Pre-installation Maintenance
Before the antenna can be installed on any vehicle mount, a few maintenance chores must be performed.
Please read the complete list before proceeding.
A). Hold the wood support with one hand and remove the ¾ inch nut from the threaded rod.
B). On the top of the antenna, there is a 3/8x24 shipping bolt and washer holding a wood support. Under the
wood support is a 1 inch long stainless steel coupling nut.
Use a backup wrench on this stainless steel coupling
nut, carefully remove the shipping bolt and washer.
Warning: Do not try to remove the 3/8X24 all-thread stud at the top of the antenna! Doing so
will damage the antenna, and will not be covered under warranty. This stud keeps the Lexan®
cover held in place by the large stainless steel coupling nut, and is permanently attached to the
Delrin® coil end cap with a locking set screw. The wire from the coil is also attached to this
stud on the other side of the Delrin® end cap.
Note: The stainless steel coupling nut should not turn. If the coupling nut becomes loose, hold the clear Lexan
coil cover and retighten it. When removing any whip or capacitance hat from the antenna,
always use a backup
wrench on this coupling nut to prevent loosening.
Advisory: There is a bead of clear silicon sealer that has been applied under the Lexan® coil cover to keep out
water. If the Lexan® coil cover needs to be removed and/or replaced, please call our Customer Service
department for detailed instructions.
Antenna Installing Tips
Your
Scorpion
antenna is manufactured to an exacting standard, utilizing top-quality components. Its inherent
high Q means you’ll get the best performance money can buy. However, any HF mobile antenna is only as good
as its installation. What follows are a few things to keep in mind when choosing where, and how to mount your
Scorpion
antenna
. Please go to Breedlove mounts, Jerry has Scorpion Antennas listed on the main page of
his site.
He manufactures special mounts that will work with our heavy antennas.
https://breedlovemounts.com/
The
Scorpion
antenna weighs nearly 18 pounds, and requires a very sturdy mounting structure. This eliminates
magnet mounts, trunk lip mounts, and similar mounting schemes. Remember we use a ¾ inch by 10 thread pitch
piece of Stainless allthread at the base of our antenna for mounting. You cannot mount our antenna on a 3/8 by
24 mount designed for a smaller antenna.
Even the largest of vehicles present a marginal image plane for any HF mobile antenna. To maximize the image
plane, it’s important to remember this basic fact; it is the mass under the antenna. The absolute best place to
mount an antenna is dead center on the roof. With our 18 pound antenna this is not possible, so we use and we
will recommend the best mounting location available, please call us for assistance.
We have done many vehicle installs where the antenna is mounted off to the side of the vehicle a few inches on
an L type bracket that is welded to the frame. This type of install works just fine with no issues, “see our site for
photos”! On pickup trucks, we always recommend mounting at the hand rail height for best efficiency!