Aegir
Member
Hello Everyone!
I'm going to make an upgrade. I'm going to add about 6 feet of height to my discone by attaching 6 feet of fiberglass mast on top of my current mast. The feed point of the discone will then be at almost 30 feet above ground level. Since the antenna will be taken down, now will be a good time to consider either:
1.) Replacing the 50 ft of LMR-400 with higher grade Coax
Or
2.) Adding an LNA-5000 mast mounted preamp.
My Whistler TRX-2 shares an antenna (Diamond D-3000 N wideband discone) with my IC-8600 via a Stridesberg Multicoupler, and I'm using a Par FM trap which works great on eliminating the interned from some local FM broadcasters.
It's been about 8 months since I've purchased my Whistler TRX-2. I've enjoyed using it in the shack. I'm not new to the radio hobby, but I'm new to scanning. I'm an Amateur Extra (N7BB), and an avid SWL Utility Monitor and AM BCB Dxer.
Experience tells me that upgrading the coax would be a wise addition, especially at UHF frequencies. Adding a preamp may introduce more intermodulation, especially since I'm using a multicoupler. I considered upgrading to a Create Log Periodic antenna, but that's an entirely different project involving a rotator and additional cost.
So, if you were me, and you had abut $200-$300 to spend, would you add a preamp or just upgrade the LMR-400? If so, and since it's only 50 feet, what grade of coax would you get?
I realize I'm also adding a bit of height at the same time. It's always wise to do one upgrade at a time to really notice improvements. But, I don't want to add height only take down the whole assembly AGAIN to make another upgrade. Any input is appreciated.
Attached is a photo of my shack - the whistler is mounted just below the IT-100 antenna tuner.
73
Bryne
I'm going to make an upgrade. I'm going to add about 6 feet of height to my discone by attaching 6 feet of fiberglass mast on top of my current mast. The feed point of the discone will then be at almost 30 feet above ground level. Since the antenna will be taken down, now will be a good time to consider either:
1.) Replacing the 50 ft of LMR-400 with higher grade Coax
Or
2.) Adding an LNA-5000 mast mounted preamp.
My Whistler TRX-2 shares an antenna (Diamond D-3000 N wideband discone) with my IC-8600 via a Stridesberg Multicoupler, and I'm using a Par FM trap which works great on eliminating the interned from some local FM broadcasters.
It's been about 8 months since I've purchased my Whistler TRX-2. I've enjoyed using it in the shack. I'm not new to the radio hobby, but I'm new to scanning. I'm an Amateur Extra (N7BB), and an avid SWL Utility Monitor and AM BCB Dxer.
Experience tells me that upgrading the coax would be a wise addition, especially at UHF frequencies. Adding a preamp may introduce more intermodulation, especially since I'm using a multicoupler. I considered upgrading to a Create Log Periodic antenna, but that's an entirely different project involving a rotator and additional cost.
So, if you were me, and you had abut $200-$300 to spend, would you add a preamp or just upgrade the LMR-400? If so, and since it's only 50 feet, what grade of coax would you get?
I realize I'm also adding a bit of height at the same time. It's always wise to do one upgrade at a time to really notice improvements. But, I don't want to add height only take down the whole assembly AGAIN to make another upgrade. Any input is appreciated.
Attached is a photo of my shack - the whistler is mounted just below the IT-100 antenna tuner.
73
Bryne