Diamond D-777 118-136Mhz & 225-400Mhz

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nycrich

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Does anyone know where I could purchase this antenna from a US supplier/dealer or special order

D-777 * NEW * Diamond 120/300MHz Airband Fixed Station Vertical
* Frequency bands 120/300MHz
* Gain 3.4(VHF 120Mhz)/5.5Db(UHF 300Mhz)
* Type 5/8, 2x5/8
* Length 1.7m
* Radial length 52cm
* Mast size 30-62mm
* Socket SO-239
* Wind velocity 60m/sec
* Weight 1.0kg

Has gotten good reviews by European mil & aero scanner monitors.It is omni directional, does not take up much space given the gain. Priced at roughly $85 US. However only available in the UK & Europe costing a lot in shipping to US.
 

Kfred

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another antenna

Has any one tried the dpd productions vhf uhf air antenna? website claims 3dbi on vhf and 4dbi on uhf. dpdproductions.com Kfred
 

nycrich

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I have read hundreds of threads and belong to various internet scanning groups, and my conclusion was that the antenna excel in VHF/Mil Aero bands. It is a 5/8 x 2 omni directional with some broadband coverage of 118-136 & 225-400Mhz . There is some similiar antennas, but commercial costing upwards of $800. Lots of good reviews by users in UK, Europe, Australia. Some people just does not have room to set up a yagi, etc.
I'm surprised that with a high quality name as Diamond, there is no US Distributers.
 

iMONITOR

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I inquired about the D-777 Diamond antenna with Universal Radio, and Grove Enterprises (both sell Diamond antennas). Universal Radio claimed the Diamond would not allow the D-777 to be sold in the U.S. Grove inquired with Diamond, and Diamond did not respond.
 

N1SQB

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Ok, I have to ask!
Why would Diamond not allow an aircraft antenna to be sold here in the U.S.? What is the harm? I would think they would make a killing selling it here especialy with their reputation for making great antennas. It seems like they are hurting themselves mainly. I would love to have a few.

Manny
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
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scanernutt said:
Ok, I have to ask!
Why would Diamond not allow an aircraft antenna to be sold here in the U.S.? What is the harm? I would think they would make a killing selling it here especialy with their reputation for making great antennas. It seems like they are hurting themselves mainly. I would love to have a few.

Manny

Ignorant marketing people is the only reason I can think of. It's not like it's illegal, or banned in the U.S. In fact you can purchase them from vendors in the UK, and have them shipped to the U.S.
 

nycrich

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I tried ordering from the UK from Walter & Stanton. Here was the email:

<<<Dear Sir
Thank you for your web order. I am sorry to advise you, that due to the length of the D-777, the carriage for this item to Florida is £84.80, further we are unable to accept payment by credit card for this item. Payment should be made by bank transfer.
Please advise if you wish to continue with the order, we can then supply our bank transfer details.
Bill Bartlett G4KIH
Sales Manager.>>>>>>>>>

After I placed the order and the VISA transaction went through , I received this email. Now they are saying they don't accept credit cards, and after chosing international shipping , the price inceased 3 times for shipping, again after the transaction with credit card went through. So it is can of a biggggg hassle to get it abroad. Might be cheaper to go there myself and buy it .
 

DPD1

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I'm kind of baffled as to how it can be that great, considering the fact that it's a single element 5/8 vertical, which is probably designed to be resonant at one point for VHF and then you automatically get some resonance somewhere in the UHF area... the same way a 2m/440 antenna works. There's no way you'd get any bandwidth at all in the uhf, certainly nowhere near enough to cover all that band, and their warning of not being for transmitting backs that up, because I assume the SWR probably gets quite nasty in the majority of that band and, probably even near the ends of the VHF band. There can sometimes be import/export issues with items that can be deemed 'military technology'. The US has very hazy rules in regards to what belongs on the Trade Security Controls list and what isn't. Long story short, if something they decide shouldn't get exported to another country is on the list, they can hold you accountable and fine you.

The shipping industry really bends you over when you try to send long packages. I routinely have to turn down orders from overseas. Not to mention that customs departments just love to keep boxes that look like guns sitting in their warehouse for a month, or make them disappear altogether.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist
 

N1SQB

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I dont know!
Maybe I will stick with a Diamond discone for now. Sounds like this antenna could be a real hassle and may not be worth the effort inporting it after all. Dave( DPD1) makes a pretty good argument.

Manny
 

nycrich

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I agree that Dave at DPDproductions make good antennas also. I bought a mil log periodic from him. Great antenna, instructions well written, and great prices. Only because of some zoning issues at my condo and paranoid neigbors prevented me from setting it up outside. I tried using it inside my patio, but it is really designed to be used out in the open to capture the signals correctly/show gain, no fault of the antenna. Maybe in the future since most scanner monitors in the VHF aero & mil ranges have basic vertical gain antennas( and looking to upgrade/improve coverage) , Dave might look into designing something with more gain that is vertical for the vast majority of scanner monitors with zoning/limited space/apartment dwellers. From feedback at different groups (LiveATC, yahoo groups, mil comms groups,etc) there is monitors that is willing to pay more for more gain of a vertical. I understand there is limitation with design/size, but something with 5 Dbd (VHF Aero) & 6-8 Dbd (Mil 225-400mhz) would be a hot seller. There is antennas but commercial designs, costing big bucks because they are designed for high TX , FAA/Mil specs, but for the average monitor, we can skip those requirements.
 

dparana

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I ordered the D777 antenna as well as WSM-225 Airband magnetic Whip from Waters & Stanton back in August of last year. If I remember the total order was about £86.00 with the D777 being £49.95, the WSM-225 being £22.95, and freight £13.10, my credit card was charge $178.88. It took about 5 days to get my order from the UK and final delivery was by the US Postal Service.

