Pterodactyl broke my Predator 10K!!

[projectcop]

Yup; some big ol' pterodactyl sized winged thing (that I'm assuming is very dead now) snapped my predator 10 K long shaft off about 1/2" from the bottom!
There I was, going 65 MPH down I80W just before the "people's republik of beserkely" when I hear "BLANG"!!!!!!!!!! Yup, I'm pretty sure it was "BLANG" (technical term, ya know) from the top of my truck.

It was dark out at 830 last night, so I could not see any good detail; just a cloud of what appeared to be feathers fluttering in the breeze behind me. That and the fact that my receive went away at that moment caused me to think to myself;.... "self, I think we are gonna have to go visit Bullet Bob for a new whip for that 10K". I just shut off the radio and continued on into work another 10 minutes down the road.
When I got there I found that the entire antenna (except for that previously mentioned 1/2" right above my puck mount) was gone! Dang!! Those antennas are made of some pretty good size tough stuff! Call the scientists and tell them that pterodactyls are not extinct!! They missed at least one! It makes (made?) its home somewhere in the vicinity of beserkely, commiefornia!! Of course they'll probably have the fish and wildlife guys ticket me for taking one out of season with no permit and discharging an antenna within the city limits. I'll have to take out a loan to pay the fees..............................
What now, a 30K?
crying in my cheerios............................loved that antenna..................

[295 antenna]

just be glad it wasn't a big foot leaping. That could of done some real damage. check you insurance company to see of you can get some (wtf was that)
coverage.

[army1975]

prolly a pterodactyl owl. they b wicked.

[DevilDog66]

DUUUUUUDE!!!!!! That is one helluva bird strike!!!

[jessejamesdallas]

They snap off easier than you think. I hit a Red tailed Hawk once with one...caught him right in the coil! Broke the shaft off at the base, and flattened one side of the coil...

But I stopped and collected what was left of the antenna, and went over to Kales and had him fix me back up...Just needed a new shaft and coil.

If you had stopped and picked up the 10K after it broke off, they are repairable...And by the way, the 30K is not any stronger built than the 10K...If anything it would be easier to break since it uses a aluminum rod to tune, rather than a flexible stinger.

[projectcop]

JJD;
There was no place to get over and park safely so I could collect what was left of the antenna. Considering I was in the center of the lanes, in traffic; it probably wasn't in good shape for fixin' anyway. I'm sure it took some more punishment after it hit the ground. I just hope it did not damage anyones car. Oh well; I'll just suck it up and call Bob and set up a time to get a new one.
Man, that sucker snapped off pretty clean; almost an inch above the base....a real clean break. It even parted the sticker cleanly, right at the break.
BTW; would you believe I am getting almost 1/2 MPG more without that thing sticking up above the truck? I don't care, I'm getting another one!

[Russ]

Great story!!! regardless of what happened to your 10k you have proven to be a true 10k loyalist who goes and gets another!!! its a 10k world!!

[nk14zp]

prolly a pterodactyl owl. they b wicked.

Or a duck.........A mud duck.

[jessejamesdallas]

JJD;
There was no place to get over and park safely so I could collect what was left of the antenna. Considering I was in the center of the lanes, in traffic; it probably wasn't in good shape for fixin' anyway. I'm sure it took some more punishment after it hit the ground. I just hope it did not damage anyones car. Oh well; I'll just suck it up and call Bob and set up a time to get a new one.
Man, that **Censored** snapped off pretty clean; almost an inch above the base....a real clean break. It even parted the sticker cleanly, right at the break.
BTW; would you believe I am getting almost 1/2 MPG more without that thing sticking up above the truck? I don't care, I'm getting another one!

OK, I was thinking way you described it in the first post, it may have broke where the coil connects to the shaft...Where it broke at the base, is where they normally break...I have a pretty good collection of broken shafts.

The longer shafts like the 22" and specially the 27" shaft are the worst for getting snapped off... With the longer shafts, the antenna gets top heavy and the least little thing hitting the antenna 9 times out of 10 will snap the shaft like a twig.

One of my 27" shafts...

