Predator Freedom DX-K...111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jessejamesdallas]

Yes, I have heard of the newer Wilson antennas (since Barjan bought them out) having a water migration problem. JJD was the first I heard of it, and now that Pro151 mentions it he is the second. I ran a Wilson 1000 on the roof of my GMC T15 for over 10 years and never had a problem with water migration. I also know several people that are running antennas from the aforementioned manufacturers and none of them have had a water migration problem. As far as being more waterproof, I would imagine it has to do with a closer tolerance between the I.D. of the hole and the O.D. of the (supplied) whip. As I said previously, I'm just wondering if the problem will be more common with this antenna since you supply your own whip. If a person uses a whip that is smaller diameter than the whip that was used to determine the hole size in the antenna then the tolerance becomes larger - which leads to a greater chance of water migration. As was mentioned before, you may be able to eliminate the possibilty by putting a glob of silicone of other sealant on it.

In Wilsons case...I think it has more to do with "Since Barjan took over"...I had a Wilson 5000 that I bought back in the 90's that I never had a problem with, until someone decided they needed it more than me, and swiped it off the back of the car I had it on...

But I bought several back between 2001 and 2004 that the average life span seemed to be only 6 months before they developed a problem...(Loss of ground or shorting out)

First thing you would notice was loss of signal, then if you took the thing off the vehicle and shook it you could hear something inside the coil rattling around...

One of my 5000's I broke apart to see the insides, and it was full of rusty water (wet, not like gallons of the stuff) and what broke loose was at the bottom of the coil where the coax connected...

Think I had 3 5000's all do the same thing....

On one of the Forums, someone had posted a "cut-away" picture of theirs that showed exactly what I'm talking about. Thing looked like it was 20 years old inside, instead of just a few months old....

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

Wilson 5000 cutaway - Google Search

 

[Robb]

All Wilson/Barjan needs to do to improve the basic design, is to make the plastic cover removable. They just need to stop gluing that part in place. So that it can be cleaned out for servicing. Cleaning and oiling. Other than that, it is a fine antenna for the money spent.

The Sirio Z-180 I have allows you to service the inside. It unscrews from the top where the whip ferrule is. The Sirio Performer series 4000 and 5000 are also similarly built.

I like the Wilson; but I run with the Sirio 90% of the time.
Yes; I have heard of one local guy that had the same problem with the Wilson 5000.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

my 10k is several years old . its a dual coil that i took one coil off to make a single coil and drilled it out to accept a fatter/stiffer monkey made stinger . i haven't had any issues with it and neither did my bro-n-law who used it on his big rig for a few years before me . i do love the modular design kale uses , makes it very easy to change shafts , coils and if you feel to need to take it apart to clean its very easy to do .

hey JJD , is kale offering the same lifetime guarantee on the freedom as he does on the rest of his antennas ?

 

[15minigrass]

Love both of my 10Kʻs. light weight and gets me out there rather Im barefooted or Juiced up.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

my 10k is several years old . its a dual coil that i took one coil off to make a single coil and drilled it out to accept a fatter/stiffer monkey made stinger . i haven't had any issues with it and neither did my bro-n-law who used it on his big rig for a few years before me . i do love the modular design kale uses , makes it very easy to change shafts , coils and if you feel to need to take it apart to clean its very easy to do .

hey JJD , is kale offering the same lifetime guarantee on the freedom as he does on the rest of his antennas ?

All the "Freedom" antenna is, is a 36" shaft with a top piece that lets it accept a stinger/ or whip...

Kale made these just for Bulldog to do with whatever he wanted. So I would think any warranty would have to be taken up with Bulldog and NOT Kale.

@ $65 to $75 each I would think Bulldog should offer a warranty!

Course for that you also get a rubber boot thing for the stud, a tube of a.. lubricant, and a Certificate of Ownership!

-no whip tho...op:

 

[W5LZ]

JJD,
Do you happen to know how many of those things Kale made for Bulldog? On second thought, that could get to be a sort of 'touchy' question, so don't answer.
- 'Doc

 

[hotrod]

In Wilsons case...I think it has more to do with "Since Barjan took over"...I had a Wilson 5000 that I bought back in the 90's that I never had a problem with, until someone decided they needed it more than me, and swiped it off the back of the car I had it on...

But I bought several back between 2001 and 2004 that the average life span seemed to be only 6 months before they developed a problem...(Loss of ground or shorting out)

First thing you would notice was loss of signal, then if you took the thing off the vehicle and shook it you could hear something inside the coil rattling around...

One of my 5000's I broke apart to see the insides, and it was full of rusty water (wet, not like gallons of the stuff) and what broke loose was at the bottom of the coil where the coax connected...

Think I had 3 5000's all do the same thing....

