1st Gen antenna splitting and replacement

[lonestarmedic]

As part of the upgrades on Mocha I decided to replace the CB antenna and split the Stero onto its own system. I used a 3ft Wilson black fiberglass whip. It is tipe tuneable and thin like the Firestick II. The mount is a Wilson H.D. version. It has a large allen bolt that runs up from the bottom to the base. I used a 90 degree coax adapter to put the cable along the factory arm. The cable was about 8ft. I loope the excess under the seat and tied it to the frame. I made sure not to form coils in the excess by looping in a figure 8. This keeps from inducing a magnetic field that might affect the signal. I had to also use a 90 deg. adapter under the CB. This allowed enough clearance for installation. The AM/FM antenna is now an amplified block style mounted inside the fairing just below the LH turn signal. It is very similar to the Dakota Digital model but I got it from Ebay for $25.00. The power draw is probably less than 1/4 amp. I grabbed power from the accessory fuse. The antenna matched out at 1.5:1 SWR on channels 1 and 40. I dont think I will get much better considering the ground plane of the bike. The amplified antenna seemed to be ok before the tuner crapped out. I will edit the post after a replacement tuner is installed.

 

JB

[Condor]

Nice clean install JB. If my antenna gives up the ghost I probably do the same thing. The only problem I can see is getting the antenna out of the way to put on a cover.

[Gearhead]

Nice pics and stuff. And that's great SWR results. My bike came to me with twin antennas, wound Firestik-style, but really short, 16". This is nice for covering the bike, since they only go as high as the trunk rack. But I gave a friend a ride and he absent-mindedly tried to get off by swinging his leg over the back - hehehe - he was lucky to land on his feet but one antenna bit the dust. (Lesson - don't assume that people know the intracacies of boarding and unboarding a full-dresser.) So now I learn that nobody even makes one shorter than 2 ft, and that short really isn't that good for an antenna, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't know about antennas. I'm glad your article came along! My bike still has the antenna splitter, just not used, so I'm thinking about going back to one antenna with splitter, and was considering a 3' Firefly, similar to what you used. Is the Wilson better? Are the wound wire - fiberglass antennas better than a steel whip? I wondered if the bulk of the fiberglass antenna at 3' long might place too much wind load on the bracket.

 

They make a cool little fold-down fitting that you can install under your antenna for covering, which I will have to use. It's really easy - just pull up a sleeve and fold antenna forward.

 

Jeremy

[lonestarmedic]

I dont think the Wilson is any better than the Firestick. They are both the thin fiberglass types. Both have a tip adjuster for SWR. I haven't had a bit of wind problem yet. I think the thin tapered fiberglass puts less of a load on the mount than the original center load whip. THe bulk of the weight is lower. Think of hanging three golf balls on the tip of a fishing pole and swinging it around. I will put a hole or antenna sleeve on a cover. I don't care for the folding antenna sleeves. The 3 foot whip works great. The amplified am/fm seems to work pretty good. It faded out in hill country but I would say that it was more the terrain than anything else.

 

JB

[Gearhead]

JB, what model of Wilson did you use? And what do you find objectionable on the folding mounts?

 

Jeremy