2020 Cascadia Skipshooter Installation

So I have put the flat washer and the nylon insulating washer in place. Still have all the same indicators as last night's post; antenna warning, no static noise, failures in self-testing, etc.

 

Can't find my meter. Might have lost it in a move. My father-in-law has one though and he is volunteering to check it out for me later today. We're at a birthday party at the moment.

And yes, the raised nylon lip is facing upward. However, I have a suspicion it's damaged (squished down and allowing contact between the ring and the mount) and that is where my problem is.

If I'm right, do you think an o-ring might suffice as an alternative to getting another coax?

 

So my father-in-law and I checked continuity at the mount/bolt and at the radio side. The bolt was grounding to the mount, and we are pretty sure it was because of the damaged/worn down nylon shoulder of the ring coax. I probably over-tightened the bolt in a previous attempt and between that and the sheer weight and wind resistance felt by the antenna at 60+ mph, it caused the nylon shoulder to crush and mushroom. We thought maybe we could get it (the bolt) in there "just so" and lock it down. It was not to be. The second any amount of force was applied on the antenna, it started to short out. I think the bolt is coming into contact with the mount.

Oddly, no resistance supporting this theory could be found anywhere. When the probes of the test meter were applied, the bolt and mount showed infinite, the ring and male end of the coax showed infinite (no break in the coax), and so did the collar and male end of the coax (no insulating/shielding failure). Even so, I still think that the weight of the antenna leaning at the angle that it is and the damaged nylon shoulder is intermittently allowing the bolt to ground to the mount.

Sooooo, I'm hoping someone could provide suggestions for some coax to use and how to mount the antenna to the ProComm mount using that coax such that it doesn't short/ground to the mount. I'm thinking maybe it's not a good idea after all to use a ring mount with this big of an antenna?

 

I know you said it's rhetorical but I thought I should answer anyway. I am tilting it forward because it catches a lot of wind and with the tilt at 0 mph, it stands (more like wobbles) straight up at 60+ mph. I thought this was the recommended method. Did I misunderstand something?

Well, apparently I'm tougher? LOL. I've been much more gentle about how I tighten things down since.

No beatings felt. I appreciate the help!

I'm still unclear as to how I would attach the antenna to the coax and the mount. With the ring connector, everything was held in place by a 3/8" x 1.25" M24 stainless steel bolt being screwed into the antenna. With the PL-259 coax there, you can't put a bolt into the antenna to hold it to the mount. Would you mind elaborating on the components and the order they go, starting from the antenna and working downward? Sorry...I'm a geek when it comes to computers, but outside of that, such as with other electronics and with mechanical things, I'm not super-duper intuitive. I need pictures and no assumptions that I understand something by those trying to explain something to me. Nothing is a given. LOL

Thanks!