OSJ Assembly Instructions

Assembling the Open Stub J-pole from S&K antenna systems

This antenna is pretty simple to assemble, but you do need a wrench to tighten it! Follow along with the photos below to assemble it.

Time required: ~15-20 minutes
Tools needed: Wrench

Tip: Click any image to view full-size version

Check your parts

All parts fit in a bag 12" long by 6" wide!

Signal Staff™ bag

Signal Staff™ out of bag Signal Staff™ base bracket

Assemble the base

Here are the parts laid out approximately where they go. Note the position of “1” and “5” on the base, that indicates how many poles will attach on that side. Make sure you have the shortest open-end base piece by the “5” and the longest (of the non-standard length pieces) by the “1” (with the connector!). The short piece with a closed end goes in the middle.

Signal Staff™ base laid out

  1. Insert the bottom half of the connector into the hole by the “1” stamp:

    Step 1, insert bottom half of connector

  2. Add the plastic washer. There are two sides to the washer – one side is flat and the other has a ring that protrudes. THIS RING MUST BE DOWN (towards the bracket)! This is very important!

    Step 2, insert plastic washer with ring DOWN

    • If you see the ring on the top like this (below)? You did it wrong. Go fix it. Now. I’ll wait..

      2b: Make sure the ring is DOWN, not up; fix if it looks like this

  3. The metal washer goes over the plastic washer, then the top part of the connector screws on.

    Step 3, metal washer goes over the plastic washer, attach top part of connector

  4. Go ahead and tighten the connector down so it can’t come apart.

    Step 4, picture of the connector fully installed and tightened

  5. Insert the longest of the three base pieces (8 1/4 inches long) into the top of the connector, which should be on the side by the “1”.

    Step 5, picture of the longest base piece partly inserted

  6. Screw it in and tighten, then insert the middle-length piece (with no opening on top) in the second hole. Remember these are all aluminum, a relatively soft metal, so never over-tighten! You don’t want it to come off, but it doesn’t require a lot of force

    Step 6, First and second base pieces inserted

  7. Tighten that as well.

    Step 7, Tighten second base piece

  8. The third and shortest piece goes in the third hole by the “5” stamp

    Step 8, Third base piece partially inserted

  9. You guessed it! Tighten that baby up as well.

    Step 9, tighten third base piece

  10. Add the nuts on the bottom and tighten those.

    Step 10, add the nuts

Congratulations! The hard part is done. This will generally not be taken apart at this point! Everything beyond here is for when you put it together to use; when you take it apart to transport you leave it at the stage it’s in now.

Assembly for use

Once again, note the stamps; the “1” means you put one (1) piece above that. Make sure it doesn’t have an opening on the top. You should have two top pieces; one may have a hole through it, if so leave that for the taller side in case you want to hang it from something.

Looking at the assembled base so you can see the stamped numbers Looking at assembled base from the top where you can see the open ends on both sides Top piece with a hole for hanging something

  1. Locate the top piece (closed top) without a hole and insert into the connector above the “1”

    Insert the top piece on the short side

  2. Screw the piece in and hand tighten it

    Top piece on the short side tightened

  3. Insert the rest of the pieces on the other side with the closed-end piece with the hole at the top!

    Fully assembled on the floor

  4. Enjoy! To collapse, disassemble in reverse order. Most people leave the base assembled, unless you need it really portable.

    Fully assembled and leaning against a door

Mast-mount bracket

To install the mast-mount bracket simply remove the nuts from the bottom, slide the bracket on with the cutout around the connector, and tighten the nuts to hold it on!

Mast-mount bracket installed

NOTE: The newer brackets have an extra couple of holes to allow for more U-bolt sizes. It should fit a standard 1", 1.5", or 2" U-bolt from your local (US-based) hardware store.