I nearly Cra**ed my pants when I saw the price for this antenna!

[a727469]

Alot of folks get surprised when they see the cost of quality commercial antennas. Thats the reason so many use ebay home built antennas and other junk from jungle site. In the end you get what you pay for. I have antenna's on towers that I installed 25+ years ago and are still going strong. They are sweapt yearly during PM checks and just work.

A few serious questions. Except for extreme commercial applications, does anyone think a $10000 antenna makes any sense to an average person even if one could afford it?
Forgetting the construction, would the actual reception or transmission be 100 times better than a $100+++antenna assuming the same location and height?… the law of physics and limitations prevail no matter how much you spend. I would rather replace a $100-200 antenna every few years. I’ll take the double discones!

 

[prcguy]

Indeed. They may even purchase and deploy the double discone unicorn.

View attachment 167327

Oh gawd, did somebody buy that from Lindsay?

 

[mmckenna]

A few serious questions. Except for extreme commercial applications, does anyone think a $10000 antenna makes any sense to an average person even if one could afford it?

I don't believe so, but some people choose to spend their disposable income on hobbies, and get pretty serious about it.

I've got a Diamond discone at home that I scored for free. Been up for 10-15 years now, no issues. I would not spend $3K on a discone for my house. At the work radio site, it's absolutely the right choice.

Forgetting the construction, would the actual reception or transmission be 100 times better than a $100+++antenna assuming the same location and height?… the law of physics and limitations prevail no matter how much you spend. I would rather replace a $100-200 antenna every few years. I’ll take the double discones!

No, if things are designed correctly, there's little to no difference. For a hobby/home install, no reason to spend that much money on an antenna. In my mind, that would be absolutely silly and a waste of money.

 

[AB5ID]

Does stacking discones actually lower the takeoff angle?

 

[vagrant]

Oh gawd, did somebody buy that from Lindsay?

Naw, that’s his photo after deployment, or perhaps temporary position for a photo and testing. I still think it needs bicycle handlebar streamers…if you deploy it in the back of your truck.

 

[nd5y]

Does stacking discones actually lower the takeoff angle?

When you use multiple antennas the stacking or spacing distance and the length and impedance of the feedlines depends on the design frequency. You could stack discones but it would improve the radiation angle probably only at one frequency.

The same is true for LPDAs except I have seen arrays of two LPDAs with the booms in a A shape so the distance between the active elements changes with the operating frequency.

If it was a good idea you would see stacked discone installation and articles in ham publications on how to do it.

 

[BinaryMode]

For that kind of money I'd expect it to be made of titanium and maybe gold...

Seriously, I'd rather use the welder and build my own and save a ton.

 

[Omega-TI]

Considering the OP I'm really disappointed in the quality of the image.

Noted, I'll do better next time.