Antenna questions

[geraldw3210]

Hello everyone.
I have a sdrplay rsp2 unit i want too use for general listening/scanning across as much of the spectrum as this will cover. ill start with easy stuff ham, shortwave listening, and move into other things as i learn them and the sdr.
i have a mini-whip, a discone, and a par end-fedz 45ft longwire antennas. which one or two should i use to cover as much of the freq range as i can or is there something better i should get?
i dont have a great deal of space too install large antennas so i may need too comprimise.


thank you GW

 

[mmckenna]

For that, you'll really want both the discone and the end fed to get the most out of it.

Depending on the exact model of discone, they are usually VHF - UHF. It'll likely work well (depending on the design) from about 100MHz up to the 2GHz limit of the receiver. Some hobby market discone's have a whip on top that can help with VHF Low band coverage (30MHz - 100MHz or so), however some do not.
The end fed will work for the lower frequency stuff, the 1KHz to 30MHz range will probably be where it performs well.

I have a remote receiver at work that I can control over the net. It covers from 40KHz up to 3.5GHz. I have two antennas hooked up to it:
An End Fed wire that works well from the low frequency end and up past the 50MHz amateur radio band.
The Discone I have is a commercial model that is designed for 100MHz to 3GHz or so.

Truth is any antenna will receive something, it just varies on how well. A discone will pick up short wave, just not very well. An end fed will pick up VHF and UHF, again, not well, but it'll work.
I've found with my setup that switching the antennas provides some interesting results. There are times when one antenna will out perform the other in places that it seems like it should't. Key is to experiment.

The mini-whip probably won't do much for you other than get some local VHF/UHF stuff.

Remember that on the VHF and higher frequencies, it's all about line of sight, so getting the antennas up as high as you can will really improve performance.

 

[K5MPH]

The Par end fed antenna will to the best for shortwave......

 

[geraldw3210]

Hello again
Thanks for the replies. The discone is a tram 1411 it does have the top whip i believe its good for 25-1300 MHz.
So ill use the par/sloper for lowFreq to around 30Mhz? then switch too the discone for 30Mhz and higher?

Iam looking forward too learning all the different things too capture like sstv, weather pics, cw, all kinds of stuff, Way more than when i did shortwave as a kid.

thanks for the help i really appreciate it 73's GW

 

[ka3jjz]

Hello again
Thanks for the replies. The discone is a tram 1411 it does have the top whip i believe its good for 25-1300 MHz.
So ill use the par/sloper for lowFreq to around 30Mhz? then switch too the discone for 30Mhz and higher?

Iam looking forward too learning all the different things too capture like sstv, weather pics, cw, all kinds of stuff, Way more than when i did shortwave as a kid.

thanks for the help i really appreciate it 73's GW

Yes, that's a good way to start. We have dedicated forums for antennas - for those to receive 30 Mhz and down...

https://forums.radioreference.com/receive-antennas-below-30mhz/

For those above 30 Mhz...

https://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/

and as for digital decoding, since you mentioned it, you can start by reading this from our wiki...

HF Digital Decoding - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[Ryangn]

You could use both with an antenna switch and switch back & forth depending on what band you are listening to. I use Alpha Delta switches and they make a two position and a four position depending on what your needs are re:how many antennas you want to use. For my SDRplay I use a two position Alpha Delta with my wellbrook and ST2 feeding into it and I just switch back and forth depending on what part of the spectrum I want to play in. Just an idea for ya. Good luck!