Better alternative to Discone antenna

Subject: Better alternative to Discone antenna 2009-04-20, 11:59

Can anyone tell me which antenna/aerial is better than a Discone,as i'm thinking of changing mine for a vertical aerial,without all the elements sticking out, as i've read the elements on discones can get damaged or fall off,seen some antennas advertised with fibreglass coating (any good ?),also i don't want to pay a lot for one(£40 to under £70),must be for UHF/VHF,USB,NFM,WFM,AM (i have a Yupiteru MVT-7100),aerial must be good for listening long distances line of sight.Finally whats the best low-loss coax (must be flexible,thinner the better)...thank you for any replies..regards Lowlevel.

Subject: Re: Better alternative to Discone antenna 2009-04-20, 12:22

aerial wise the Diamond D777 (D-777) High Gain 120/300MHz Air Band Antenna is pretty good, i live at the bottom of a hill next to woods and can get mildenhall app/dep (100ish miles) with this aerial in the loft :)

Subject: Alternative to Discone 2009-04-20, 12:57

Many thanks for your reply 352sog will read up on this antenna.

Location : Near RAF Aldergrove

Another vote for the Diamond D-777. Have had one up for few months now.

Subject: Better alternative to Discone antenna 2009-04-21, 07:20

Is the Diamond-D777 any good on anything other than AM,if i get one i will also use it on USB,NFM,WFM,as long as it does the same job or better than my Discone,from where i live i can pick up low level pulling up from the lake district,aircraft over the north sea,down to Mildenhall and Lakenheath approach,if in line of sight,so a good multi-band,can do anything antenna is what i want.

Location : Boston, Lincs Spotter Watch Member : No

RG213 or URM 67 has much less loss at around 6db over 100 metres than RG58 or URM 76 which is often quoted at 2db for 10 metres (at 100MHz, loss increases with frequency).
Trouble is the better stuff is 10mm over the 5mm for RG58, not so bendy. For short runs you could get away with RG58.

Subject: Better alternative for Discone antenna 2009-04-23, 14:44

Thanks for the reply dchislop.

Location : Near RAF Aldergrove

I use the d-777 and get good reception on others bands also such as the marine band, utilities (160-170) and also in the 420-470 region including pmr bands. Probably a discone is as good as any for wideband reception but my main purpose was for airband listening.

Edit: I use RG213 and the audio quality i get from scanner is brilliant. Very crisp clear audio. I think a much better job than using RG58 cable but like somebody said it doesn't bend too well!

Location : Boston, Lincs Spotter Watch Member : No

If there are any air band listeners who would like to get a better understanding of cables, antennas etc then I would recommend getting a copy of the RSGB Foundation course. Apart from helping to get a better idea of how it all works, you could even end up with your own callsign and operating your own transceiver. www.rsgb.org