PREDATOR 10K

[polecat]

I am reading all this good stuff about the predator 10k like they tune easy
And there are durable and light weight and transmit great. How well do they receive? Are they much different than a Wilson 1000 or a 102 inch whip on receive ? Also it looks like the stinger can be mounted vertically or horizontally is this true or do you have to specify which way you are going to run it before you buy it ? I was just about to buy one and hit pay now on my Paypal account and I figured it would be smart to ask here first . I guess I am wondering if it is worth the 85 bucks . I have a Wilson 1000 and a 102 inch whip now . The 102 inch whip is the better performer . Thanks in advance for any help.

[jegs]

Nothing will perform as well as a properly set up 102 on transmit or receive. A coil in an antenna is less efficient than straight wire and the only reason coils are used is to make the antenna physically shorter to avoid hitting trees etc.

[Part Time]

If height is not an issue the 102 will work great. I went from a Wilson 5000 roof mount to a Predator 10K and am very happy with the performance of the Predator and it tuned lower than my Wilson. I have heard that the 102 will have a slightly higher SWR going down the highway since it gets bent back some. The Predator will not bend back as much, it's a little more stiff. To my knowledge, the 10K's come mounted vertically unless you specify that you want it to be machined to be horizontal. Vertical is the most popular and works great.

[minitrucker]

i have 102" wilson 5k and predator 10k's i like the 10k's the best.......but i can only use them weather permiting.......so till the snow is gonedy its 102" or 5k for me

[Bigmic91]

I love my 102 and have no problems with it at all. Checks at about 1.3 across the board with my **Censored** 29.

[Foxhunter]

Nothing will perform as well as a properly set up 102 on transmit or receive. A coil in an antenna is less efficient than straight wire and the only reason coils are used is to make the antenna physically shorter to avoid hitting trees etc.

That is absolutely correct and well said. Anything involving "coiling" or being "spirally wound" will be a "compromise". You will be exchanging performance for a more convenient compact antenna by using a coiled or spiral antenna.

The receive (RX) should be better as is the transmit (TX) on the 102" than on other antennas. Not extremely more, but enough where it could be measureable.

All various antennas for fixed/base stations are measured against the free-space dipole for comparison, gain and the other typical figures. It is the standard to measure against.

I think almost can be said of the "1/4 wave 102 whip". It is pretty much the standard in efficiency that other antenna designs must try and match & compare to. Anything else other than this antenna is a compromise. Not saying others aren't good, just not nearly as good.

Although they may be popular, the base-loaded "magmount" type antennas such as the Wilson's and K40's too are about the least effecient types of mobile antennas made. But they work as many will attest to. But not as well compared to the 1/4 wave whip.

Often----there are still those who make the 102" whip longer to 108" for one complete 1/4 wave by adding an antenna stud-extension or barrel spring. "Now you're talking".

There are actual complete straight 108-inch whips available, no need to extend.

EDIT: The Predator 10K is a "center loaded" mobile antenna and will outperform the base loaded antennas every time. It would seem that the "continuously loaded" (spirally wound) stick type antennas are even more efficient yet than either base-loaded or center-loaded antennas.

I personally haven't seen any Predator antenna mounted for horizontal use----yet. I wonder why someone would want it to be horizontally polarized? What would be the advantage or reason? It would negatively affect local talking as most others would be vertically polarized. As far as DXing vertical signals end up changing polarization anyway becoming more horizontal. Just wondering what the person's motives for doing this are?

[North Texas Mudduck]

i did a install on a guys chevy pickup
102 whip he mounted on the back right rail next to the tailgate
1.4 swr
setting at a parking lot northwest of me at 42miles he has never been able to talk to me
and i have never been able to hear him
now he hears me at 42miles but nothing from him

he comes to town and i mount a 27 inch shaft 10k with comp coil in place of spring and 102 whip

i get it all fine tuned and set and he leaves gets back home and later that evening
i hear him talking hes in his parking spot and i call him and he talking to another guy to 10-5 for him to let him know he hears me
i say why you have to have a 10-5
i can hear you just fine at 2 s-units swinging a 3
he calls me on the phone and is freaking out how it talking and recieving

later on monday when i was in town i asked him if i could buy hes 10k back
he said No! but would give me his 102
i said well i will pass on the 102 maybe use it for a scanner antenna or something

sure 102 has there place in the world
just not on his pickup

i will try and take pics
im doing another install on a toolbox with 27 inch shaft with comp coil.

[jessejamesdallas]

Predator 10K regardless if it has a coil or not, just like the popular 102" Whip, is a full 1/4 wave antenna. It will preform just as well as the 102" Whip. (due to the coil, it tunes shorter)

Theoretically coil antenna's like stated are less efficient than the 102" Whip, because they use a load (or coil) to electrically equal the 102" Whip.

