POLL: Monkey Made or Predator 10k?

[rabbiporkchop]

I just assumed nearly everything you know you learned from Mark and he probably had not much to say about Predator antennas.

I've been building antennas since before I met mark. Mark recommends Predator 10-K antennas to his customers. Mark does things his way when it comes to antennas and I like to complicate things and do things my way which wouldn't be profitable for Mark but he acknowledges that doing things my way does work better but creates complications for people that are unable to do their own antenna work, and it wouldn't be profitable for him to do things my way so he likes to keep things simple for his customers.

 

[338_MtRushmore]

Decent? over the Monkey made?

The single coil Predator is over a foot longer than the Monkey made. On mobile antennas, the closer it is to a full 1/4 wavelength of it's designed frequency the less loading coil is needed resulting in less inductive coil losses that are inherent with loaded antennas.

There is nothing magical about any of these center loaded metal CB antennas regardless of what Mark Sherman says.

A cheap 4ft. fiberglass whip properly mounted on a good location such as you did on your Tahoe will make more of a difference than a high power handling steel coil antenna mounted in a poor location.

I had no idea the Predator was 105" long. Why even have a coil? I chose a monkey made because the model I got put me just under legal height, and it starts a lot of conversations.

 

[dave457]

Antennas don't affect the "audio". If you got these results, something else, aside from the antenna, changed. Their is no such thing as "audio gain" when it comes to antennas

The DB

Try telling that to the JoGunn guys

 

[fourstringburn]

I had no idea the Predator was 105" long. Why even have a coil? I chose a monkey made because the model I got put me just under legal height, and it starts a lot of conversations.

I never measured a Monkey made but they appear to be around 5 ft. at least the ones I recall seeing.

The Predator I used to have measured about 80 inches tuned up as I recall. This was the single coil model with the long shaft. I drive mainly in the SW so legal heights aren't always restricted to 13'6. That height is a good standard to go by because every state must allow that at a maximum.

There are different Predator models as you probably know with dual coils and different shaft lengths. The dual coil will reduce the overall length while sacrificing some effeicency. These came out years later for people with height issues.

 

[338_MtRushmore]

I never measured a Monkey made but they appear to be around 5 ft. at least the ones I recall seeing.

The Predator I used to have measured about 80 inches tuned up as I recall. This was the single coil model with the long shaft. I drive mainly in the SW so legal heights aren't always restricted to 13'6. That height is a good standard to go by because every state must allow that at a maximum.

There are different Predator models as you probably know with dual coils and different shaft lengths. The dual coil will reduce the overall length while sacrificing some effeicency. These came out years later for people with height issues.

The longest monkey made is 7' 10". You must keep an open mind in this hobby. Just because it has a funny name, and isn't mounted a a 45 degree angle on big trucks, doesn't mean it doesn't work just as well. As far as I know, 13-6 is the federal limit if you are crossing state lines.

No big deal, I just assumed you weren't too familiar with the MM antennas.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

The longest monkey made is 7' 10". You must keep an open mind in this hobby. Just because it has a funny name, and isn't mounted a a 45 degree angle on big trucks, doesn't mean it doesn't work just as well. As far as I know, 13-6 is the federal limit if you are crossing state lines.

No big deal, I just assumed you weren't too familiar with the MM antennas.

Regarding that monkey made antenna that's 7 feet 10 inches long, where is the coil in relationship to the top of the stinger and the bottom of the shaft?

 

[338_MtRushmore]

Regarding that monkey made antenna that's 7 feet 10 inches long, where is the coil in relationship to the top of the stinger and the bottom of the shaft?

It has a 5'-3" whip

 

[jessejamesdallas]

I had no idea the Predator was 105" long. Why even have a coil? I chose a monkey made because the model I got put me just under legal height, and it starts a lot of conversations.

NO Predator 10K tunes at 105".... The regular single coil 10K tunes the tallest @ around 7'....

The "SW" Dual Coil Predator 10K tunes the shortest at around 5'.

