Diamond D103 120/300Mhz 2.15/5.5dBi Air band Receiving Antenna

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Silent Key
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Does anyone use or is familiar with the Diamond D103 120/300Mhz 2.15/5.5dBi Air band Receiving Antenna? Not to be confused with Diamond's D-130 discone antenna, the D-103 is a vertical mobile antenna for the VHF commercial/civilian and military aircraft bands. They're pretty scarce as I've only been able to find one Ebay seller that has one, and they are located in Taipei Taiwan. It's also expensive priced at $92.95+ $14.99 shipping. Below is the best picture I could find. It's two pieces, there is a top element that inserts into the top of the loading coil on the left. It's about 51" tall. It has a PL-249 connector at the bottom. I'd be interested in any comments both pro and con. I'm surprised by the limited choices available for this type of antenna. I'm certain professionals as well as hobbyist would provide a good market for dual band aircraft antennas.

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Silent Key
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prcguy

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The Diamond 103 would be a narrow band antenna tuned around 120MHz and 300MHz. I would not expect it to work any better than a random scanner antenna at say 135Mhz or 230Mhz or 370MHz or anywhere well outside of its sweet spot. I have a Maldol VHF/UHF air band antenna for hand helds with a similar problem, its great within its narrow frequency range then it goes downhill fast away from center.

On the other hand, there are plenty of dual band VHF/UHF air military antennas that show up surplus and for reasonable prices. Only problem there is they are big and bulky, which is required if you actually want consistent performance across all those frequencies.
 

devicelab

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I agree the D-103 seems expensive if not over priced. The Antenex you reference is not a dual band. I'm interested in one antenna for both VHF/UHF aircraft.

As prcguy said you don't need a specific antenna. Just buy the 1/4 whip I posted and use that for your Rx antenna. Then what you really need are specific bandpass filters for the range you're interested in...

Or if you want an antenna with slightly more gain then go with the 4.5 ft whip model: B1323 - Antenex VHF 5/8 Wave Broadband Antenna (132-174MHz, 3dB Gain, 55" Tapered Whip)

FYI, DPD also makes a mobile aviation antenna that's 1/4 wave but he can probably custom make a 5/8 wave whip for the aviation band too (for maximum gain.)

PAR makes (2) filters for both bands you're interested in...

Scanner Bandpass Filters | PAR Electronics | Filters for the commercial 2 way market, MATV, FM broadcast, laboratory, marine industry, amateur radio, scanner and short wave listening enthusiasts

If you want a static setup then use (2) cheap antenna switches to switch between the bands into one antenna & one receiver. Or just use two pieces of coax and do it manually. (The more expensive option would be to buy a passive Stridsberg combiner and then just one switch.)
 
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