Diamond or NilJon or RS 20-043?

[dparana]

Considering the purchase of a new antenna for my PRO-2055. Considering the Diamond Discone D130J, the NilJon Super M Base, and the Radio Shack 20-043 Discone. I would like to eventually mount the antenna on a mast at around 40 feet. Wind, particularly in Winter, is probably my greatest enemy. In Winter, my house seems to be in the Gulag with snow and winds nearly a constant 10 to 15 MPH and occasional gusts that can get up to 35 to 40 MPH. I primarily listen to MilAir on the 138-144 and 225-400 ranges. Occasionally I listen to: 33-47 Local Fire, 119-136 Civil Air, 152-156 Local Fire/Police, 462-464 Local EMS.

Currently, there is not much in the 800mHZ realm in my neck of the woods.

There are some hills in my area, but it is not as though I live in a valley. My elevation is at about 1,970, there is a hilltop at about 2,100 feet approximately 1 mile away from me.

Any opinions or other recommendations? I currently use the Radio Shack 20-176 mounted in the attic. It seems to do ok, but I can only imagine what I am missing.

Dave

 

[N2OXV]

I would reccomend none of the above. I have been investigating discones for a commercial site I take care of, this is what I have found:

http://www.interadlimited.com/products.html

I was looking at the models 5002 - 5009 discone antennas. These look like they would withstand your weather on your hill. I have used discones built by Diamond and Radio Shack, and eventually they fall apart. I am not impressed with the preformance of the other antenna designs you listed. Hope this helps.

N2OXV

 

[Hoofy]

Take a look at this post: Opinions on Comet GP-6 series vertical antenna

 

[dparana]

Well the Interad discones certainly look amazing. The 5002 comes in at an impressive 15 Lbs!
I e-mailed the rep for my area to see how much these puppies cost. If they are twice as much as the Diamond or NilJon that's one thing, if they are 5 times the price, that's a whole different ball game. Thanks for directing me to their website. The Comet certainly sounds like it covers me Freqency wise, I'll have to look into it more.

Thanks for the replies,
Dave

 

[eorange]

I've been using the Diamong D130-J for 4 to 5 years now. It's mounted about 25-30 feet on a vent pipe on my roof. Actually, I have PVC pipe strapped to the vent pipe, and the D130-J mounted to the PVC. It has never moved an inch, and believe me, we get some fierce lake effect snow and winds off Lake Erie up here.

I think it's a great performer. I listen to the usual 400 MHz public safety and occasionally use it for 2m/440 transmit. My biggest interest is mil air monitoring, and it works very well with my BC780. I've heard Selfridge ANG, Buckeye MOA, much VHF mil air traffic, and of course aerial refueling. Just the other week I heard an AR operation discussing a destination of "Harrisburg//Lancaster/Phillipsburg", which is Eastern PA. I have no idea where they were in the track, but you get the idea. Judging by the amount of mil air traffic I hear, I have to say it does very well.

Hope this helps.

 

[K8PBX]

I have a Diamond D130J discone and two Niljon Super-M base antennas. I've owned the D130J for over 20 years. It has perfomed well and held up to many severe Michigan winters - including ice storms. The D130J is built pretty tough, with mostly stainless steel construction. The Niljon's are a bit flimsy, but have held up well too, for about 3 years now.

Performance wise - in my opinion, they're both about equal for VHF/UHF reception. I use one of my Niljon Super-M's on a BC796D and it does a great job, even for distant 800MHz digital reception. I have the D130J up at about 40' and the Niljon's at 35'.

 

[Highlander_821]

Ever notice how the Niljon base looks like an upside-down discone?

 

[MB]

I checked out your website, cool setup! How does the Niljon compare to the Diamond in the VHF-hi band.

I have a Diamond D130J discone and two Niljon Super-M base antennas. I've owned the D130J for over 20 years. It has perfomed well and held up to many severe Michigan winters - including ice storms. The D130J is built pretty tough, with mostly stainless steel construction. The Niljon's are a bit flimsy, but have held up well too, for about 3 years now.

Performance wise - in my opinion, they're both about equal for VHF/UHF reception. I use one of my Niljon Super-M's on a BC796D and it does a great job, even for distant 800MHz digital reception. I have the D130J up at about 40' and the Niljon's at 35'.

 

[K8PBX]

I checked out your website, cool setup! How does the Niljon compare to the Diamond in the VHF-hi band.

In my opinion, they're about equal on VHF-hi.