A-99CK 17' Omni-Directional Fiberglass Base Station Antenna and Ground Plane Kit

I had an Antron back when I was a kid around 1996 and sold it, along with all of the rest of my radio stuff, when I moved for college. I used it for the CB back then and that was what got me interested in Amateur Radio. I then got my Ham ticket in 1997 when I was just 15 years old.I purchased this Antron because last year I purchased a CB to once again use as a base station. I already have various HAM radios so, feeling quite nostalgic, I purchased a CB, with SSB this time as I hadn't had the privilege when I was a kid. I already had a 40 foot antenna mast with a dual band J-Pole mounted on it for 2-meter and 70-cm so I got a cheap CB antenna and stuck up there. Well, that antenna was absolute garbage and I finally decided to do a search to see if anyone had one for sale second hand. I was surprised to see it here on Amazon because I had just assumed they didn't make them anymore. What a wonderful turn of events!The Antron is great and never has SWR problems. It also both gets out there and recieves better than any CB antenna I've used. This particular purchase came with a ground plane kit which I never had when I was a kid and from what I can tell it makes this bad boy all that much better. Speaking of which:The ground plane kit gave me absolutely no problems. The mounting ring's threads were free of any imperfections or burrs and the radials were perfect as well. I did take a brass-wire brush after inspecting the threads just to make sure I didn't miss anything with my ever-aging eyes. The radials screwed right into the ring quite smoothly.I can't say enough good things about this antenna and almost 3 decades later I'm still a huge fan.

I purchased this antenna because of the great reviews. When it came in I assembled it to a mast and held off installing the ground planes until ready to raise the mast. The first thing I noticed was the ground planes would not screw into any of the collar holes. There is a notice in the manual that states "BE CAREFUL! DO NOT STRIP THREADS!" I took this as a warning that the rods might be a little hard to start. Rods absolutely would not start into the holes. Considerable down pressure would not help. Then FINALLY one started but it went in like it was cross threaded. I kept checking alignment all the way in and it just didn't feel right. Screw in process was super tight all the way in. Two others had the same problem but they finally went in all the way. The last one would not start at all. I checked the threading in the hole and it looked kind of warped. Like it was oval more than round. I screwed in a tap and it only went in about 2 threads into the hole and then stopped. It was turning loose then tight just like an oval shaped hole would do. Now I have 3 rods in but can't get the last one to even start to screw into the collar. 3 hours of labor later I gave up. Am now trying to find out how to order a replacement collar because i don't trust the other three rods that are screwed in. Any info on how to get hold of a replacement collar? I can't seem to find Solarcon on the Internet. Searches keep pointing me back to Amazon. The only thing in the manual says to ship the entire antenna back to the factory for repairs. I just want to purchase a replacement collar. Everything else looks great.UPDATE: 02/12/15: I FOUND THE NUMBER FOR SOLARCON. 419-865-5877. SPOKE WITH CHARLIE X218 AND THEY WILL BE SHIPPING ME A REPLACEMENT COLLAR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. NO CHARGE! WOW! GREAT PEOPLE TO DO BUSINESS WITH. HAPPY! HAPPY!UPDATE: 02/15/2015: Went ahead and raised the mast and antenna. Talking 1900 miles on CB skip with no problems without the ground plane. Expect to get better distance with the ground planes installed. Only problem is dropping the mast to add the kit but am excited about this antenna. It was 1.5 out of the box on SWR. No problems what-so-ever. Talked to several local SSB stations as well as some a thousand miles away including a gentleman in Australia and they all said my signal was spot on. Love this antenna. Best to all.UPDATE: 02/23/15: Still waiting for the replacement collar "HUB". Unfortunatly there is no tracking number available. Have made several attemptes to contact Charlie at the plant where these are manufactured in Ohio. Unable to get back to Charlie or any return calls after numerous voice mail messages left on his extension.UPDATE: 02/25/15: Spoke again with Charlie today. He has been out sick for several days and apologized for not getting back with me. He gave the "HUB" to Shipping on the 12th to have it sent out. Said it should be here by now. Will advised me to call BETH x208 tomorrow and verify if she actually shipped it out and get a tracking number. He was very nice about everything and I am confident this issue will be resolved very soon. He wants me to call him back when I recieve it to make sure it got through OK. I feel better now. Very nice people to do business with.UPDATE03/05/15: I got the "hub" in today. It still took me over 2 hours to screw the radials into the hub. There is a difference between the steel threads on the radials and the aluminum threads on the hub. One of the radials screwed in by hand without any problem but the other three were exteremely difficult to even start without stripping or cross threading. I finally got the other three screwed in but I had to work them in with quarter turns using a 1/2 inch wrench. Working them in and out for about a third of the way and then they would loosen up and screw in easily. Just a warning. As the instruction book says..."BE CAREFUL NOT TO CROSS THREAD!". The antenna is working flawlessly, now to bring it back down, install the ground plane kit and get it back up and running. Best to all.. "South Texas 114".Update. 03/31/17. Still working Great! Comparable to my friends Antron.

Assembly was straight forward ( more on that in a moment). Light weight, and easy to mount and raise. My signal reports are similar to my 30yr old Shakespeare Big Stick. I read many bad reviews about assembly problems. The assembly of the main antenna segments went smooth, the threaded studs of the segments were smooth and tapered well, absolutely no issues with the main antenna. The issues I experienced were with the GPK-1 ground plane kit. Having read the other reviews I prepared ahead and my install of the GPK-1 kit went smooth. In my case the thread issues reported about were with the ground plane radials. I tested the collar with other brands 3/8x24 antennas and they all screwed in smooth and easy, so the collar was fine. I tried to install the GPK-1 radials and immediately noticed issues. It is obvious by looking at the threads on the radials they are sub-par, lacking the taper grind at the start of the treading and having all sorts of nicks and cuts along the threads. To fix this before buggering up the collar, I chased the threads with a grade 8 - 3/8x24 nut until it ran the threads smoothly. Leaving the nut on the threads I lightly chamfered the start of the threads. If you are not handy with a grinder, you can use a file or just skip the taper. Having smoothed the threads, I marked each radial with colored vinyl tape, and marked a hole on the collar with a matching square of tape. I installed the radials I tapered easily and smoothly, the radials I chased but did not taper, did start and install but did not feel smooth and needed a wrench but once installed, they were removed and installed easily the second time. Now my radials are matched to the hole they were installed in initially with the colored tape. If you plan ahead and prep the threads ahead of time you will avoid the cross-thread/gall issues experienced by others and your install will go smooth. Materials needed : Grade 5 or better 3/8x24 bolt and nut or tap and die kit. colored electrical tape or colored markers if you plan on removing your radials before mounting the antenna.

Was able to use for C.B. pre tuned out of box.