 

[fourstringburn]

The longest monkey made is 7' 10". You must keep an open mind in this hobby. Just because it has a funny name, and isn't mounted a a 45 degree angle on big trucks, doesn't mean it doesn't work just as well. As far as I know, 13-6 is the federal limit if you are crossing state lines.

No big deal, I just assumed you weren't too familiar with the MM antennas.

No I never seen all the Monkey mades, just the ones I said already which seem to be about 5 ft.

Since the MM antennas do come in similar lengths as the Predator, there really shouldn't be any measurable difference in the 2 identical length antennas. In that case pick the one the looks the coolest!

Not sure if you are a truck driver but to give an example of some height limits here in the southwest and west, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and even california have legal truck height limits of 14 ft. The federal size and weight limits only ensure each state must allow 13'6 and gross weight limits up to 80,.000 lbs. Many states allow more height and more weight but there is conditions in some states on weights. So yes you could be legal height in one state but not another but it's up to the driver to know the limits on the routes he travels.

That 45 degree angle nonsense is something that shouldn't be done. Most people really only do it because it looks cool! I've seen some people angle them so far down they are practically horizontal! Problem is you are no longer vertical or horizontal and it does have an effect on receive as well as transmit due to abnormal polarization. It's a vertical antenna, keep it that way. If height is an issue, then go with a shorter antenna.

 

[fourstringburn]

Regarding that monkey made antenna that's 7 feet 10 inches long, where is the coil in relationship to the top of the stinger and the bottom of the shaft?

That's the way to do it!

 

[rabbiporkchop]

No I never seen all the Monkey mades, just the ones I said already which seem to be about 5 ft.

Since the MM antennas do come in similar lengths as the Predator, there really shouldn't be any measurable difference in the 2 identical length antennas. In that case pick the one the looks the coolest!

Not sure if you are a truck driver but to give an example of some height limits here in the southwest and west, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and even california have legal truck height limits of 14 ft. The federal size and weight limits only ensure each state must allow 13'6 and gross weight limits up to 80,.000 lbs. Many states allow more height and more weight but there is conditions in some states on weights. So yes you could be legal height in one state but not another but it's up to the driver to know the limits on the routes he travels.

That 45 degree angle nonsense is something that shouldn't be done. Most people really only do it because it looks cool! I've seen some people angle them so far down they are practically horizontal! Problem is you are no longer vertical or horizontal and it does have an effect on receive as well as transmit due to abnormal polarization. It's a vertical antenna, keep it that way. If height is an issue, then go with a shorter antenna.

Unfortunately on the Freightliner Cascadia it needs to be angled slightly to get a decent match because if you make it completely vertical, half the antenna is running parallel to the side of the truck and it causes the SWR to go through the roof. The shorter the distance from the bottom of the shaft to the bottom of the coil necessitates greater angle to bring the coil away from the door pillar.

 

[fourstringburn]

Unfortunately on the Freightliner Cascadia it needs to be angled slightly to get a decent match because if you make it completely vertical, half the antenna is running parallel to the side of the truck and it causes the SWR to go through the roof. The shorter the distance from the bottom of the shaft to the bottom of the coil necessitates greater angle to bring the coil away from the door pillar.

That's not much of an angle, that looks good!

Is that your truck?

 

[rabbiporkchop]

That's the way to do it!

That's how I do all mine, but unfortunately nothing is commercially available that fits that description.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

That's not much of an angle, that looks good!

Is that your truck?

That truck belongs to someone that I know. It seems most people require more angle than that in order to get a decent match with that particular truck, but then again most people have a shaft less than half that length.

 

[unit 256]

I used to run a 27" single coil 10K, mounted on the back side of a toolbox in my old truck for years, this allowed the coil to be 8" above the cab, and also a TNT 600HD and a S9, sweet combo......liked the 10k, due to been able to get parts for it if needed, and it performed well for what I used it for, compared it to a few other antennas too.....only bad thing I seen was if you went through a drive thru, or a parking garage they didn't give much like a SS whip and spring would, but they talk really well....

Never fooled with a Monkey Made antenna...