[projectcop]

JJD;
Yup, mine was the 27" and it broke in the exact same spot yours in the pic did! Shucks, drat; foiled again! Oh well; at least there is no other damage to the truck. That is one of the reasons I did not put the puck in the center of the roof and placed it in the center of the bed bar instead. I'd rather replace the bed bar than the roof panel, specially on a new power wagon!
George
360 from northern cali wavin'

[jessejamesdallas]

JJD;
Yup, mine was the 27" and it broke in the exact same spot yours in the pic did! Shucks, drat; foiled again! Oh well; at least there is no other damage to the truck. That is one of the reasons I did not put the puck in the center of the roof and placed it in the center of the bed bar instead. I'd rather replace the bed bar than the roof panel, specially on a new power wagon!
George
360 from northern cali wavin'

That is the one weak point on all the Predators. It's because the shaft is made of thin aluminum, and at the end of the shaft the inside is tapped so the bottom section with the mounting stud can be screwed in. By tapping out the end of the shaft, that part becomes weaker...Only way to fix the problem would be to use a thicker walled aluminum shaft, but that would add weight and more cost. One of the idea's behind the Predators is to make them light weight.

You could weld the bottom section onto the shaft I guess, but Kale doesn't weld.

[PA629]

JJD;
Yup, mine was the 27" and it broke in the exact same spot yours in the pic did! Shucks, drat; foiled again! Oh well; at least there is no other damage to the truck. That is one of the reasons I did not put the puck in the center of the roof and placed it in the center of the bed bar instead. I'd rather replace the bed bar than the roof panel, specially on a new power wagon!
George
360 from northern cali wavin'

That is the one weak point on all the Predators. It's because the shaft is made of thin aluminum, and at the end of the shaft the inside is tapped so the bottom section with the mounting stud can be screwed in. By tapping out the end of the shaft, that part becomes weaker...Only way to fix the problem would be to use a thicker walled aluminum shaft, but that would add weight and more cost. One of the idea's behind the Predators is to make them light weight.

You could weld the bottom section onto the shaft I guess, but Kale doesn't weld.

I often wondered if that weak spot could be reinforced at time of assembly by milling a slight bevel or chamfer at the top edge of the mounting stud where it's inside the shaft, and then running a bead of golf club graphite shafting epoxy around the bevel to act as a shock absorber.

This stuff is made for repeated high impact applications and yet retains some flexibility. In golf club assembly it's SOP to mill a bevel inside the metal heads to relieve the sharp "edge" acting on the shaft and allow space for the shock absorbing epoxy. Just a thought. I also have a quick and easy method to add reinforcement on the outside of the shaft using procedures and materials used in building custom fishing rods. And if anyone is wondering, YES, I DO build and repair golf clubs and fishing rods, have done so since the late 70's.

[jessejamesdallas]

The part that screws into the shaft looks more like a aluminum plug with a hole in the center for the stud to screw into. Then the plug is screwed into the shaft.

Where the shaft breaks would be at the end of the plug about a inch inside the shaft. (this is also where the tapped threads of the shaft stop) So when something hit's the antenna up high, the antenna want's to bend, but where the plug is at can't bend because of the plug inside, so the shaft tends to break at the plug. Other than going to a thicker wall aluminum tubing to make the shafts, I can't see where anything would keep it from snapping...Don't see allot of the shorter shaft 10K's breaking, mainly because most guys mount these antenna's on the roofs, and with the shorter shafts, so they don't have 3' of aluminum rod sticking up begging for a low hanging tree limb to come along and whack the heck out of it...

A 12, or 17" shaft single coil Predator 10K will be the same height as a 27" shaft single coil 10K, just the stingers are longer...The broken 27" shaft 10K in that picture I posted, was the LAST time I ran one of those on the roof, just for that reason...Too easy to hit something and break it.

[PA629]

The part that screws into the shaft looks more like a aluminum plug with a hole in the center for the stud to screw into. Then the plug is screwed into the shaft.

Where the shaft breaks would be at the end of the plug about a inch inside the shaft. (this is also where the tapped threads of the shaft stop) So when something hit's the antenna up high, the antenna want's to bend, but where the plug is at can't bend because of the plug inside, so the shaft tends to break at the plug. Other than going to a thicker wall aluminum tubing to make the shafts, I can't see where anything would keep it from snapping...Don't see allot of the shorter shaft 10K's breaking, mainly because most guys mount these antenna's on the roofs, and with the shorter shafts, so they don't have 3' of aluminum rod sticking up begging for a low hanging tree limb to come along and whack the heck out of it...

