how's the Radio Shack discone antenna?

[KG7JEV]

I am thinking about buying the Radio Shack discone scanner/ham antenna radio shack part #20-043. I am looking for a decent quality antenna that works with all bands. Let me know if you have any experiences with it. Thanks, Eric.

 

[Highlander_821]

I had one, it worked well unitl it was actually mounted outside. Within a year, it had shed about 1/3 of the elements. It would break an element if you looked at it funny.

If you can get it cheap (like under 20 bucks) and want to use it as an INDOOR antenna, it might be worth it.

I replaced mine with a Diamond discone, a much more resilient antenna. It has been up 2 years now,and it has been exposed to high winds and ice a few times, no problem.

 

[KG7JEV]

Where can I find more info on the Diamond discone?

 

[usnasa]

do you like the diamond better because its stronger or can you get a better transmissions from it i also have the discone from radio shack and the poles were breaking off too i know what u mean do u get things with the new antenna that u couldnt before let me know please ?and where did you get it from ? thanks

 

[DewAddict]

Try the "Scantenna" It is great and covers all bands pretty well. Its pretty durable and you can even mod it to be stronger using a fiberglass pole. Not what you asked about, but another idea if you are looking for an all band antenna.

http://www.antennawarehouse.com/Scanner/Scantenna.htm

Just FYI

Rob

 

[crayon]

My discone from RS fell apart too.

 

[squirrel]

Would this antenna work good placed in a attic? I would like to get one outside but that is not a option as of now. Would I still get better reception even though it is indoors?

 

[1075]

Would this antenna work good placed in a attic? I would like to get one outside but that is not a option as of now. Would I still get better reception even though it is indoors?

I am looking at an attic mount as well, wondering how much that cuts down on performance. I have good elevation, my house sits on top of a hill.

 

[joetnymedic]

believe it or not the cheaper radio shack discone for like $29.95 works better. I think the model is 20-176. I have one but, I gotta tell ya that scantenna looks REAL good. The other thing is mine works better outside even with the crap rg-58 which I am replacing over the next few weeks with RG-6 as I can't find the darn RG-8 I had laying in my attic.

 

[DewAddict]

I own the 20-176 RS antenna also and honestly I couldn't be happier with it. I also use it for transmit on 144mhz and it works great!! I can hear signals from all over. The only issue is that its not that sturdy. I have already bent my radials just from sitting it down the wrong way so i don't think it would fair well up on a mast for very long. It worth the $25.99 for sure if using it indoors in my opinion.

As far as loss in the attic, I know many a hams who have all of their antennas mounted in the attic and love it. No mess outside and they work great for them. I don't know the specifics as far as loss so I can't help you there.

Rob

 

[jeffrey420]

I had one, it worked well unitl it was actually mounted outside. Within a year, it had shed about 1/3 of the elements. It would break an element if you looked at it funny.

If you can get it cheap (like under 20 bucks) and want to use it as an INDOOR antenna, it might be worth it.

I replaced mine with a Diamond discone, a much more resilient antenna. It has been up 2 years now,and it has been exposed to high winds and ice a few times, no problem.

I recently bought a RS discone. I had one many years ago, but when I moved to a new house the longer radials disappeared. To make a long story shorter. I noticed on the new version of the RS discone the radials were hollow. On my older one they were solid, and they where on the roof for many years with no problems.

I wonder if the using the hollow radials was a cost saving change, or a try at improving reception?

 

[Rayjk110]

I have the "$49.99" version outside, and actually it's survived 2 winters with hella wind and ice and all radials are present, actually. Resonant as hell, great RX'r.

I have also had 3 of the "$19.99" versions, and it works great as well, especially for the price. I replaced one of my Pro-2051's with a VHF Maxtrac and just connected it to that antenna in the atic for ISPERN and local fire tone-outs. Worked quite well, really.

 

[blueangel-eric]

i have Radio Shack discone i'll sell for $25. I got it back in 2003. I paid $49 or $59 for it. used it off and on. i don't like the quality or performance. The plastic insulator broke on 1st assembly and a ham friend expoxied it and the insulator is solid now. It's the newest style.

I have a scanntenna and love it. mounted where the discone was i now receive more. The discone was better at VHF hi band at the old house and uhf wasn't. BUt here it's the opposite.

 

[screxer]

I have the Radio Shack Discone and it worked pretty good....however, the 20-176 Radio Shack model at about half the price was much better for me. Improved weaker signals and helped across all bands for me when using it on m Pro-96. However, that being said, the Antennacraft ST-2 for about $40 (basically a Scantenna) and the Radio Shack antennas pale in comparison.....the ST-2 is much more sturdy in terms of construction and easily picks up frequencies that I couldn't pick up on either Radio Shack (including some frequencies in excess of 50 miles without a problem....could be due to some skip, but never had that happen with the Radio Shack antennas)

 

[KG7JEV]

I think I'm going to try the "Scantenna." Does the "scantenna" come with "boom" (not sure what to call it) that connects the antenna to the mast? I'm new at this, if you havent figured that out. I really appreciate all your advice. Also, what kind of coax should I use?

 

[screxer]

Yes, it comes with everything you need....and if you get the ST-2, it comes with RG-6 already (not sure if the Scantenna does).

 

[kf4lne]

For those of you who have problems with the RS antenna falling apart, once it finally falls apart you can use the existing central peices to build a very nice discone using rod stock from Lowes or Home Depot. Thats what i did, costs maybe another $20 to rebuild it using the aluminum rod from Home Depot. the RS antenna is a decent discone, but it doesent survive well out side, especially in areas where the weather can get extreme. mine fell completely apart during an ice storm a few years ago, thats when i rebuilt it using solid rod stock and coated the threaded ends with Lock Tite to hold them in place. I also replaced the Lo-band whip with a longer one from an old CB antenna. the included one is great for 52MHz but was lacking at the 37and 42MHz simplex signals i was after.

 

[steve2004]

Would this antenna work good placed in a attic? I would like to get one outside but that is not a option as of now. Would I still get better reception even though it is indoors?

I bought the MFJ-1866 it is installed in my attic (I had to trim it and remove the top vertical part. it is mounted on a satellite post. (like the one that comes with Dishnetwork to hold the dish.) at 38' in my attic it woks great but I noticed it lack very badly in the 800 - 900Mhz range. Oh well! no single antena can do it all anyway.

I wish I could have a picture to show you the way it is installed.
the X2 clip that cames with the antenna and attached to the top part of the dish mount.
and I did not have to sacrifice any vertical or horizontal whip.

 

[wa8pyr]

Would this antenna work good placed in a attic? I would like to get one outside but that is not a option as of now. Would I still get better reception even though it is indoors?

I use a Diamond D130J discone in the attic, connected to the radio with about 20-25 feet of RG6. Works quite nicely; I'm able to pick up military aircraft in the Buckeye/Brushcreek MOA which is about 40-50 miles southwest of me.

Obviously it would perform better outside, but since I'm not allowed to have outdoor antennae it's quite acceptable as is.

Tom WA8PYR

 

[xusmarine1979]

I know this is a late response. I had this antenna a couple of years ago, actually I think I sold it to someone from this site. Anyways... my antenna did great on VHF but that was pretty much it. I think my location had a lot to do with it though.