Mil Air to Ground antennas
- Thread starter N1XDS
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profiledescent
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Discone. I've used them for about 30 years. The FAA and Military used them exclusively on UHF for many years. FAA has gone over to collinear verticals. Don't believe the gain figures. dBi figures are useless.
TACO
DPD LP-118-1000 the Log Periodic ROCKS!! Not only Military Air pretty much everything I want to scan!!
nyair1
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- Feb 20, 2009
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What do you think of this antenna? I have been looking at it. Currently have a radio shack discone at about 30ft. Was trying to get alittle more range. Also have heard good things about the SB-2
It's a great antenna. I've never had a discone so I can't compare it to one of those, but it definitely works great for my monitoring. I like how it was specifically designed for the milair spectrum, rather than being a "catch all" type that has compromises on each band. It has excellent reception of the UHF air band and works well on most other bands as well. It costs more than the Radio Shack discone, but for what you get, it is worth the price. Just make sure to use some good coax with it, as the UHF air band signals attenuate fairly quickly.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
If you want 'better range', get some height. While gain figures play a role (and in point of fact, anything less than a 3db difference is not something you will easily notice), the further you get away from obstructions, the further you'll hear (up to a point, of course...). Using good quality coax is always the way to go, particularly as you go higher in frequency...Mike
Gunslinger36
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Mil Air Antennas
I primarily use the Antenna Craft model ST-2. While it is not designed for Mil Air, it works very well for that use. I run a Bearcat BC-9000XLT and BC-898T both for Mil Air. I have the ST-2 on the BC-898T and a Tram 220 MHz vertical on the BC-9000XLT. The 898T with the ST-2 outperforms the 9000XLT with the 220 vertical, hands down. I realize that since the receivers are different this really and apples to oranges comparison, BUT, I have been extremely pleased with the ST-2. It is a very good multiband receive antenna. The price is also right; neighborhood of $40. I have both antennas mounted on a tower at approximately 30 feet AGL. I feed the ST-2 with CATV type RG-6, and the Tram 220 vertical with RG-8U.
I primarily use the Antenna Craft model ST-2. While it is not designed for Mil Air, it works very well for that use. I run a Bearcat BC-9000XLT and BC-898T both for Mil Air. I have the ST-2 on the BC-898T and a Tram 220 MHz vertical on the BC-9000XLT. The 898T with the ST-2 outperforms the 9000XLT with the 220 vertical, hands down. I realize that since the receivers are different this really and apples to oranges comparison, BUT, I have been extremely pleased with the ST-2. It is a very good multiband receive antenna. The price is also right; neighborhood of $40. I have both antennas mounted on a tower at approximately 30 feet AGL. I feed the ST-2 with CATV type RG-6, and the Tram 220 vertical with RG-8U.
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N1XDS
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Thank you for all the replies everyone. For the guys who run pre amplifiers such as LNA what all would someone need to make that pre amplifier work with the antenna? I use the GRE pre amplifier and it works great with the Uniden BC536HP when I scan the Mil Air band. I can not put a tower at my house due to deed restrictions but I did get approved for a pole up to 50 feet which I already did for my DPD ADS-B antenna and it works really when it comes to Commercial, Federal and Military. What all would I need to run a pre amplifier for the ADS-B antenna? Any recommendations on a ADS-B pre amplifier that runs in the 1090mhz area?
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