A 12, or 17" shaft single coil Predator 10K will be the same height as a 27" shaft single coil 10K, just the stingers are longer...The broken 27" shaft 10K in that picture I posted, was the LAST time I ran one of those on the roof, just for that reason...Too easy to hit something and break it.

Exactly, but what I'm saying is....if you were to put a slight bevel on the top edge of the plug inside the shaft, and then fill that space with the high-impact, energy-absorbing epoxy, you'd have a cushion to soften the impact, as well as removing the "sharp edge" on the plug itself, thus eliminating a concentrated stress point. Let's put it this way, I know that what I'm proposing is an improvement, but whether or not it would eliminate or at least reduce the breakage rate would remain to be seen. The technique works on graphite to stainless steel joints in the golf world and is meant to survive repeated impacts of roughly 100 mph clubhead speeds.

[sonoma]

a buddy of mine after his 1st broke in that area , he put some heat shrink on it about 1/2 way up the shaft from the base and he never did have his last one to break.he ran it on a 18 wheeler until he retired a few years ago. so this may have made it stronger since it never did break again. a couple other drivers did the same thing where he drove a rock hauler. might be worth a try to save on the cost.

[MDYoungblood]

I've had my share of birds dive into my windshield and grill driving down the road but never taking out my antenna. I think that breaking point can be repaired after replacing the shaft with a snug fitting metal dowel and JP Weld to fill the void. I believe Kale designed the shaft to break rather than bend to eliminate damage it might cause to the vehicle (bent body panels around the mount).

3's

Greg

[jessejamesdallas]

I've had my share of birds dive into my windshield and grill driving down the road but never taking out my antenna. I think that breaking point can be repaired after replacing the shaft with a snug fitting metal dowel and JP Weld to fill the void. I believe Kale designed the shaft to break rather than bend to eliminate damage it might cause to the vehicle (bent body panels around the mount).

3's

Greg

Never asked Kale if that was the reason or not... But knowing Kale I doubt that was the idea...Kales a retired machinist so I imagine the design was primarily based on his skills working with metal and his hobby of CB's...The fact the antenna will break before damaging what it's mounted to was just one of those "Plus" things that came along making the antenna light weight and keeping cost down....

-- January 22 2017, 11:28 AM --

The part that screws into the shaft looks more like a aluminum plug with a hole in the center for the stud to screw into. Then the plug is screwed into the shaft.

Where the shaft breaks would be at the end of the plug about a inch inside the shaft. (this is also where the tapped threads of the shaft stop) So when something hit's the antenna up high, the antenna want's to bend, but where the plug is at can't bend because of the plug inside, so the shaft tends to break at the plug. Other than going to a thicker wall aluminum tubing to make the shafts, I can't see where anything would keep it from snapping...Don't see allot of the shorter shaft 10K's breaking, mainly because most guys mount these antenna's on the roofs, and with the shorter shafts, so they don't have 3' of aluminum rod sticking up begging for a low hanging tree limb to come along and whack the heck out of it...

A 12, or 17" shaft single coil Predator 10K will be the same height as a 27" shaft single coil 10K, just the stingers are longer...The broken 27" shaft 10K in that picture I posted, was the LAST time I ran one of those on the roof, just for that reason...Too easy to hit something and break it.

Exactly, but what I'm saying is....if you were to put a slight bevel on the top edge of the plug inside the shaft, and then fill that space with the high-impact, energy-absorbing epoxy, you'd have a cushion to soften the impact, as well as removing the "sharp edge" on the plug itself, thus eliminating a concentrated stress point. Let's put it this way, I know that what I'm proposing is an improvement, but whether or not it would eliminate or at least reduce the breakage rate would remain to be seen. The technique works on graphite to stainless steel joints in the golf world and is meant to survive repeated impacts of roughly 100 mph clubhead speeds.

