Help with Monkey Made antenna

[Recon]

My advice is to stick with the 22 or 27 inch original single coil 10K.
Both of those antennas have had extensive testing, not only by users, but years ago by a couple of RF guys with some $$ equipment.
The "Q" of those two antennas was good.
I have other reasons not to recommend the longer coil but I won't open that can of worms again.
Basically , Kale is good with his machine work and has a good warranty.
His price on those 2 antennas are more than fair.
I have always bought directly from him.

73
Jeff

5 JAN @ 0721
Darn it! Good advice and thank you but...…..you are a few days late because I ordered the newest version Predator on 1 Jan. and it is installed on my truck.
The 22" shaft has the bottom of the coil just barely clearing the top of the roof. A 24" shaft would be perfect but it is not available. A few minutes ago I trimmed-off another 1/8" from the stinger and the VSWR is still 1.2:1 to 1.3:1. Considering the antenna is mounted on the front stake pocket (close to the cab) and not on the rear stake pocket, I'm not going to continue to trim. It is what it is.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

IMO....(and I can say this because I have every version of the Predator Antenna's ever made) You just can't beat the original Predator Single-Coil 10K when it comes to tuning and performance period...

I have known Kale now since around 2000, and the guy builds one heck of a antenna, and now at the young age of 84, he still hasn't lost his touch!

The Original single-coil 10K tunes the tallest, which is one reason I stick with it because you know the old saying, "Height is Might"...

But not everyone can run a 7 foot-plus tall antenna which is why Kale has the "Comp, Bad-2-the Bone, and the SW dual coil 10K's...and there is also a mini-coil 10K which has a coil thats only maybe a inch or 2 in diameter... and the 30K for those who are planning on running enough power to cause black-outs.

Trick to getting these things to tune low, is you have to keep it away from the cap and the coil section at least a foot above the roof...If mounting on Mirror brackets, that's not possible so you just have to make-do with what you have and hope for the best...Big Trucks have allot more problems getting any antenna to tune just because of the way they are built now days...

One idea that I had mounting my 10K on my Tacoma was to mount it on a riser mounted to the bed, to get the whole antenna roof-high, without having to drill a hole in the roof... Now there's plenty that say "This won't work, or it's not going to have the same signal pattern as a antenna mounted on the roof"...Well...I'm here to say..."BUNK"...

I have a bout as low a SWR as is possible, 1.0 to 1.1, X=0 on all but channels 1-6 which is X=1...I could probably get those channels to X=0, but figured I was close enough...According to my test results with my field strength meter I have sorta a figure 8 pattern where just about a equal amount of signal go's out the back and front...This is the same thing I was seeing with the antenna on a magnet mount sitting on the roof...My guess is the reason I don't get a more omni pattern is because the truck is short and narrow...

I did have to cut some off the stinger, like y'all did, but not as much, because my antenna is mounted so it's roof high...Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up...This is not true, the whole antenna radiates signal, so if the lower half of the antenna is up against the cab, your going to have reflect problems.

 

[2NC995]

I really like my 10k...but my Texas beats it

I still want a loooong 10k: 22”, short coil, and a long whip.

 

[Recon]

IMO....(and I can say this because I have every version of the Predator Antenna's ever made) You just can't beat the original Predator Single-Coil 10K when it comes to tuning and performance period...

I have known Kale now since around 2000, and the guy builds one heck of a antenna, and now at the young age of 84, he still hasn't lost his touch!

The Original single-coil 10K tunes the tallest, which is one reason I stick with it because you know the old saying, "Height is Might"...

But not everyone can run a 7 foot-plus tall antenna which is why Kale has the "Comp, Bad-2-the Bone, and the SW dual coil 10K's...and there is also a mini-coil 10K which has a coil thats only maybe a inch or 2 in diameter... and the 30K for those who are planning on running enough power to cause black-outs.

Trick to getting these things to tune low, is you have to keep it away from the cap and the coil section at least a foot above the roof...If mounting on Mirror brackets, that's not possible so you just have to make-do with what you have and hope for the best...Big Trucks have allot more problems getting any antenna to tune just because of the way they are built now days...

