Best Discone

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kb9hgi

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just got a BCD996P2 and Im looking at buying a discone been looking on ebay there is so many diffrent ones. I will monitor VHF UHF and 800 Mhz P25 can someone suggest a discone? I have a anetnnacraft St 2 on my BCD996XT dont think you can buy those anymore so would a discone be better?
 

rescue161

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Kreco Antennas - Broadband Antennas

These are the best discone antennas made for the commercial market. They are truly heavy duty. I have the D-150AN. It is designed for 150-1200 MHz, but it loads up fine on 2/440. It's built like a tank. I have never dealt with Sirio before, but Kreco makes very nice antennas.

Here is a link to another post that prompted me to buy my Kreco. http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/298135-joining-dark-side.html

Someone else posted a comparison of the Diamond and the Kreco. The Kreco will far outlast the Diamond.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20140917/7d0772ad89dbd1f288bfc56e193768b3.jpg
 
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mmckenna

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Best discone?
Not sure about best, but you can do better than the consumer/amateur grade stuff. But, it's going to cost you.

$1600.00:
IMG_1095_zpsapll88ou.jpg


I use that one at work. Most of the time it's connected to a frequency agile remote controlled receiver. But, in a pinch, I can use it with any of the repeaters I have at the site.
There are better/more expensive ones.

I've got a Diamond I scored for free many years back. It's been up on my roof at home for many years, mainly connected to a Motorola CDM750. Fed with decent coax, it's an OK antenna. Hasn't fallen apart like some of them do.

Key is to install it correctly.
 

majoco

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Electrically it's quite easy to make a good discone. Mechanically it's easy to make a poor one. The difference between a good mechanically one and a poor one is chalk and cheese.
You pay top dollar for one that will last for years in all weathers with good quality stainless hardware, a cast aluminum centre piece, a well protected cable connection and tubing filled with foam to stop resonances.
I don't know what is available in your market place and I don't know how deep your pockets are, but the same old saying is "buy the best you can afford" still goes.

Here's mine that was 'liberated' from a remote hilltop relay station that was being refurbished.
Iv'e had it for 30years and apart form an annual cleanup it has performed flawlessly.

https://forums.radioreference.com/a...oax-would-you-use-jamesdale-antenna-2-sml.jpg
 

vagrant

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Ha! That image is truly the best and biggest discone I know of. I have made contact with a few operators over the years who were using it.


I have a Scantenna and it works. It seemed to work slightly better on lower frequencies than a RadioShack discone, but the discone was slightly improved on the higher frequencies. The discone is doing the work now as the Scantennas are stowed in the garage.
 

iMONITOR

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spongella

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If you are a ham and scanner buff, consider when buying if the discone can be used for transmitting on the VHF/UHF ham bands, an added bonus. At this QTH a Diamond D3000N, atop the house is in use for scanning and also occasionally for 2m contacts. Got it from Universal and nothing not to like about it. Can't say it's the best or the worst though. Good luck in finding your antenna.
 
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