Got'cha...It might work, but I'm not 100% sure the edge of the plug is what causes it t break at that point...I've seen allot of broken shafts, but never a bent one, so I'm thinking it could be that the aluminum he uses is too ridged and thin to bend much at all without just breaking. The aluminum tubing he uses for the coils will bend without breaking all day long but it's not stiff enough to be used as a shaft, even if it was wider.

[projectcop]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

[MDYoungblood]

Don't see anything wrong with making the shaft out of solid round stock but it would make the breaking point the 3/8 24 thread stud, that would be a pain to drill and "easyout" of the mount.

3's

Greg

[jessejamesdallas]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

[PA629]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

There ya go! I'll use the largest, heaviest-duty puck mount that Breedlove makes, match it to a 1" steel black pipe for the lower shaft, and roof mount it on my Korean Econo-box. Then look into a nitrous kit or turbo-charging so the vehicle can move under the added weight.

[jessejamesdallas]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

There ya go! I'll use the largest, heaviest-duty puck mount that Breedlove makes, match it to a 1" steel black pipe for the lower shaft, and roof mount it on my Korean Econo-box. Then look into a nitrous kit or turbo-charging so the vehicle can move under the added weight.

Naaaa.....save yourself some money and just weld the black pipe to the floor of the truck bed, then you wouldn't need to buy a Breedlove mount!

[projectcop]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

There ya go! I'll use the largest, heaviest-duty puck mount that Breedlove makes, match it to a 1" steel black pipe for the lower shaft, and roof mount it on my Korean Econo-box. Then look into a nitrous kit or turbo-charging so the vehicle can move under the added weight.

Naaaa.....save yourself some money and just weld the black pipe to the floor of the truck bed, then you wouldn't need to buy a Breedlove mount!

Oh man; you guys are killin' me!! I'm sitting here picturing this in whats left of my feeble old mind, and I'm laughing so hard I'm cryin'................yup, steel bar stock for a shaft....an old p/u truck coil spring for the coil....all of it welded right to the frame for ground and ground plane.......................oh boy!!!! superchargers and nitrous to get 'em down the road............trying to hear the radio over the wind whistling through that big old coil spring......................

[jessejamesdallas]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

There ya go! I'll use the largest, heaviest-duty puck mount that Breedlove makes, match it to a 1" steel black pipe for the lower shaft, and roof mount it on my Korean Econo-box. Then look into a nitrous kit or turbo-charging so the vehicle can move under the added weight.

Naaaa.....save yourself some money and just weld the black pipe to the floor of the truck bed, then you wouldn't need to buy a Breedlove mount!

Oh man; you guys are killin' me!! I'm sitting here picturing this in whats left of my feeble old mind, and I'm laughing so hard I'm cryin'................yup, steel bar stock for a shaft....an old p/u truck coil spring for the coil....all of it welded right to the frame for ground and ground plane.......................oh boy!!!! superchargers and nitrous to get 'em down the road............trying to hear the radio over the wind whistling through that big old coil spring......................

What's that old saying..."If you build it, they will come..."

[PA629]

Love the direction this thread is going!
I'm wondering about just making it out of solid stock instead of tube?

You can...Just don't expect it to be as light...For as that go's, you can make one out of a steel pipe like used for plumbing...

There ya go! I'll use the largest, heaviest-duty puck mount that Breedlove makes, match it to a 1" steel black pipe for the lower shaft, and roof mount it on my Korean Econo-box. Then look into a nitrous kit or turbo-charging so the vehicle can move under the added weight.

Naaaa.....save yourself some money and just weld the black pipe to the floor of the truck bed, then you wouldn't need to buy a Breedlove mount!

Oh man; you guys are killin' me!! I'm sitting here picturing this in whats left of my feeble old mind, and I'm laughing so hard I'm cryin'................yup, steel bar stock for a shaft....an old p/u truck coil spring for the coil....all of it welded right to the frame for ground and ground plane.......................oh boy!!!! superchargers and nitrous to get 'em down the road............trying to hear the radio over the wind whistling through that big old coil spring......................

What's that old saying..."If you build it, they will come..."

Plus......

We're going to claim it adds A-U-D-I-OOOOOOOOO, advertise it on the internet at an exorbitant price, and retire at an early age.