One idea that I had mounting my 10K on my Tacoma was to mount it on a riser mounted to the bed, to get the whole antenna roof-high, without having to drill a hole in the roof... Now there's plenty that say "This won't work, or it's not going to have the same signal pattern as a antenna mounted on the roof"...Well...I'm here to say..."BUNK"...

I have a bout as low a SWR as is possible, 1.0 to 1.1, X=0 on all but channels 1-6 which is X=1...I could probably get those channels to X=0, but figured I was close enough...According to my test results with my field strength meter I have sorta a figure 8 pattern where just about a equal amount of signal go's out the back and front...This is the same thing I was seeing with the antenna on a magnet mount sitting on the roof...My guess is the reason I don't get a more omni pattern is because the truck is short and narrow...

I did have to cut some off the stinger, like y'all did, but not as much, because my antenna is mounted so it's roof high...Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up...This is not true, the whole antenna radiates signal, so if the lower half of the antenna is up against the cab, your going to have reflect problems.

IMO....(and I can say this because I have every version of the Predator Antenna's ever made) You just can't beat the original Predator Single-Coil 10K when it comes to tuning and performance period...

I have known Kale now since around 2000, and the guy builds one heck of a antenna, and now at the young age of 84, he still hasn't lost his touch!

The Original single-coil 10K tunes the tallest, which is one reason I stick with it because you know the old saying, "Height is Might"...

But not everyone can run a 7 foot-plus tall antenna which is why Kale has the "Comp, Bad-2-the Bone, and the SW dual coil 10K's...and there is also a mini-coil 10K which has a coil thats only maybe a inch or 2 in diameter... and the 30K for those who are planning on running enough power to cause black-outs.

Trick to getting these things to tune low, is you have to keep it away from the cap and the coil section at least a foot above the roof...If mounting on Mirror brackets, that's not possible so you just have to make-do with what you have and hope for the best...Big Trucks have allot more problems getting any antenna to tune just because of the way they are built now days...

One idea that I had mounting my 10K on my Tacoma was to mount it on a riser mounted to the bed, to get the whole antenna roof-high, without having to drill a hole in the roof... Now there's plenty that say "This won't work, or it's not going to have the same signal pattern as a antenna mounted on the roof"...Well...I'm here to say..."BUNK"...

I have a bout as low a SWR as is possible, 1.0 to 1.1, X=0 on all but channels 1-6 which is X=1...I could probably get those channels to X=0, but figured I was close enough...According to my test results with my field strength meter I have sorta a figure 8 pattern where just about a equal amount of signal go's out the back and front...This is the same thing I was seeing with the antenna on a magnet mount sitting on the roof...My guess is the reason I don't get a more omni pattern is because the truck is short and narrow...

I did have to cut some off the stinger, like y'all did, but not as much, because my antenna is mounted so it's roof high...Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up...This is not true, the whole antenna radiates signal, so if the lower half of the antenna is up against the cab, your going to have reflect problems.

Thanks for the info!
In my situation, there is a five-inch clearance between the lower (shaft) section and the back of the cab and the bottom of the coil is only a one-inch above the top of the cab with a twenty-two inch shaft. The best I can do now is to buy a twenty-seven inch shaft and see what happens.

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

IMO....(and I can say this because I have every version of the Predator Antenna's ever made) You just can't beat the original Predator Single-Coil 10K when it comes to tuning and performance period...

I have known Kale now since around 2000, and the guy builds one heck of a antenna, and now at the young age of 84, he still hasn't lost his touch!

The Original single-coil 10K tunes the tallest, which is one reason I stick with it because you know the old saying, "Height is Might"...

But not everyone can run a 7 foot-plus tall antenna which is why Kale has the "Comp, Bad-2-the Bone, and the SW dual coil 10K's...and there is also a mini-coil 10K which has a coil thats only maybe a inch or 2 in diameter... and the 30K for those who are planning on running enough power to cause black-outs.

