Antenna

[JohnGingras]

If you could have just 1 antenna for VHF & UHF Airband what would it be.

John

[N9JCQ]

John, I use a a Radioshack discone and I think it works great. I am just south of you across the "Cheddar Curtain" and can frequently monitor Chicago Center, ORD, Midway and MILAIR in the Midwest. I don't have it mounted on the Chimney, just on a balcony. I think the NilJon is supposed to be good too. I use their mobile antenna and it works great for MIlair and civil air.
Joe

[KI6ABZ]

I use a Radio Shack scanner antenna. It's not as broadbanded as a discone, but it's also not as physically large. It does a good job on VHF to UHF. My 7800 plugged in to it can pick up ATIS from a local airport where anything handheld just gets static. There's a hill between me and the airport, and my handheld receivers just get static at the house.

This antenna is also good for transmitting. I never get more than a 1.4:1 on 2M or 70CM, and at some frequencies, the match is almost a perfect 1:1.

[eorange]

I can only recommend what I have, and that's a Diamond DJ-130 Discone. Years of great reception on the VHF and UHF airbands.

[DaveNF2G]

Count me as another vote for a discone. That's what I use for everything and it works great.

[KI6ABZ]

For general coverage, a discone is very useful. It's hard to get a relatively uniform gain across several hundred megahertz with a standard antenna, but a discone seems to work for any frequency in its operating range.

I bought a discone through EBay back in 2005, and I was very pleased with the reception: I got everything from aircraft to 800 MHz trunked systems. I could also transmit on 2M and 440 with no problems and good SWR all the way across the board.

The only down side to a discone antenna is that it's not a high-gain antenna. You'll get results similar to a quarter-wave on all the bands. It's also significantly heavier than a simple vertical or vertical/ground plane. That's to be expected, of course: you're dealing with basically 8 antennas on one package. If I could have only one antenna for all my UHF/VHF needs, it would probably be Diamond's discone. From what I've read, it's much more durable than some of the other units out there, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to have to replace your antenna every time there's a big wind.

[SteveinOz]

Diamond D-777. I am really happy with this antenna in both VHF and UHF. I also have a Diamond D-130J discone but as I got more interested in airband scanning, the D-777 took its place.

[FrankJ]

Anybody heard of the Scantenna?

Seriously.......I'll take that over a discone anyday!

For portable use, the Diamond RH77CA is awesome for the VHF/UHF airbands!

Frank

[rvictor]

If you like the RH77CA, you'll love the RHF40 which is the same antenna except that the whip is so flexible that you can coil it into a circle about 3" in diameter and throw it in your pocket. It straightens back out to the full configuration and stays there until you bend it into some other shape. Almost worth the money just to play with it.

Diamond® Antenna ~ RHF40 HT/Scanner Antenna

73
Dick

[zz0468]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

Anybody heard of the Scantenna?

Seriously.......I'll take that over a discone anyday!

For portable use, the Diamond RH77CA is awesome for the VHF/UHF airbands!

Frank

I have a problem with any antenna that has to be modified right out of the box just so it won't fall apart.

[BMT]

I use a Grove Scanner Beam, Ground Plane 225-400 and a NIL-JON. I am able to quickly switch to any of the 3 depend on what antenna I need for a certain scanner.
Yep, I'm running 5 scanner's off 3 antenna's.

BMT

[MPSCS]

Consider the DPD Productions 118-1000 MHz Scanner Log Periodic Antenna
DPD Productions - Scanner Antennas

[zguy1243]

AT-197/GR Discone. Outperforms generic discones on VHF and UHF airbands. Outperforms scantenna easily.

[JohnGingras]

Well I have been using the Icom AH-7000 for 13 years with no problems what so ever. But I just have the bug to due something different!

[scanner_nut]

I use the Maldol AL-500H for handheld use - the antenna is designed and tuned to general and milair frequency bands.

[mrlthse]

Have you ever been on a real military base... They use a multi band discone (Professional) .
I work at hill Air Foece Base utah, and have observed many of these styles being used. it a little expensive, However if you are going to expend the time, you should get the best... hoped this help.
Oh I use the Icom discone with a Icom R8500 myself and I am right over the flight path to eagle tower West dessert.

[KI6ABZ]

Interesting you should mention that. The San Diego County Sheriff's Dept has a large antenna farm with everything from 800 MHz antennas to microwave feedhorns and every band amateur antenna there is... And at the very top sits a little discone antenna. I have no idea what it's hooked up to... It could be a scanner in somebody's office, but my guess is that it's part of the RACES station.

[kcoleman]

Originally Posted by zz0468

I have a problem with any antenna that has to be modified right out of the box just so it won't fall apart.

zz I'm not sure I understand what you are talking about. I've had the Scantenna for over 5 years now, it's mounted about 25'~30' high and has never had any modifications. Took it right out of the box and been a steady performer ever since... BTW, I live where thunderstorms, high winds and tornado's are part of life.

Cheers,

[musicman1260]

I use the scantenna as well,currently i live in an apartment that doesnt allow outside mounting,so any ideas on something in addition to the scantenna to use,i pick up fairly well,just want to be able to get a little more.I would like to find a small discone table model to use as i do have a table on the outside porch area that i can use when i'm outside and my scanners are right next to the front window,Thanks!

[KI6ABZ]

There really aren't any small discones that can cover VHF. The problem is the diameter. It tends to be big... A good balcony antenna might be a Diamond RH77 antenna on a BNC base.