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Reviews For: Diamond K9000TM / K9000RLM Motorized Mount

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

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Review Summary For : Diamond K9000TM / K9000RLM Motorized Mount
Reviews: 15MSRP: 110
Description:
Raise and lower your antenna with a touch of the button with the K9000 motorized mount for trunk lips, hatchbacks and luggage racks.

Special Features:
• Accepts "Ground Independent" antennas up to 45" in length
• 0-90 degree range; operates from 12VDC with fused cigarette plug
• Includes 20' cable to switch
• Compatible with Diamond C-series base/cable assemblies
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/k9000tm.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00153.3
K5CPF Rating: 2010-09-04
Bad fuse? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just installed mine. It didn't work at first and a little troubleshooting pointed to the fuse. It visually looked fine, but there was no continuity. After that frustration, the installation went fine.

Time will tell how durable it is, but it appears to be the perfect solution for my garage to garage lifestyle.
N0AWN Rating: 2008-11-03
Weak Mechanical Design Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had two K900RLM's, the first lasting a little more than 1 year the second just failed after 2 years. The snap action micro switch failed in each unit. Good luck finding a replacement for those. Both rusted badly internally and the plastic gears were so worn it was only a matter of time what failed first. I mounted a base loaded Maxrad 1/2 VHF antenna so weight wasn't an issue.

I expected more from a $100+ investment.

On the upside, while they work, they work well and the NMO mount was built to last. Using silver/Teflon RG316/U, it outlasted both of the K9000's handling the 160W flawlessly.

The motorized mount is great idea with a failure to launch.

AA6A Rating: 2007-07-01
Brackets are supporting my HF Antenna!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Contrary to the negative experiences of the other two posts, the K9000 unit I've been running has withstood everything thrown at it for years. It is rock solid, and its SG7500 antenna has been hit several times with tree branches, low overhangs and once (only once!) pulling into my own garage.

The clutch mechanism is robust and still does the job at speeds (on the track) well in excess of 120 mph.

It has been so durable, that in the process of exploring a mounting design for my vehicle's rooftop side rail mounted HF Antenna (a dressed up High Sierra SideKick), with Wayne Bowman's help at Diamond, I designed and built a mount using the luggage mount brackets version hardware from the K9000.

To see exactly what I did take a look a the photos via the HF Mobile link near the bottom of my QRZ AA6A details page.

A pair of the Diamond K9000 Luggage Rack Bracket Mounts and their round flat top plates were used to support a custom aluminum plate, which in turn supports the entire HF mobile antenna. There's been no perceptible metal fatigue with this setup, and it has been tested at speeds (on the track) in excess of 120mph.

I've enjoyed Diamond's products working wonderfully for many years and I feel it's important to share my experiences with those considering the K9000.

It is also important to note that two (2) versions of the K9000 are offered. They differ only with regard to the metal bracket mount design. The version I use is the Luggage Rack Mount version (again see the photos via my AA6A Detail page link.) The Trunk Lip mount version have not used and may be the subject of the problems encountered by the other reviewers, but they were not specific in their post.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by AA6A on 2006-09-30

Diamond's K9000 Motarized Antenna Mount was the perfect solution to my antenna mounting problem when I switched to driving a BMW X5 SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle).

The mount is a motorized and weatherproof device which raises and lowers your antenna from 45° to 90° and it's adjustable. It's offered in either a roof luggage rack version or a trunk lip version. The only difference being the included brackets. It comes fully wired to plug into your vehicle's cigarette lighter socket, or it may be easily retrofitted (as I did) to connect to a permanently hot lead in your vehicle's wiring harness so that it works even when the key is not in the ignition.

The unit is controlled by a surface mount switch which easily raises and lowers the antenna so that you can drive into garages w/o having to get or reach out of your vehicle or remove your antenna.

It has worked w/o a single flaw since I've owned it (over 5 years) and has been through blazing 121° summer heat, sub-zero winter blizzards and extreme speeds and wind.

It is highly recommended. I run mine with a Diamond SG7500 dual band antenna. The unit is rated for antennas up to 1 pound in weight or up to 45" in length. For more details read the installation instructions at:
http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/pdfdocs/K9000.pdf

Very 73,

Rob - AA6A
(Prev. AK9G)
(Prev. K6RSG)
N4VNV Rating: 2007-06-30
FAIR QUALITY Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Actually, this is about the "Non-motorized" lay down mounts. I purchased two of them for my SUV luggage rack. They are supposed to be identical, but not so! One works fine, the other nothing fits properly. The threaded portion of the wing nut is too short. Causing the assembly to come apart when loosening for lay-down. And the "wing" (head) of the wing nut is too large and will not clear when loosening prior to fold over. These mounts are expensive and should work properly every time. I'm very disappointed with this "50/50" quality.
KF7FLY Rating: 2007-06-30
Poor mechanical design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Although I had thought this might solve my issues with lower the antenna when entering low overhead areas, I've discovered Diamond's poor mechanical designs extend into the mount too.

The part on this mount called the "base fitment (21010), as shown in the parts diagram , will break from metal fatigue over time. Mine broke off after about two months, highway driving. This part has nothing to prevent it from flexing from vibration or antenna sway, so the metal softens and breaks over time, similar to how a spoon breaks when you flex it up and down between two fingers.

Also see my reviews of the SG7500 and SG7900 antennas.

WD5M (previously KF7FLY)