Trick to getting these things to tune low, is you have to keep it away from the cap and the coil section at least a foot above the roof...If mounting on Mirror brackets, that's not possible so you just have to make-do with what you have and hope for the best...Big Trucks have allot more problems getting any antenna to tune just because of the way they are built now days...

One idea that I had mounting my 10K on my Tacoma was to mount it on a riser mounted to the bed, to get the whole antenna roof-high, without having to drill a hole in the roof... Now there's plenty that say "This won't work, or it's not going to have the same signal pattern as a antenna mounted on the roof"...Well...I'm here to say..."BUNK"...

I have a bout as low a SWR as is possible, 1.0 to 1.1, X=0 on all but channels 1-6 which is X=1...I could probably get those channels to X=0, but figured I was close enough...According to my test results with my field strength meter I have sorta a figure 8 pattern where just about a equal amount of signal go's out the back and front...This is the same thing I was seeing with the antenna on a magnet mount sitting on the roof...My guess is the reason I don't get a more omni pattern is because the truck is short and narrow...

I did have to cut some off the stinger, like y'all did, but not as much, because my antenna is mounted so it's roof high...Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up...This is not true, the whole antenna radiates signal, so if the lower half of the antenna is up against the cab, your going to have reflect problems.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

Thanks for the info!
In my situation, there is a five-inch clearance between the lower (shaft) section and the back of the cab and the bottom of the coil is only a one-inch above the top of the cab with a twenty-two inch shaft. The best I can do now is to buy a twenty-seven inch shaft and see what happens.

27" lower shaft will probably tune a little better, getting the coil a little more above the roof...but your still going to have almost two feet of antenna below the roof line.

 

[Recon]

27" lower shaft will probably tune a little better, getting the coil a little more above the roof...but your still going to have almost two feet of antenna below the roof line.

Yeah, you are correct but I am between a rock and a hard spot! I bought and installed (expensive) the Bullet Proof Diesel Third brake Light Antenna Mount and installed a Laird NMO CB antenna. Being the location of the mount and antenna are at the rear of the cab, there wasn't too much area for a decent ground plane.
As you stated in your post, " Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up". Yes sir, that's me! I was focusing only on getting the bottom of the coil above the roof.
I ordered the twenty-seven inch shaft about thirty-minutes ago.

 

[Recon]

27" lower shaft will probably tune a little better, getting the coil a little more above the roof...but your still going to have almost two feet of antenna below the roof line.

I hope I don't damage the coil when changing-out the shaft.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

I hope I don't damage the coil when changing-out the shaft.

Shouldn't be a problem...there should be a place for your wrench on the top part of the lower shaft, then what I do is take a rag and wrap it around the insulator under the coil and then place a pair of vice-grip pliers over the rag so the teeth of the pliers don't scratch up the insulator...then just give it a turn till it pops loose...when installing the new shaft, you don't necessarily have to place the pliers back on the insulator, you can get another wrench at place it just above the coil on the top section, then give it a turn to tighten it up...that's provided the top section has a place to put your wrench...some do, some don't.

Now if there's a place for a wrench on both the top and bottom shafts just above and below the coil, you can just try and loosen the bottom shaft by placing your wrenches on the two shafts...only problem is, you have a 50/50 chance the bottom one coming loose before the top.

 

[Recon]

Shouldn't be a problem...there should be a place for your wrench on the top part of the lower shaft, then what I do is take a rag and wrap it around the insulator under the coil and then place a pair of vice-grip pliers over the rag so the teeth of the pliers don't scratch up the insulator...then just give it a turn till it pops loose...when installing the new shaft, you don't necessarily have to place the pliers back on the insulator, you can get another wrench at place it just above the coil on the top section, then give it a turn to tighten it up...that's provided the top section has a place to put your wrench...some do, some don't.

Now if there's a place for a wrench on both the top and bottom shafts just above and below the coil, you can just try and loosen the bottom shaft by placing your wrenches on the two shafts...only problem is, you have a 50/50 chance the bottom one coming loose before the top.