On one of the Forums, someone had posted a "cut-away" picture of theirs that showed exactly what I'm talking about. Thing looked like it was 20 years old inside, instead of just a few months old....

i agree.. i got 1 wilson 5k left that i got in 95-96? that was still made by wison
still workds great.but since been bioxed up cause wife doent use a cb anymore
since that time i have gotten 3 more wilsons all made by barjan.all had some type of issue

 

[mackmobile43]

All the "Freedom" antenna is, is a 36" shaft with a top piece that lets it accept a stinger/ or whip...

Kale made these just for Bulldog to do with whatever he wanted. So I would think any warranty would have to be taken up with Bulldog and NOT Kale.

@ $65 to $75 each I would think Bulldog should offer a warranty!

Course for that you also get a rubber boot thing for the stud, a tube of a.. lubricant, and a Certificate of Ownership!

-no whip tho...op:

I own and use the 27'' shaft version of the predator and that's about as tall as I would go with the solid shaft portion of that antenna and with Kale's predator mount at 100 mph it does quite well as far as flexing and whip bending so if you add another 9'' to the shaft I think you will run into problems at the bottom with just a 3/8x24 stud that attaches it to the mount.

 

[NorthStar]

I would like to see a base version of this Antenna in the future.

 

[IMD262]

Course for that you also get a rubber boot thing for the stud, a tube of a.. lubricant, and a Certificate of Ownership!

$10 for the color certificate, a true bargain.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

I own and use the 27'' shaft version of the predator and that's about as tall as I would go with the solid shaft portion of that antenna and with Kale's predator mount at 100 mph it does quite well as far as flexing and whip bending so if you add another 9'' to the shaft I think you will run into problems at the bottom with just a 3/8x24 stud that attaches it to the mount.

the 27 inch shaft model will be solid farther up the antenna than the freedom . 27 inches of shaft , several inches of coil height and then several inches for the top ...... then the flexibility of the stinger can start coming into play . and since there's no coil there will be less wind-load . gunnys corona ball looks nice on it , but it will add wind-load to the top partially defeating the purpose of the freedom shaft keeping the stinger more vertical . i think for someone that is not a big power user (like me) just the shaft without the corona ball and a 102 is a better option .

if you currently have a 10K you can remove the coil and use a #10 metric fine threaded bolt with the head cut off with a lock washer to re-join the top and bottom sections and you've got a solid extension for adding length to tune your 102 whip

 

[15minigrass]

I would like to see a base version of this Antenna in the future.

You could use it as a base, just gotta have a ground plane to tune it right.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

I own and use the 27'' shaft version of the predator and that's about as tall as I would go with the solid shaft portion of that antenna and with Kale's predator mount at 100 mph it does quite well as far as flexing and whip bending so if you add another 9'' to the shaft I think you will run into problems at the bottom with just a 3/8x24 stud that attaches it to the mount.

Actually the shaft is not solid, and on all Predators the weakest part of the antenna's is about a inch up from the bottom where the stud is at that screws into your mount...9 times out of 10, if you hit something hard enough to do damage, this is where they will break.

The shafts are hollow, and at the bottom of the lower shaft, the inside of the tube is taped so that the bottom part that holds the stud can be screwed in...By that part of the shaft being tapped-out, the walls of the tube are even thinner.

Problem I see with Bulldogs idea, is by using a 102" whip into this tall shaft is going to put allot of stress on the bottom of the shaft where the stud section screws in...Which is already the one weak point. I think what he's going to find is guys using these things and whacking everything in sight, eventually the stress is going to catch up with the shaft and snap it right off.

There is not really a problem with the hollow shafts on the regular 10K's with coils because the antenna weighs next to nothing, and is not sticking 9 feet in the air.

If you run the 27" shaft 10K's on roof tops, you take a bigger gamble on snapping one off because you have a shorter stinger that wont bend out of the way of branches as easy, plus you end up with over 3' of aluminum rod sticking up waiting to hit something solid...Thats why Kale does not recommend anyone to run 22-27" shaft 10K's on roofs...17" shafts tune very good, and I don't see any reason to run anything taller.

IMO, Bulldog has a cool idea for 102" whips, but he should be using a solid shaft instead of one thats hollow, so the stress of 102" of steal waving back and forth doesn't cause the shaft to snap off...

If not a solid shaft, at least one that was 1/4" thick to handle 9' of whip....

Even if you cut the 102" whip down to 65-72" and use it with this 36" shaft, it's still hollow and by having a shorter stinger, it's not going to bend as easy as it did when it was 102" tall. (which is the whole idea behind the Freedom stick I know...but it will work against the stick by "Not giving" as much when hit by trees)

 

[mackmobile43]

The only predator I've ever had broken was due to human interference.