New Antenna Coming Soon based on Old Favorite.

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wowologist

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this thing must look like a 10.1 on the Richter scale on a VNA....the sum of elements, the 300/75 transformer....hmm...ya I don't get it.
 

digitalanalog

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I'll pass... Thanks for the offer!
Pass on what? and what offer? I was just making the point about the 20" mast and why it will remain that length.


Who, or what company, actually owns the patent the builder licensed it from? It is Tandy or did Tandy license it from whomever when they sold it under the Antennacraft name? It is an interesting antenna. I have two of the ST2 model.
The original was antennacraft and then Radio shack bought the antenna, and since then it has been out of production. this antenna is a home made antenna and as it is similar in design it is not a duplicate and so I don't see why licensing it would even come into play. As it is Not a Duplicate so the only rights would belong to the person/persons that built it. Will they license this antenna? who know's.

I will be inline for one if not 2. Do we have a hint on the price yet?
No price has been determined at this point.
 
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N9JIG

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It is my understanding that AntennaCraft was a wholly owned subsidiary of RadioShack at the end, I do not know if RadioShack started the company or bought it after the fact. They made several scanner antennas:
  • ST-2 as discussed here sold by RadioShack as the 20-044
  • ST-3 was sold by RadioShack as the 20-176. This was basically a VHF-Hi quarter-wave with UHF and 800 spikes protruding from the core.
  • ST-4 Discone also was sold by RadioShack as the 20-043). It is pretty similar in design to the Diamond D-130 but made of cheaper material.
I never saw or heard of an "ST-1" antenna however.

The also made the RadioShack TV antennas. I don't know if they made any of the mobile, portable or desktop antennas but I don't think they did. I think they also private-labeled the TV antennas for other companies and sold both TV and scanner antennas themselves or thru other retailers. The TV antenna line was the main products of the company, the scanner antennas were pretty much a side business. About the same time as RadioShack was imploding the market for TV antennas started to tank due to cable and dish competition so they may not have lasted much longer anyway even if RadioShack remained viable.

It was common back in the day to see ST-x antennas in hardware stores and other retailers that sold scanners. I even saw them occasionally alongside RadioShack branded versions of the same antennas in RadioShack Dealers (independent stores that sold RS products, usually hardware stores in small towns).

The AntennaCraft factory was in Burlington IA and closed around the same time RadioShack went out of business. The building was sold to another company but from what I have read no one really knows what happened to the intellectual property and designs.

I don't know if the designs themselves were copyrighted (I would think they were) but even if they were who, if anyone, owns them now? Is it possible that AntennaCraft licensed them from someone else?

I have 4 ST-2's, 3 in the attic and one in the garage. I also have 4 ST-3's in the attic and an ST-4. They all work well but the ST-2 is pretty fragile and it is not uncommon to see them missing pieces when mounted outside.
 

dispatch235

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There was a ST-1 antenna that looked similar to an off center fed dipole with two uhf elements on the boom also. They were pretty popular in this area at one time and some old PD's and Fire Depts still have some mounted on the side of the towers for their scanners

80401
 

Firekite

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Does this have the same balun and 75-ohm F connector as the old ST2? And if so, what, you just hook up some RG-6 with a BNC and you're good to go?

The improper use of an apostrophe did it for me.
That absolutely bothered me, too!
 

trp2525

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Does this have the same balun and 75-ohm F connector as the old ST2?...

If you look at the attached "copyrightimage6" in post number 1 of this thread, you will see the black 300-to-75-ohm balun matching transformer attached to the antenna (at the far right side of the picture) with an exposed female F connector to connect your coax to.
 

Firekite

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If you look at the attached "copyrightimage6" in post number 1 of this thread, you will see the black 300-to-75-ohm balun matching transformer attached to the antenna (at the far right side of the picture) with an exposed female F connector to connect your coax to.
Yeah, I’ve never seen the predecessor before, but I’m assuming you’re talking about this, right? If so, I’d like to think maybe there a sturdier version for production, but my newbie question is what you’re supposed to do with that. Can you just throw a BNC or UHF connector on the other end of some RG6 and call it a day?

80507
 

JoshuaHufford

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Yeah, I’ve never seen the predecessor before, but I’m assuming you’re talking about this, right? If so, I’d like to think maybe there a sturdier version for production, but my newbie question is what you’re supposed to do with that. Can you just throw a BNC or UHF connector on the other end of some RG6 and call it a day?

View attachment 80507


How would you properly waterproof that connection?
 
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trp2525

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Yeah, I’ve never seen the predecessor before, but I’m assuming you’re talking about this, right? If so, I’d like to think maybe there a sturdier version for production, but my newbie question is what you’re supposed to do with that. Can you just throw a BNC or UHF connector on the other end of some RG6 and call it a day?

View attachment 80507
At the antenna end of your coax (RG6 for example) you need to have an F male connector attached to the end of the coax and that screws into the F female on the balun transformer shown in the picture. At the scanner end of the coax you can also install an F male connector and then use an F female to BNC male adapter to attach to your scanner (assuming your scanner has a BNC connector). There are also BNC male compression connectors that will go directly on the end of RG6 coax and that will eliminate the need for the F-to-BNC adapter at the scanner end.

FYI the original Antennacraft ST2 antenna (and its Radio Shack 20-044 twin) came with 50 feet of RG6 coax with F male connectors attached on both ends and an F-to-BNC adapter. It has not yet been posted in this thread if this new antenna will also include those items with your purchase.
 
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