Discone antenna repair ideas?

[jassing]

I had teh radio shack discone antenna which worked well; but during a recent storm, we had higher than normal winds and... all (8) of the long rods broke off and 4 of the shorts broke.
I tried using solder to get them back up but it didn't last the 1st cold night and a bump made them slip apart.

I *finally* got thru to someone at a local radio shack that was at least willing to look up the part numbers... ready ? $8.69 for 1 of the long rods. That would be more than I spent on the antenna itself. And they didn't carry one ("Who uses scanners anymore, it's all encrypted anyway") so I left a bit annoyed.

I have a nice whip type on my truck; works but not as well as the discone, especially at our new location. While unpacking I found a "motorola signal booster" (likely purchased to see if we could improve on the over-the-air digitial tv). The unit was never opened. Says it will boost 52-1000mhz -- close to full range coverage; work trying it along with the truck antenna as a base? Will the "out of boost range" signals (ie: 1200mhz) be passed thru w/o boost, or lost?

Here's a link to the booster: Amazon.com: Motorola Signal Booster 484095-001-00 Bi-Directional RF Amplifier (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Electronics

I thought about getting some all-thread as a replacement, but they are $5/piece so not exactly 'cheap' fix.

Anyone have any other repair ideas?
Has anyone tried/used ST4 Antennacraft?

 

[eaf1956]

I had teh radio shack discone antenna which worked well; but during a recent storm, we had higher than normal winds and... all (8) of the long rods broke off and 4 of the shorts broke.
I tried using solder to get them back up but it didn't last the 1st cold night and a bump made them slip apart.

I *finally* got thru to someone at a local radio shack that was at least willing to look up the part numbers... ready ? $8.69 for 1 of the long rods. That would be more than I spent on the antenna itself. And they didn't carry one ("Who uses scanners anymore, it's all encrypted anyway") so I left a bit annoyed.

I have a nice whip type on my truck; works but not as well as the discone, especially at our new location. While unpacking I found a "motorola signal booster" (likely purchased to see if we could improve on the over-the-air digitial tv). The unit was never opened. Says it will boost 52-1000mhz -- close to full range coverage; work trying it along with the truck antenna as a base? Will the "out of boost range" signals (ie: 1200mhz) be passed thru w/o boost, or lost?

Here's a link to the booster: Amazon.com: Motorola Signal Booster 484095-001-00 Bi-Directional RF Amplifier (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Electronics

I thought about getting some all-thread as a replacement, but they are $5/piece so not exactly 'cheap' fix.

Anyone have any other repair ideas?
Has anyone tried/used ST4 Antennacraft?

There are other places to get DISCONE antennas which are better construction than the hollow tubed RS type. Diamond I believe makes one try looking on scanner master.

I had a radio shack discone (gave it away) tried a better quality discone but I never really liked any of them.

 

[prcguy]

I got fed up with the cheap crimp on threaded sections on one of my RS Discones and replaced all elements with 3/16" aluminum rod. I bought the rods in about 10ft sections for less than $3 a rod. I threaded the rods with a 10-32 or maybe 10-24, I forget, then threaded the existing holes in the hub to match. Works great and its been up for about 10yrs now.
prcguy

 

[KZ9G]

3/16 brazing rod works well also.

 

[wtp]

somewhere

around here on rr a guy has the rs discone with just 6 of the top radials and he is still using it !

 

[n5ims]

Do yourself a favor and get a better made discone. Those hollow rods with the crimped on ends is not a good design. Several folks have discones with solid rods that won't break off when a fly buzzes by and if you look around, many are sold for much less than the RS version (several years ago I got a T-601 new at a hamfest for just over $30, tax included). Links to some are below (note some have the top whip specifically for the VHF-Low band like the RS model while others don't so verify this if VHF-Low coverage is important to you).

Discone Antenna, Scanner Antenna
MFJ Enterprises Inc.
MFJ Enterprises Inc.
D130NJ Diamond Super Discone Antenna

Until an ice storm finally finished off my old RS discone, I kept it up and used it although it only had 1 long rod and 2 of the short ones remaining on it. The rest of the rods and the VHF-Low whip had long since dropped off. It still worked fine for the many strong signals here so I figured I'd keep it around.

 

[SCPD]

I have a R/S/Discone that was used very little. I will sell to you cheap $20.00 plus shipping.(Not Canada).
All the rods are pretty good.I also have extra nuts.Contact me if you wish.(edingirard@royell.org.
I am reputable and a well known member of C.A.R.M.A.