Thanks! I went looking on the internet for replacing the shafts and did not find any info. Yes, the upper section has a 13/16" hex fitting as the lower section. I have a 1.2:1 to 1.3:1 VSWR now. Would I be gaining anything with the 27" shaft?

 

[Recon]

Shouldn't be a problem...there should be a place for your wrench on the top part of the lower shaft, then what I do is take a rag and wrap it around the insulator under the coil and then place a pair of vice-grip pliers over the rag so the teeth of the pliers don't scratch up the insulator...then just give it a turn till it pops loose...when installing the new shaft, you don't necessarily have to place the pliers back on the insulator, you can get another wrench at place it just above the coil on the top section, then give it a turn to tighten it up...that's provided the top section has a place to put your wrench...some do, some don't.

Now if there's a place for a wrench on both the top and bottom shafts just above and below the coil, you can just try and loosen the bottom shaft by placing your wrenches on the two shafts...only problem is, you have a 50/50 chance the bottom one coming loose before the top.

I'll take the 50/50 chance before the rag and vice grip method.

 

[Recon]

IMO....(and I can say this because I have every version of the Predator Antenna's ever made) You just can't beat the original Predator Single-Coil 10K when it comes to tuning and performance period...

I have known Kale now since around 2000, and the guy builds one heck of a antenna, and now at the young age of 84, he still hasn't lost his touch!

The Original single-coil 10K tunes the tallest, which is one reason I stick with it because you know the old saying, "Height is Might"...

But not everyone can run a 7 foot-plus tall antenna which is why Kale has the "Comp, Bad-2-the Bone, and the SW dual coil 10K's...and there is also a mini-coil 10K which has a coil thats only maybe a inch or 2 in diameter... and the 30K for those who are planning on running enough power to cause black-outs.

Trick to getting these things to tune low, is you have to keep it away from the cap and the coil section at least a foot above the roof...If mounting on Mirror brackets, that's not possible so you just have to make-do with what you have and hope for the best...Big Trucks have allot more problems getting any antenna to tune just because of the way they are built now days...

One idea that I had mounting my 10K on my Tacoma was to mount it on a riser mounted to the bed, to get the whole antenna roof-high, without having to drill a hole in the roof... Now there's plenty that say "This won't work, or it's not going to have the same signal pattern as a antenna mounted on the roof"...Well...I'm here to say..."BUNK"...

I have a bout as low a SWR as is possible, 1.0 to 1.1, X=0 on all but channels 1-6 which is X=1...I could probably get those channels to X=0, but figured I was close enough...According to my test results with my field strength meter I have sorta a figure 8 pattern where just about a equal amount of signal go's out the back and front...This is the same thing I was seeing with the antenna on a magnet mount sitting on the roof...My guess is the reason I don't get a more omni pattern is because the truck is short and narrow...

I did have to cut some off the stinger, like y'all did, but not as much, because my antenna is mounted so it's roof high...Where most mess-up is thinking the antenna only radiates a signal either from the tip of the stinger, or from the coil up...This is not true, the whole antenna radiates signal, so if the lower half of the antenna is up against the cab, your going to have reflect problems.

I may order another antenna with the 27" shaft so as not to disturb the antenna I recently purchased.

 

[Highway Man]

there is a archived thread here where Kale explains the different shaft lengths and says that the 27" was for tool box mounts.
I'll see if I can find it again

 

[Recon]

there is a archived thread here where Kale explains the different shaft lengths and says that the 27" was for tool box mounts.
I'll see if I can find it again

Yes, I also read something about that. The top of a tool box in a pick-up bed is just about the same height as the top of the bed rail. Placing the antenna in the center of the tool box would probably be more efficient than where my antenna is located.

 

[Highway Man]

I'm still wrestling with the difference of a 22" vs 6", and all between, for mounting on my 4.5" Breedlove top dead center of my large rooftop.
years ago I did an experiment. I won't go into that here now.