Wagongear's Newest Product: Firestick Antenna Mount

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Seeing this thread pop up again reminded me that I never updated it with my experience. I bought the antenna mount from KR a few months ago, and got it all installed back in December.

First off, the quality of the mount is top notch! The instructions on wagongear.com are clear, and easy to follow. Id imagine all of KR's products are of equal quality, and I look forward to seeing what other products he comes up with in the future! I'm sure I'll be a repeat customer. :cheers:

Secondly, I used the matchmaker with my install, and it has performed flawlessly. Consider me one of the lucky ones, I guess. :p

Thanks again, Kevin!

Neil
 
I just installed mine this past weekend and had no problems. The Matchmaker is working flawlessly, and the quality of the hardware is superb. My only complaint is that the antenna faces west (front of the vehicle is north) rather than south. I've looked at the pictures of the 60 install and it appears as thought he stock antenna mounting whole is more forward than the 62. I'll have to take pictures this weekend to show what I'm dealing with. Other than the antenna orientation I'm am darn happy with the quality of the part supplied by Kevin. Oh, and on a side note I would shorten the length of the CB antenna cable. Mine is way too long. I have a bundle of cable in the engine compartment and the cabin compartment.
 
CKaya84 said:
Oh, and on a side note I would shorten the length of the CB antenna cable. Mine is way too long. I have a bundle of cable in the engine compartment and the cabin compartment.
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Don't get carried away shortening the antenna cable. Can't say I understand why, but one of the troubleshooting reasons given for possible high SWR readings is a cable that is too short. Firestick recomends 18' so that's what Kevin puts on his site.

Glad your Matchmaker is working! I'm anxious to get and try my replacement.

Butt
 
That's good to know. I'll bring mine up to you when I get back to Rochester next week.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I wasn't looking at cutting the cable, but trying to figure out where to stash it all.
 
So I've been battling my CB radio for some time. First it was the MatchMaker giving me the fits so after testing it alone it went into the circle filing bin. Now I'm tuning my setup and my SWR is 5-10. I have no shorts and have tested my setup with a known working radio so I know it's not my radio. I started tuning the with the antenna at its longest and as I shortened it down the the bottom my SWR improved the most, but is still unacceptable. My question here is has anyone else come across this? I don't want to go down to a 3' antenna, but it appears I'm going to have to go with that. I have everything mentioned in the write-up so I'm not sure what I'm missing and the guys at Walcott can only suggest bringing it in. Any help would be appreciated.
 
A swr that high is usually a ground plane fault. Haev you confirmed that you assembled the mount properly?
 
I have confirmed the mount is assembled correctly by checking my continuity readings. That's why I'm at a loss here.
 
CKaya84 said:
I have confirmed the mount is assembled correctly by checking my continuity readings. That's why I'm at a loss here.
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Three things that are coming to the top of my mind. First is that the center pin on the antenna needs to be isolated from the mounting surface. That's the first step and the reason for the nylon washer with the lip. Second is that the ground plane of the antenna mount needs to be in contact with BARE metal on the mounting surface, no paint, powdercoat, etc. in between. Third is that it is possible to damage a CB if you operate it at high SWR values, even for a short amount of time. I would re-check that your radio is still good.

Good luck! Use tutorials on WalcottCB.com for diagnosing SWR issues.
 
Reviving an old thread but I've got a few comments. I received my mount a few weeks ago and wanted to share my install. I don't have any problems with the mount from KR--it seems to be high-quality and works great. I did not mount it like what was shown though. Mounting it based on the instructions makes the antenna lean towards the windshield by 4-5 inches at the top. My '89 62 has mounting location that's higher than what's shown in this post. See my pics. I installed the mount there and now my antenna stands straight.

TWFunl.jpg

Higher mounting location.

52Sfcl.jpg

Antenna exposed through fender.

tczZul.jpg

Antenna standing straight. (3' Firestik with heavy spring)
 
On a different note my setup is installed correctly but contrary to most of the problems listed in this thread my problems are with FM reception. I consistently have crappy FM radio reception with nothing but static even for my (very) local stations. The problem is worse with the 3' Firestik antenna actually installed. If I remove the antenna I get much better FM reception, that is, at least it doesn't have static. Does anyone know what my problems might be? Thanks in advance.
 
corboto said:
On a different note my setup is installed correctly but contrary to most of the problems listed in this thread my problems are with FM reception. I consistently have crappy FM radio reception with nothing but static even for my (very) local stations. The problem is worse with the 3' Firestik antenna actually installed. If I remove the antenna I get much better FM reception, that is, at least it doesn't have static. Does anyone know what my problems might be? Thanks in advance.
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I recently installed the WagonGear mount using all the recommended parts (Firestik Firefly 4', etc) and so far I'm getting great radio reception. I'm a Little Rock guy, too, so I can vouch that you should be getting all the local stations.

Since you changed the location of your lower mount, you now have quite a bit of threaded rod sticking down below the mount. You might try cutting off the excess rod right at the base of the lower mount (below the nut of course) and see if it improves. I'm not an antenna engineer, so YMMV.

PS - I've seen your Cruiser around LR. I'm in a white 60 with an ARB bumper and snorkel. :)

EDIT: you might also want to double check all you parts with a multimeter, especially your antenna, to make sure you don't have any opens or shorts.
 
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As a final test, you'll want to hook up your antenna setup to a SWR meter to verify that your SWR is within spec. When I last checked, my SWR was in the 1.2 range and I always had great reception.

Good luck!
 
reevesci said:
Just ordered the kit from Kevin.. Just noticed last night that my aftermarket fender I put on doesn't have an antennae hole cut in it..:o.

GLTHFJ60, which SWR meter do you have? I looked for the one Kevin recommends, but doesn't pull up anywhere.
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I just picked up a cheap SWR meter from my nearest Flying J truck stop. It has tuned a couple of rigs just fine :D

I can get the exact model if you need it.
 
I picked up a kit from Kevin a few months ago, a quality product. I finally did the install a couple weeks ago and so far I am getting good reception for both the CB and FM stereo. Walcott has good customer service. I didn't cut the cable per their confirmation, they said it is easier to tune with the longer cable. I also made sure to get a good solder joint to the coax connector. I did have to double check the bushing to get it to seat into the antenna mount. I still need to tune it with a meter!
 
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