Now in Theory the 10K should not preform as well as the 102" Whip, yet in real-life tests, I have yet to ever have anyone to tell me they could hear or see any difference in my signal whether I was using the 10K, or a 108" whip.

As for a noticeable difference on the receiving end, part of this is going to be "radio" related. (some radios let's face it, just don't have as-good of a "receive" as others!) But the Predator's will have a noticeable difference you can hear, compared to "any" base loaded antenna.

As for the "flat-side" Predators. "If" that's what you want to run, then order the Flat-Side 10K...If you later decide you would rather run it as a vertical, all you have to do is order a new top section of the 10K and a new stinger. The top part of the 10K, along with all the other parts of the 10K just unscrew so each piece can be replaced...

note: I think on all the New flat-side 10K's, if you want to change to vertical, I think all you have to do, is take off the horizontal stinger, and insert it in the vertical position. But, if you have done much trimming on the stinger, you may end up needing a new stinger to set the swr in the vertical posision...

One other thing...with regards to the flat-side version of the Predator, I will say I was not all that impressed. Again in "Theory" the thing is suppose to work better for DX (like a set of horizontal Beam's) Although Dx has not been all that great in the last couple of years for me to get a real good test on the flat-side 10K, but the few contacts I did have using it, my contacts said the vertical sounded louder...But, hard to really say if this was due to the antenna or conditions constantly changing...

[Foxhunter]

I looked on Predator's site and see the horizontal listed----but no pic's. JJD by any chance would you be able or willing to post a pic of one?

[Part Time]

I looked on Predator's site and see the horizontal listed----but no pic's. JJD by any chance would you be able or willing to post a pic of one?

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[jessejamesdallas]

I looked on Predator's site and see the horizontal listed----but no pic's. JJD by any chance would you be able or willing to post a pic of one?

Part Time beat me to the draw! I think I have a Pic of mine mounted on top of my Suburban somewhere...I'll see if I can find it, but it looks just like the one Part Time posted.

They are similar in design to the ones that Bad Boy Antennas have, and there were a couple other custom antenna builders making similar designs. There are also allot of threads on other sites in regards to the design, that it really isn't a "true" flat-side design because of the shaft of the antenna, even thou the stinger is horizontal, the antenna itself is still basically a vertical...(this is one theory I happen to agree with personally in these mobile flat-side designs, that they are basically vertical antenna's, and not "true" flat-sides, like a typical base-beam antenna, and probably will not radiate in the same way)

[wegarrett]

ive ran em all......i run a 55 R-4 the 10k,wilson, and the 108 are spiderweb collectorz in the corner of my garage......

thatz juzt me thoooo......everybody haz their own opinion......i dont tune my antennaz with a swr meter i use a bird and
a 250milliwatt slug to tune mine.......with a 10 watt DK i have 10 milliwatts of reflect with the R-4 none of the other
antennaz came close....i will say thiz the clozest 1 to it waz the 10K thooooo........ive heard rumor that any antenna
with more than 3 turnz in the coil iz basically a dumyload or workz better az a dummyload than a antenna

thatz juzt rumor tho.....hell you hear anything nowadayz........

a man in the sandpile told me once that......(Math dont lie and voodoo dont fly).........makez sence to me

[jessejamesdallas]

ive ran em all......i run a 55 R-4 the 10k,wilson, and the 108 are spiderweb collectorz in the corner of my garage......

thatz juzt me thoooo......everybody haz their own opinion......i dont tune my antennaz with a swr meter i use a bird and
a 250milliwatt slug to tune mine.......with a 10 watt DK i have 10 milliwatts of reflect with the R-4 none of the other
antennaz came close....i will say thiz the clozest 1 to it waz the 10K thooooo........ive heard rumor that any antenna
with more than 3 turnz in the coil iz basically a dumyload or workz better az a dummyload than a antenna

thatz juzt rumor tho.....hell you hear anything nowadayz........

a man in the sandpile told me once that......(Math dont lie and voodoo dont fly).........makez sence to me

Only problem I have with the 55's...Is if we go by what we have always been told about "Antenna Theory" and that the 108" Whip is the perfect 1/4 wave antenna, and anything with a coil is going to be to some extent "Less efficiant", Why would you want to spend over $100 for a antenna, that is within just a few inch's of being the same height as a $20 108" Whip?

All the other Coiled Antenna's have the coil for one purpose, and that is to reduce the over-all height of the antenna, without loosing much efficiantcy as possible. To me it looks like if your going to run a antenna that is as tall as the 55's, you would be just as well off to use the Whip's, and save some money. Or am I missing something here...

