Trim Hustler DCL Discone?

[mparker]

i just installed a hustler DCL discone in my attic today, and it does really well... i really like it...

i noticed on the paperwork it says you can trim the upper elements by an 1" and the lowers by 2" and i would "gain excellent reception characteristics from 700-999MHz" but at the cost of 40-50MHz degradation...

ive been thinking about trying this and wanted to get others input...

should i do it ?

 

[gewecke]

I guess it depends on what range you're interested in hearing? If you have large attic you could have a attic "antenna farm"!
N9ZAS.

 

[mparker]

i pretty much listen to local PD,FD, medflights, space station..

 

[zz0468]

There's nothing of interest being transmitted from 960 to 999 MHz, so why bother? It's already rated to 950.

 

[mparker]

There's nothing of interest being transmitted from 960 to 999 MHz, so why bother? It's already rated to 950.

basically because it says "gain excellent reception characteristics from 700-999MHz"

makes me think, its already a HUGE improvement over the BNC whip that the radio came with, with a little bit of trimming it will be even better???

 

[KE5MC]

You have to be careful reading the marketing "stuff". Typically if the signal of interest is scratchy to begin with and you trim the antenna you "may or not" hear a difference and I doubt it will be a "excellent reception" increase.

Your 1st step of receiver mount antenna to an attic mounted will be you biggest and best increase.

basically because it says "gain excellent reception characteristics from 700-999MHz"

makes me think, its already a HUGE improvement over the BNC whip that the radio came with, with a little bit of trimming it will be even better???

 

[mparker]

Your 1st step of receiver mount antenna to an attic mounted will be you biggest and best increase.

then i am going to leave it be...

like i said i am 1000% satisfied with it the way it is, but i read that simple sentence... and a light bulb went off... if i just trim a little off i will get even better reception...


but ill leave it alone... thanks

 

[zz0468]

basically because it says "gain excellent reception characteristics from 700-999MHz"

makes me think, its already a HUGE improvement over the BNC whip that the radio came with, with a little bit of trimming it will be even better???

No, it won't be any better. It'll just raise the frequency range a bit. Discones don't have "excellent reception characteristics". They DO have usable performance across a wide frequency range, and a wide radiation pattern. I quite like 'em, but there's nothing you can do, like trimming them, that's going to create a miracle antenna out of it.

 

[prcguy]

If your happy with the DCL you would be really happy with any other Discone. Hustler monkeyed up the DCL so bad it shouldn't even be called a Discone. Be happy it works for you and it can only get better if you want to upgrade to another antenna.
prcguy

 

[mparker]

oh... i figured a discone was a discone was a discone....

whats makes it a bad design?

 

[prcguy]

Well now that you ask, the specifications for a Discone call for a solid disk and cone or elements that have less than .02 wavelength spacing at the ends and a disk to cone ratio between .67 and .70.

Elements with .02 wavelength spacing at the ends would require 16 skirt and cone elements which is seldom seen due to mechanical constraints of element diameter and the hub design. Less than 16 elements will start to loose efficiency compared to a solid disk and cone.

Many high quality commercial and military versions have 12 elements, most scanner types have 8 elements and users with commercial/military models can notice better performance over the RS, Diamond and other brands. Any mil AT-197 owners wish to comment on this?

The Hustler DCL has 3 elements on the disk and cone. It doesn't conform to the .67 to .70 disk to cone ratio. Its very watered down to make it cheap to produce but it still costs more than other Discones that are much more complex and work better.

Again, if your happy it could be worse and there is a world of antennas out there waiting for you to explore.

prcguy

oh... i figured a discone was a discone was a discone....

whats makes it a bad design?