Yikes, that base has seen better days. I like the Decibel Products bases better as the ground plane elements are held on with small U bolts. It would be much easier to change bands with the one made by DB.
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DB 201
- Thread starter W8UU
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prcguy
Member
The insulator does look cracked but I have an identical base here somewhere. A DB Products ground plane is nice, not counting the lack of gain but its not as sexy as a Kreco. They are really well made and hard to find.
Oh yes, I agree. The Kreco's are works of art. I love my D-150 and hated to mount it on the tower, because it is just so beautiful, but it works great and I didn't buy it for its looks. It works very well as a wide-band receive and equally well as a wide-band transmit antenna. I used for a long time as my test bench antenna, but ended up leaving it connected to one of my scanners. One day, I'll get around to getting the shop squared away and I'll take down my old tower and put up a bigger one, so I can house more Kreco antennas. The DB is just easier to change bands.
prcguy
Member
Most of my Kreco antennas will never see a tower, because (I'm a little embarrassed) they are just too pretty. I've polished a few aluminum ones to a bright chrome like finish with SOS pads, especially the big coaxial collinears. You should see the solid brass ground planes when polished with Brasso polish. I wish I had a room tall enough to mount some of them upright indoors to show them off properly.
Oh what you people must think of me now......
I would never spend this much time primping a DB Products antenna.
Oh what you people must think of me now......
I would never spend this much time primping a DB Products antenna.
Oh no, that is awesome. I have some old (NOS) mobile antennas that are on a shelf in my radio room. Hopefully this year, I'll be able to have a new building built to house a new radio shop where I can actually have room to display everything properly.
talkpair
Member
I found an old Kreco brochure on ebay the other day with a pic of a duo ground plane antenna on it.
I saw one of these antennas several years ago on an old fire station in Kansas City and was interested in knowing what it's claim to fame was, but never knew what it was called or who made it. It's the ONLY one I've ever seen.
I saw one of these antennas several years ago on an old fire station in Kansas City and was interested in knowing what it's claim to fame was, but never knew what it was called or who made it. It's the ONLY one I've ever seen.
Is Kreco still in business? Their website hasn't been updated since 2004.
I'm pretty sure they are. Just give them a call. That is what I did when I ordered my Discone.
nd5y
Member
Kreco might be the only current manufacturer but Antenna Specialists, and probably others, used to make dual ground plane antennas.
prcguy
Member
I've never seen a dual ground plane from anyone other than KRECO and I've been looking since the mid-late 60s.
prcguy
Member
I read where a two way radio company bought KRECO within the last few years and they stated they would not change any prices or service in the near term. Now KRECO sells on Ebay and their prices are stupid. The Discones have basically doubled in price and they have a 150 to 1200MHz model for $363 and a 100 to 800MHz model for $618 and the only difference is a just few feet of round aluminum stock.
nd5y
Member
You sure AS never made them? Did Kreco make one with a different insulator then?
prcguy
Member
Most KRECO insulators are porcelain and the picture posted is very old. I have several KRECO single ground planes, one from the 60s with four radials and several modern ones with at least six radials. I also have the lower radial kits from some KRECO stacked coaxial collinears but don't want to use those for a dual ground plane. The stacked coaxial collinears are scarce as it is.
I've shopped for every kind of commercial ground plane over the years and have two versions of the A/S but have never seen a stacked version.
I've shopped for every kind of commercial ground plane over the years and have two versions of the A/S but have never seen a stacked version.
prcguy
Member
If there is any doubt about my antenna fetish or "aerial disease", here are just a few KRECO ground plane antennas I grabbed out of the garage. The far left is a 460-470MHz brass ground plane. The next to the right is a 440-450MHz aluminum version then a low 150MHz heavy duty with a ball on top to lower the resonant freq into the 2m ham range, then a very old but new in box 2m amateur version with only four radials. At some point in time maybe in the 70s they went from four to six ground radials.
My garage rafters are full of KRECOs.
My garage rafters are full of KRECOs.
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Kreco *is* still in business. The new website is www.kreckmans.com
The FGP-40A antenna (the identical twin to the venerable DB201) is $726. That's about $200 cheaper than a DB201 from Tessco or Hutton before the model was discontinued.
Just FYI.
The FGP-40A antenna (the identical twin to the venerable DB201) is $726. That's about $200 cheaper than a DB201 from Tessco or Hutton before the model was discontinued.
Just FYI.
I salvaged one of these from an old civil defense HQ that was getting demolished. 1/2 mile from the ocean it was badly corroded. Got a few $$ for it at a ham swap meet but the hefty length of heliax with it got put to use.
Anyone have an idea why the only frequency band the DB-201 is still being manufactured for is the 450-470 MHz band? Are the targeted users GMRS, big city police departments, folks in need of a small deployable antenna, etc. or for some other services? I like the simple bulletproof design but find it puzzling why they kept the 450-470 model and discontinued the VHF (144-174) model.
At UHF it seems like using a simple quarterwave ground plane with unity gain is a gross under-utilization of the possible gain that can be had compared to models such as the DB-408 or Stationmasters.
At UHF it seems like using a simple quarterwave ground plane with unity gain is a gross under-utilization of the possible gain that can be had compared to models such as the DB-408 or Stationmasters.
trooper890
Member
The Airlines and FBO’s are why. Every airport in America of any size is scattered with 201’s.
Airlines and FBO's using 450-470 MHz? I've never heard of or read about air operations in this frequency range. I can see why the DB-201 would be popular for the well known airband frequencies (118-137) to direct the RF energy upward, but this model was also discontinued.
prcguy
Member
Lots of airlines have 450MHz channels for airport use and although the DB Products ground plane is popular there are lots of small and medium size 450MHz gain antennas used at airports.
No VHF or UHF aircraft base antenna I know of is designed to have an upward pattern, you want the pattern to have the most gain at the horizon where the aircraft is the furthest away and with the most obstructions. You also want a broad pattern which rules out antennas with more than a couple dB gain. An aircraft overhead at 35,000ft is only 6.6mi away and absolute line of sight, you don't need any upward gain for that.
No VHF or UHF aircraft base antenna I know of is designed to have an upward pattern, you want the pattern to have the most gain at the horizon where the aircraft is the furthest away and with the most obstructions. You also want a broad pattern which rules out antennas with more than a couple dB gain. An aircraft overhead at 35,000ft is only 6.6mi away and absolute line of sight, you don't need any upward gain for that.
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