[wegarrett]

yes...... you are missing something here.......with the $20 whip you go 70 mph down the interstate and
the tip of the antenna iz almost touchong your tailgate.......with my 55 the stinger hardly leans back any at all.......
much less leanback than the 10K, wilson, and for dam sure the 108.........

i didnt pay $100 for my 55.......i got connections.......i can buy a 55 cheaper than i can buy a 10K and my money
IMO waz spent towardz alot better quality product and a product that workz better for me.........IMO now.......

everyone iz entitled to an opinion.........

[Foxhunter]

Thanks I see that pic on RadioActive's site there but it'd be nice to see one installed/in place. So the stinger section is horizontal then----I was picturing the whole antenna somehow horizontally mounted.

For a while I ran with my 10K having a "swept back" stinger that was half vertical half horizontal-----actually it was "diagonally polarized" I guess

I struck an overpass on the New York Thruway doing 80MPH just west of Buffalo NY. Scared me and I thought I lost my precious antenna.

It bent the whip back perfectly from the shaft to the tip----so the entire whip was on a 45-degree angle, and yet the very tip itself was still vertical.

It still talked good "on both sides"

[jessejamesdallas]

yes...... you are missing something here.......with the $20 whip you go 70 mph down the interstate and
the tip of the antenna iz almost touchong your tailgate.......with my 55 the stinger hardly leans back any at all.......
much less leanback than the 10K, wilson, and for dam sure the 108.........

i didnt pay $100 for my 55.......i got connections.......i can buy a 55 cheaper than i can buy a 10K and my money
IMO waz spent towardz alot better quality product and a product that workz better for me.........IMO now.......

everyone iz entitled to an opinion.........

Ok...I buy that. One thing though on the 108" Whip. If you get the one made by MFJ, it's a little thicker made antenna compared to the 102" that Radio Shack sells. And does not sway back near as much. (plus, No spring needed!) I also have a old 102" Whip that is real stiff, and I wish I knew who made the thing, because I would love to have another one. I have had it Probably for close to 30 years now, and the reason I don't use it now, is because I managed to break off about a foot of it one time in a car wash.

[wegarrett]

i busted or shall i say bent all to haydeez a 10K stinger the other day that i had
on my old hunting truck......pulled a guy out of the mud got my truck muddy
went to carwash it got tangle in the arm up there didnt realize it till i heard when
i waz leaving the bay it waz to late by then

[Midlander]

Predator 10K regardless if it has a coil or not, just like the popular 102" Whip, is a full 1/4 wave antenna. It will preform just as well as the 102" Whip. (due to the coil, it tunes shorter)

Theoretically coil antenna's like stated are less efficient than the 102" Whip, because they use a load (or coil) to electrically equal the 102" Whip.

Now in Theory the 10K should not preform as well as the 102" Whip, yet in real-life tests, I have yet to ever have anyone to tell me they could hear or see any difference in my signal whether I was using the 10K, or a 108" whip.

As for a noticeable difference on the receiving end, part of this is going to be "radio" related. (some radios let's face it, just don't have as-good of a "receive" as others!) But the Predator's will have a noticeable difference you can hear, compared to "any" base loaded antenna.

As for the "flat-side" Predators. "If" that's what you want to run, then order the Flat-Side 10K...If you later decide you would rather run it as a vertical, all you have to do is order a new top section of the 10K and a new stinger. The top part of the 10K, along with all the other parts of the 10K just unscrew so each piece can be replaced...

note: I think on all the New flat-side 10K's, if you want to change to vertical, I think all you have to do, is take off the horizontal stinger, and insert it in the vertical position. But, if you have done much trimming on the stinger, you may end up needing a new stinger to set the swr in the vertical posision...

One other thing...with regards to the flat-side version of the Predator, I will say I was not all that impressed. Again in "Theory" the thing is suppose to work better for DX (like a set of horizontal Beam's) Although Dx has not been all that great in the last couple of years for me to get a real good test on the flat-side 10K, but the few contacts I did have using it, my contacts said the vertical sounded louder...But, hard to really say if this was due to the antenna or conditions constantly changing...

Yes I agree with this, I actually ran into the same problem. I had the 102" whip but wasn't happy with SWR, i wanted it lower. I put on the 10K ad tuned way better, but it didn't really make much difference in the receive.. it wasn't anything noticeable for me.

[wegarrett]

a 10K should tune lower........itz basicly a dummyload.........dummyloadz are supposed to be a perfect SWR rite?........

[polecat]

Thanks for the great info on this . There are a few places selling Predator 10 k's . Where would you guy's recommend buying one .

[jegs]

Quite a few of the sponsors at the bottom of this page sell them.