I ordered this antenna based on some rave reviews from some European sites and, since I am pretty much in the middle of nowhere, I wanted an omni-directional antenna specifically for the Civ and Mil air bands. My D777 is mounted at about 28 feet above the ground and I have a Radio Shack Discone (less the whip), about 5 feet below it. They are both fed into my ICOM R2500 with the Discone feeding the ANT 1 and the D777 feeding ANT 2. Each antenna runs into an ICE Model 302N lightning arrestor with LMR400 then going to my scanner. The lightning arrestors are mounted on an ICE 318-2B Dual Arrestor Mounting Fixture mounted on top of a 5/8" grounding rod which is bonded to my house ground with a series of another 6 grounding rods. My observations are as follows:

VHF - Air: I feel that the Discone actually performs better than the D777. With the discone, I can receive two AWOS, weak but readable, from local airports. The D777 does not pick them up. It also does not pick them up when hooking the D777 into the ANT 1 connection on my R2500. For aircraft in my vicinity using the Cleveland Center Freqs, I can usually get 1 to 2 more bars of signal strength using the discone. Also, I can normally pick up two VHF RCAG frequencies with both the discone and D777, they come through slightly clearer with the discone. The results may surprise you as they did me.

UHF Air: Clearly outperforms the discone. I can pick up three and sometimes four RCAGs with the D777 and maybe 2 with the discone. I can also pick up activity at the Bollen range when the aircraft are at higher altitudes with the D777. It is not crystal clear but they are readable. However, these results are just slightly better than when I was using my Radio Shack 20-176 ground plane and cut the elements to about 300mhz.

In the end, I personally do not think the investment into the D777 was worth it. Your results and opinions will vary.
 
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DPD1

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nycrich said:
I agree that Dave at DPDproductions make good antennas also. I bought a mil log periodic from him. Great antenna, instructions well written, and great prices. Only because of some zoning issues at my condo and paranoid neigbors prevented me from setting it up outside. I tried using it inside my patio, but it is really designed to be used out in the open to capture the signals correctly/show gain, no fault of the antenna. Maybe in the future since most scanner monitors in the VHF aero & mil ranges have basic vertical gain antennas( and looking to upgrade/improve coverage) , Dave might look into designing something with more gain that is vertical for the vast majority of scanner monitors with zoning/limited space/apartment dwellers. From feedback at different groups (LiveATC, yahoo groups, mil comms groups,etc) there is monitors that is willing to pay more for more gain of a vertical. I understand there is limitation with design/size, but something with 5 Dbd (VHF Aero) & 6-8 Dbd (Mil 225-400mhz) would be a hot seller. There is antennas but commercial designs, costing big bucks because they are designed for high TX , FAA/Mil specs, but for the average monitor, we can skip those requirements.

Thanks Rich... Stacked UHF omni: doable. Stacked VHF omni: Not doable... The size would be tremendous. Even on the UHF you're looking at about 14', depending on how much dead space you want at the bottom for mounting.

I've said it until I'm blue, but LP's still get stuff in omni. I always try to preach that, because I think a lot of people assume you can't hear a single thing any other direction than the way they point. I know people prefer omni, but there's only so much you can do going vertical. The size gets out of hand real fast.

I guess the Diamond model got under my skin a little, because I would bet money that if I, or any small company, tried passing off a single vertical antenna tuned to 120.ish MHz as a 118-137 and 225-400 antenna, every 'expert' there is would come popping out of the woodwork to slap us down, saying that it's a terrible thing and nobody should buy it. I think the name is what helps some bigger companies.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist
 

prcguy

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So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
Many companies make stacked, full bandwidth, gain type VHF and UHF air band antennas, see Antenna Products: http://www.antennaproducts.com/dpvmain.htm for one.
I have their single stack VHF and UHF air band antennas and their dual VHF/UHF air band antenna with separate output connectors. These are not narrow band scanner antennas with bogus specs, there made for commercial/military/FAA use. The dual band unit cost almost $2,000 new but a bunch of them showed up on Ebay for $75 new in the box. My Holy Grail of UHF mil air antennas is a Chu & Associates 225-400MHz enclosed stacked 4-bay array that has almost 6dBd gain across the entire band. Its 11ft long and will soon get connected to a 225-400MHz pre-selector filter and an Angle Linear hi level preamp that will go in an outdoor enclosure at the base of the antenna. When completed, it should suck military jets right out of the sky....
prcguy

DPD1 said:
Thanks Rich... Stacked UHF omni: doable. Stacked VHF omni: Not doable... The size would be tremendous. Even on the UHF you're looking at about 14', depending on how much dead space you want at the bottom for mounting.

I've said it until I'm blue, but LP's still get stuff in omni. I always try to preach that, because I think a lot of people assume you can't hear a single thing any other direction than the way they point. I know people prefer omni, but there's only so much you can do going vertical. The size gets out of hand real fast.

I guess the Diamond model got under my skin a little, because I would bet money that if I, or any small company, tried passing off a single vertical antenna tuned to 120.ish MHz as a 118-137 and 225-400 antenna, every 'expert' there is would come popping out of the woodwork to slap us down, saying that it's a terrible thing and nobody should buy it. I think the name is what helps some bigger companies.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist
 

SteveinOz

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Perth, Western Australia
Looking at the specs of the D-777, the makers suggest it's 5/8 wave at 120Mhz and 2x 5/8 wave at 300Mhz.

By my calculations it should read 1/2 wave at 120 Mhz which is the same as 2x 5/8 wave at 300Mhz.
 

clayton4115

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Sep 19, 2008
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hi lino

may i ask how much you paid for the Diamond-777 antenna and where did you pick yours from?

i am in Brisbane

thanks.
 
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