Trying to choose between 3 Discone Antennas

[CorwinScansNM]

I am seeing mixed reactions here between the Kreco Discone Antennas & the Diamond Discone Antennas both which sound to be good to excellent receive performing antennas.

At least you all here have helped me to eliminate purchasing the Diamond D-220 Discone Antenna & the Tram 1410 Discone Antenna that I was also considering buying at first. It's now down to 2 different brands of Discone Antennas that I must really truly think about & decide which to purchase & what model after reading replies already typed here as well as other replies to come in the upcoming days from the wonderful Radio Reference Community & their expertise experiences with Discone Antennas primarily the Kreco & the Diamond brand.

 

[CorwinScansNM]

Okay. Serious do not waste your money on the choices for Discone antenna's out there. Hands down the

Diamond D3000 N is the best out there. Just a bit more money but more solid then the D130J out there

Just found an old interesting Radio Reference thread from, 2014 talking about the Diamond D3000N & the Diamond DJ130NJ Discone Antenna.

http://forums.radioreference.com/sc...297836-diamond-d130nj-d3000n.html#post2247327

I'm still trying to do my research here & there while taking info & feedback from others here on my thread.

 

[zz0468]

A couple of things to consider, in no particular order...

The Kreco antennas are professional/government service grade antennas. The real thing. The D-150 is not useful for transmitting on the 2m ham band. The D-100 is.

The others are more optimized for ham band coverage, and ham price range. Ham price translates to lower quality.

I use my discones for VHF fire and UHF mil air. The receivers used for mil air have no trouble hearing the UFO military satellites.

The discone is relatively simple, it's the geometry and the number of elements that dictates performance, with size controlling the frequency range. They're all shaped about the same, so choose by frequency range, and the best build quality you can afford.

 

[CorwinScansNM]

A couple of things to consider, in no particular order...

The Kreco antennas are professional/government service grade antennas. The real thing. The D-150 is not useful for transmitting on the 2m ham band. The D-100 is.

The others are more optimized for ham band coverage, and ham price range. Ham price translates to lower quality.

I use my discones for VHF fire and UHF mil air. The receivers used for mil air have no trouble hearing the UFO military satellites.

The discone is relatively simple, it's the geometry and the number of elements that dictates performance, with size controlling the frequency range. They're all shaped about the same, so choose by frequency range, and the best build quality you can afford.

OK thanks, understanded. I appreciate that extra info.

What is & seems strange is that the Kreco D-100A apparently weighs 12 lbs. while the Kreco D-150A weights only 4 lbs. Why so much difference in weight between those 2 models of Discone Antenna?

 

[zz0468]

OK thanks, understanded. I appreciate that extra info.

What is & seems strange is that the Kreco D-100A apparently weighs 12 lbs. while the Kreco D-150A weights only 4 lbs. Why so much difference in weight between those 2 models of Discone Antenna?

The elements on the 100 are much longer, therefore weigh more.

 

[prcguy]

If you put a Diamond D130J next to a Kreco 100-800MHz Discone, the difference in actual performance will be very small but in favor of the Kreco. What you get with the Kreco is an antenna you can use as a car jack. Its bare aluminum and you really should give it a couple of coats of paint before putting it up. At some point Kreco changed from a porcelain insulator to a mostly clear Rexolite plastic. Hopefully everyone has the Rexolite version.

For a really nice bullet proof setup, I would recommend the Kreco D100A for 100Mhz through 512Mhz and the Kreco D300A for 700MHz through 2GHz+, then use a diplexer to combine them. I have a couple of tiny Discones in plastic radomes that cover about 700MHz to a few GHz just for that purpose.

Was your Kreco Antenna a Discone Antenna & what model out of their 3 Discone Antennas did you purchase for $275? I am looking at & considering either thier D-100A or their D-150A. Their prices are seeming a bit scarry & high for me however, I am adding up & telling myself how much money & have spent on other cheap & cheap quality antennas over the past years & am still not happy with any of their receiving qualities & clarity into my digital scanner which is greatly leaning me towards a high attempt to purchase a Kreco Discone Antenna for a higher price tag & a 20 year warranty. Not to mention a unique Discone that has 12 bottom Radials & 12 upper Radials vs the other Discones sold everywhere on the Internet that only have the basic, typical 8 bottom & 8 upper Radials.

 

[zz0468]

I have several, and only one is aluminum. The others are brass, including the hub. All would make serviceable jack stands for a car.

I think my brass ones are considerably older.

What you get with the Kreco is an antenna you can use as a car jack. Its bare aluminum and you really should give it a couple of coats of paint before putting it up. At some point Kreco changed from a porcelain insulator to a mostly clear Rexolite plastic

 

[krokus]

OP, is there a specific reason you have written off the Comet discone, when considering the Diamond? (Or any other brand, for that matter.)

http://www.cometantenna.com/amateur-radio/base-antennas/discone/

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[CorwinScansNM]

Ouch, scarry prices! The latest & most up to date prices are now confirmed & not a mystery anymore for 2 different models of the Kreco Discone Antennas after emailing Kreco asking them for prices on both of these models of Discone Antennas shown below.

READY, SET!!!
D-100A $479.00

D-150A $303.00

 

[rescue161]

Not too much more than the $275 that I paid for mine 3 years ago. I have the D-150A. I do transmit on it regularly on 2M and 70CM. Return loss is good at 2M and 70CM, but I'm sure it would be better for the D-100A.

