It’s fastened to the body at nine points, seven of which are at the factory impact bar locations. I decided to use the hitch itself as a bonding point. However, there is no short path from the ball mount to the body of the car. The 3/4″ bolt will hold fine, so long as you tighten it appropriately.īonding the antenna would be a challenge, or so I thought. If I’m honest, it isn’t necessary when mounting on the hitch. I bought it for ease of mounting/dismounting when the antenna was on the roof. □ The aluminum spacer shown in this photo is a quick-release mount that used to be offered by Breedlove Mounts. Given the double-nut and two-inch bolt, I don’t think I can drive long enough between rest stops for the bolt to work its way out of the antenna mount. It’s VERY sturdy and nearly impossible to wiggle loose without me noticing. ![]() Rather than a pin, I secure my mounts with a 1/2-inch bolt, capped with lock washers and a nut. My ball mounts are hollow and have internal threaded anti-rattle devices. ![]() If you have a hitch, then you know that installing a ball mount is super-easy. The hitch is far more convenient than the roof rack as a “temporary” mounting point. But it seems to be my best option, given my desire to use the antenna as a part-time accessory. The hitch is probably the least efficient place to mount an HF antenna. Therefore, I abandoned roof rack mounting and moved to the hitch. I’m a Volkswagen enthusiast first, ham radio ranks further down my list of passions. I was unwilling to remove paint or make the mechanical modification needed to improve my bonding. I tried straps to threaded points in the door jambs (see photos below), but they weren’t enough. That was most likely due to a lack of sufficient bonding between the rack and the body of the car. In particular, 20m wasn’t even close to tuning. However, I was unable to tune all of the bands. Setting up the rack isn’t necessarily fast, but it is easy enough to call “temporary.” Mounted on the roof rack, the SA-680 is obnoxiously tall, but still within the highway-legal limit of less than 13’6″ with the cap hat mounted (the whip would exceed max height allowances). I had originally planned to mount my Scorpion on a roof rack. So, everything is easily removed when not in use. I ordered a capacity hat, too, which came in its own PVC pipe packaging. ![]() It was packaged in a manner that would allow it to endure almost anything… VERY impressive. I paid extra for the “Black Widow,” which is powder coated in gloss black. The Scorpion SA-680 comes standard in stainless steel. ![]() Some say the Scorpion SA-680 is the best mobile HF antenna money can buy. Eventually, I decided I wanted a better antenna. I took a break from HF when I was stationed closer to home my interest in ham radio comes and goes. □ I made some distant contacts with that antenna, even toward the bottom of the solar cycle. Performance-wise, it can be described as “adequate, but not great.” With my Yaesu FT-857D, tuning the ATAS was as simple as pressing a “TUNE” button… or what could be called an “EASY” button. So, surfing the HF bands was a great way to help the drive pass. I had a long weekend commute on quiet highways from 2006-2009.
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