Dragon Super Heavy-Duty SO-239 StudWith the newer heavier antennas on the market today, the old standard antenna stud mount may not be up to the job. Standard antenna mirror mounts come equipped with a standard chrome plated brass stud mount. Brass is fine for the standard fiberglass whip antennas, but its a soft metal and the threads can strip from constant vibration from these heavy center-loaded antennas. In addition, the large coiled antennas create a great deal of wind resistance. As well as stripped threads, other failures include corrosion to the completely snapping of the mount taking the antenna with it. Some of these antennas run up to $150.00 for the high-power specialty aluminum types, which aren’t that heavy, but their open flat coil design does create considerable wind resistance. The beehive type stud mount adds strength to the stud supporting with a rubberized plastic beehive shape molded section. At high power levels, this material has been known to break down and cause a resistive path for the RF signal to arc across. This has caused intermittent SWR problems that were difficult to locate because the arcing generally occurred either under the mount or inside the beehive mount. Amplifier failure has been caused by these mounts! The other weak aspect of this type of mount is the treaded portion where the antenna screws in. Still being composed of brass, this is still subject to failure. The threads will still strip out of these mounts and if you weren’t paying attention, you could loose you’re antenna.
The new Dragon SSWM-1 is machined from stainless steel which is much harder than brass. The use of this material eliminates any of the failures mention above. Used with a stainless steel mirror bracket makes a rugged mounting system that won’t rust or corrode. It’s extra wide top and base insure a stronger hold on anything it is installed on. Both insulators are made of a very hard plastic composition. This material isn’t soft like the nylon used in the standard stud mount. When the standard mount is tightened, the nylon insulator is compressed, and if tightened too much the center pin is pulled out of the SO-239. The dragon unit uses a machined hex bolt for the center pin connection. A hex key wrench is included with the mount for tightening purposes. The stud mount is tightened by holding the bolt on the bottom with the hex key wrench and turning the top of the mount with a open end wrench. This mount can be tightened very securely because the insulators won’t compress and breakdown. The benefits are many including better ground connection, no need to continually retighten the mount, threads less likely to strip, less chance of corrosion buildup between mounts, and far less chance of losing an antenna.
This is a great product and can be purchased from Bob’s CB & Wireless for $15.95. A heavy-duty stainless steel mirror mount without stud is also available for $10.95. These will give years of trouble free performance. Bob F Back To Cover Page |