Buy once, cry once. You'll never have to buy another dis-cone antenna. Or, you could buy a Diamond, Comet or Tram and then buy another one in a year or two and then buy another one after that. They just don't compare with the quality of a Kreco.

 

[CorwinScansNM]

Buy once, cry once. You'll never have to buy another dis-cone antenna. Or, you could buy a Diamond, Comet or Tram and then buy another one in a year or two and then buy another one after that. They just don't compare with the quality of a Kreco.

For sure & I definitely understand that term.

 

[CorwinScansNM]

I am looking at & considering either thier D-100A or their D-150A. Their prices are seeming a bit scarry & high for me however, I am adding up & telling myself how much money & have spent on other cheap & cheap quality antennas over the past years & am still not happy with any of their receiving qualities & clarity into my digital scanner which is greatly leaning me towards a high attempt to purchase a Kreco Discone Antenna for a higher price tag & a 20 year warranty. Not to mention a unique Discone that has 12 bottom Radials & 12 upper Radials vs the other Discones sold everywhere on the Internet that only have the basic, typical 8 bottom & 8 upper Radials.

Not sure where I mistaked or even got the 20 year warranty thought from on the Kreco Discone Antennas? I had also just recently contacted Kreco with another question regarding how long their product warranty was on their Discone Antennas just to see if what I was thinking or had possible heard somewhere was true? Here is what Kreco wrote back in reply to me.

Kreco Antennas Wrote:
"I can’t warranty coverage. We know our antennas will work between the Freq on the web with low S.W.R. . We have sold 100’s of these and never had a complaint. If you send back any defective parts we will replace them for 3 years."

 

[zz0468]

READY, SET!!!
D-100A $479.00

D-150A $303.00

One of life's little bargains. They're worth every penny.

 

[rescue161]

The twenty year time probably came from here or me and it would not be a warranty, but it's based on the quality of this antenna and the fact there are hundreds of these antennas on military bases that have been in service for twenty years or more. You will not find Diamond or Tram antennas lasting that long

 

[iMONITOR]

Ouch, scarry prices! The latest & most up to date prices are now confirmed & not a mystery anymore for 2 different models of the Kreco Discone Antennas after emailing Kreco asking them for prices on both of these models of Discone Antennas shown below.

READY, SET!!!
D-100A $479.00

D-150A $303.00

You could buy 5 Diamond D-130JN discone the price of 1 D-100A. My D-130JN stood up to 12 years of Michigan's high winds and icy winter storms, then I was able to sell it for $60.00. Still looked like new. You would not notice any difference in performance between the Kreco and the Diamond. Buy another scanner for the money!

 

[devicelab]

You could buy 5 Diamond D-130JN discone the price of 1 D-100A. My D-130JN stood up to 12 years of Michigan's high winds and icy winter storms, then I was able to sell it for $60.00. Still looked like new. You would not notice any difference in performance between the Kreco and the Diamond. Buy another scanner for the money!

I'd have to agree. For the typical scanner owner it's just not smart financially. Heck, my R/S discone lasted 20+ years before a tree branch finally landed on it and broke one of the radials. My Diamond D3000N has been up for almost a year and still looks brand new.

IMHO, a lot of failing discone antennas are almost always due to the owner/operator and not the product.

 

[rescue161]

$275 was cheap for me after buying some 4-bay dipole arrays at $1500 a piece. Commercial sites will rarely allow ham-grade antennas on their towers, so when i buy, I always go with commercial offerings. That way, if I need to change antennas on one of my sites, I already have spares.

 

[W2GLD]

For the money, the Diamond Discone is excellent. I've had the same D130NJ for several years now (more than 10) and it has made three moves as well; it's survived hurricane winds in New Jersey, a F1 tornado here in Michigan and the only reason I'm replacing it is because I just picked up the ICOM IC-R8400 and wanted a single antenna for 25-3000 MHz; which will be the D3000N from Diamond and it just arrived today. I also ordered a Wellbrook ALA1530LN loop for 30 MHz below. With that said, I've owned numerous discone antennas since I became a ham back in 1994; started with the Radio Shack models and to-date, dollar for dollar for general scanner/listening post monitoring; the Diamond discones are hard to beat. If you are getting the model which covers the 25-1300 MHz spectrum, I recommend the "D130NJ" model with the n-connector; use some quality LMR-400 and you're set for 95% of installations. Usually they can be had from HRO and other outlets for $99; for $30 more you can go all the way up to 3000 MHz if you're receivers can handle it and there is a difference in the internals of the two antennas even though both models look identical on their outward appearances. My. setup will have the Diamond D3000N fed with Andrew LDF4-50A 1/2" hardline; but if I didn't already have hardline on hand, the choice would have been Times Microwave LMR-400; the direct burial type to ward of water ingress throughout the years. I've been using that stuff for years with their crimp type connectors with excellent results. Anyway, for $99, get yourself the Diamond D130NJ and smile while you're hearing all the same things that someone paid much more for.

 

[CorwinScansNM]

I am also now considering & looking into the MP Antenna 08-ANT-0860 as for I already own & am currently using a NMO ground plane kit that has 4 ground radials & has a N-Female connector. It also runs only around $100 & sounds to be good.

 

[prcguy]

I have the MP Antenna Super M Ultra base version I got of Ebay cheap and its a complete joke, save your money or just buy the Diamond D130. It will work much better and give you great service for a long time.

I am also now considering & looking into the MP Antenna 08-ANT-0860 as for I already own & am currently using a NMO ground plane kit that has 4 ground radials & has a N-Female connector. It also runs only around $100 & sounds to be good.