Tailed Hawk with a 10K on my Suburban, and only thing that happened, was the Coil section of the 10K was mangled beyond repair....Shaft was fine however, the Coils had to be replaced...Hawk, bit-the Big-One!
Now as SmallTruckBigRadio was saying, if your going to permanently mount one to the roof, you first need to make sure you have enough support on the roof, so when you hit something with it, the antenna doesn't rip you a big hole in the roof!
This was one of the reasons I started installing a circular saw-blade to the underside of the roof, like a giant washer! It keeps the antenna from ripping off the roof, and causing serious damage to the roof.
I hit a (or rather it hit me!) Red Tailed Hawk with a 10K on my Suburban, and only thing that happened, was the Coil section of the 10K was mangled beyond repair....Shaft was fine however, the Coils had to be replaced...Hawk, bit-the Big-One!
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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grease monkey
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BigBopper
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EC 174
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Re: predator 10K???
You can fit a tri-mag mount for the Predator on your truck.. See pic below..grease monkey wrote:id like to stick with a mag mounts but it would have to be a single magnet as my roof as stiffener ridges that start at the back of the cab lights and end about 6 inches from the back of the roof
I just put one on a Ford like yours yesterday and it will fit in between the ridges if you position it like the drawing.. There is exactly enough room to make it work..
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grease monkey
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grease monkey
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The Predator 10K, is just sold by the antenna itself...Since everyone wants to mount them differently. Antenna mounts and coax is always sold separately...And just about all the antenna mounts sold, will fit the Predator.grease monkey wrote:do they come with all the mounting hardware or do i gotta buy that seperately?strengthening my roof aint a problem.i can weld whatever i need to it to make it stronger.or use the saw blade idea.
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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grease monkey
well a friend of mine thought he had one.it wasnt a 10K,some cheapy thing.so i ordered one from the predator 10K site.got it today.17"shaft,dual coil,roff mount.just the whip is as tall as my wilson 
now add the shaft and coils .gonna go roof mount.since i have such a big roof i should get a good ground plane for it plus it will be grounded straight to my roof.gotta go pick up some coax and get this bad boy rockin. :D
now add the shaft and coils .gonna go roof mount.since i have such a big roof i should get a good ground plane for it plus it will be grounded straight to my roof.gotta go pick up some coax and get this bad boy rockin. :D
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jessejamesdallas Verified
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Yes. The stinger is long when you first get it. But on a Dual Coil 10K, your going to end-up having to cut off probably a foot of it, to get it tuned...grease monkey wrote:well a friend of mine thought he had one.it wasnt a 10K,some cheapy thing.so i ordered one from the predator 10K site.got it today.17"shaft,dual coil,roff mount.just the whip is as tall as my wilson
Just be sure to take your time, and use a good "In-Line" swr/watt meter when tuning. And dont cut off too much at one time. It's real hard to glue those little peices of stinger, back on!
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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grease monkey
a foot?!holy cow.guess i still got some more to chop off.so far ive cut about 6 inches off of it.SWRs keep coming down with every cut.right nowim at a hair over 1.1 on CH1,1.2 on CH40 and 1.4 on CH20.got tired and aggravated so i gave up for the night.i was starting to think i needed a shorter shaft.
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BigBubbaBD
Yea keep taking small amounts.
when I started tuning mine my very first reading before cutting was WAY up in the red. My first cut was about 4" and it came down to just barely in the red so I cut another 2". Just got to keep at it. If you scared of cutting to much put the stinger all the way in and see if its still to high and you know you can cut quite a bit more because it still needs to go down a few inches.
But tune it so that the stinger is as close to half way down the shaft as possible to allow for future adjustments.
I bed I had to make 20-30 cuts from the firts 4" piece to some 1" cuts and down to some just very small 1/8" cuts and 1/4" cuts.
when I started tuning mine my very first reading before cutting was WAY up in the red. My first cut was about 4" and it came down to just barely in the red so I cut another 2". Just got to keep at it. If you scared of cutting to much put the stinger all the way in and see if its still to high and you know you can cut quite a bit more because it still needs to go down a few inches.
But tune it so that the stinger is as close to half way down the shaft as possible to allow for future adjustments.
I bed I had to make 20-30 cuts from the firts 4" piece to some 1" cuts and down to some just very small 1/8" cuts and 1/4" cuts.
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grease monkey
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buzzyt517
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Yeah you could probably get away with 2 inches or so.
That baby willl come down soon
TomB
That baby willl come down soon
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jessejamesdallas Verified
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If you have it "bottomed-out". Then set the stinger so it's somewhere in the middle next, and see what the meter is reading....
This is where you need to be making your adjustments, so that when the stinger is somewhere in the middle of the top piece of the antenna, you want to get your swr reading to be as low as possible on channel 1 and 40. You may not be able to get both channels tuned the same...but should be able to get close... Then you can just move the stinger "up and down" by using the set-screw, to fine tune.
By the way...Once you get channel 1 and 40 set, channel 20 should be either the same, or lower...not higher!
This is where you need to be making your adjustments, so that when the stinger is somewhere in the middle of the top piece of the antenna, you want to get your swr reading to be as low as possible on channel 1 and 40. You may not be able to get both channels tuned the same...but should be able to get close... Then you can just move the stinger "up and down" by using the set-screw, to fine tune.
By the way...Once you get channel 1 and 40 set, channel 20 should be either the same, or lower...not higher!
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
