Scanntenna Four ( ST4 )

[BLAH]

Hey, I have heard alot about the ST2 and the "New" verison of the ST2 in the forums, I bought one about 1 1/2 years ago, It got tarnished (lost its shine) and fell apart... I did like it however, I think it worked "OK"

I was going to order the new and improved one, but I got the "[FONT=verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]Antennacraft ST4 Outdoor Scanner/Ham Discone Antenna (ST4)" from Solidsignal.com[/FONT]

I have had good luck with a discone here in the LA area before so I thought I would try this guy,
Does anyone here have this?
Did I make a big mistake?
only time will tell i guess.. I did a search and did not find anything on the ST4 here in the forums. any thoughts on this antenna?

It should be here tomorrow! FYI my transaction with Solidsignal.com was great! fast shipping and great prices..


TIA, Mr. Blah

 

[KC1UA]

The biggest issue I see with this antenna, and with many discones, is the PL-259 connector, which will be lossy at UHF and above. Ideally if you're going to use a discone it should have an N connector. the Diamond DJ-130N is one such example. It's quite a bit more expensive, but it is a top quality discone antenna.

 

[BLAH]

Thanks for the info!!

I got a 25' run of RG-8U 13 awg , I was going to use this, do you think this will help??
I could cut it at 15 feet and solder on a 5' piece of wire with built in BNC on the end??

Tks Blah

 

[andy404ns]

Thanks for the info!!

I got a 25' run of RG-8U 13 awg , I was going to use this, do you think this will help??
I could cut it at 15 feet and solder on a 5' piece of wire with built in BNC on the end??

Tks Blah

The extra 10 feet will make no noticable difference so I wouldn't waste the time cutting it. What band are you going to be listening to primarily? If it's up in the 800MHz range you might consider a better cable but at 25 feet you might not even notice much difference with that either.

 

[BLAH]

The extra 10 feet will make no noticable difference so I wouldn't waste the time cutting it. What band are you going to be listening to primarily? If it's up in the 800MHz range you might consider a better cable but at 25 feet you might not even notice much difference with that either.

Thanks for the reply! I am mainly going to be listening to the 450-490Mhz and maybe a little 150Mhz range.. O and some AM 230-380Mhz (I know it prob wont work well for am of hf) A HF antenna is my next future project..

I could just get another cable? what would you guys recomend??


Thanks!
Blah:lol:

Icom R20
Pro 2006
BCD396T
Old Sony-WaveHawk
Icom Ic-v8
M-Astro Saber 3000xlt that (Now has Fail 02/90 error .....)

 

[andy404ns]

Thanks for the reply! I am mainly going to be listening to the 450-490Mhz and maybe a little 150Mhz range.. O and some AM 230-380Mhz (I know it prob wont work well for am of hf) A HF antenna is my next future project..

I could just get another cable? what would you guys recomend??


Thanks!
Blah:lol:

Icom R20
Pro 2006
BCD396T
Old Sony-WaveHawk
Icom Ic-v8
M-Astro Saber 3000xlt that (Now has Fail 02/90 error .....)

For that band and the length you need (25ft) I wouldnt waste the money buying a new cable. But, if you want to, just go ahead and splurge on the LMR-400 cable.

 

[af5rn]

I agree that the cable is negligible at 25 feet. Don't worry about it. You won't notice a difference. I'm interested in how this antenna works for you. As bad as discones get berated here, some of them offer impressive performance. It'd be nice to hear how it compares side by side with the ST2.

 

[webstar22]

I would like to know as well how the ST2 vs ST4 goes. I have a 5 year old ST2 and it may be time for a upgrade.

 

[digitalanalog]

While some discone's may perform better then others, They are two broadbanded.

You should consider going with a beam (yagi) type antenna that is more specific to the band(s) your trying to pull in.

as mentioned many times above, at that short of a run, cable choice is nill, but you should alway's use the best cable you can regaurdless of the length

 

[BLAH]

I would like to know as well how the ST2 vs ST4 goes. I have a 5 year old ST2 and it may be time for a upgrade.

Stay Tuned! I will let you know how it works just as soon as I get it up, (<- lol some could make a joke of that)..
I am workking on a home made yagi 470Mhz antenna, I will also put it up vs. my ST2 (old ver) and I will let you know!
And if you want to wait till June 1 or so I am going to order the NEW ST2 and we will see
with that too..


Thanks for all the advise and info guys!!!

 

[BLAH]

The biggest issue I see with this antenna, and with many discones, is the PL-259 connector, which will be lossy at UHF and above. Ideally if you're going to use a discone it should have an N connector. the Diamond DJ-130N is one such example. It's quite a bit more expensive, but it is a top quality discone antenna.

Hey I am not saying your wrong or anything, Just for my info and because I want to learn more, I was wondering,,, How or Why a connector ( pl-259 , N , Etc. ) would make that big / if any differance ?
And if this is a big deal, why do they even out pl-259 conn. on things besides old CB's

Does anyone have any info on the loss that you get with different connectors??

Thanks, Blah

 

[Jakemcgraw]

Hey I am not saying your wrong or anything, Just for my info and because I want to learn more, I was wondering,,, How or Why a connector ( pl-259 , N , Etc. ) would make that big / if any differance ?
And if this is a big deal, why do they even out pl-259 conn. on things besides old CB's

Does anyone have any info on the loss that you get with different connectors??

Thanks, Blah

A good place to start is: www.amphenol.com ....You can find alot of info, and the History on most all popular connectors, the benifits, the drawbacks, ect... I personally am very fond of the "N" Type connector, it does handle higher mhz freq's better, and it it waterproof where as the PL-259 is not.

 

[BLAH]

Update,, Sorry it took me so long to get back to you guys.
I have the Scanntenna four up 15' above my house (and I am on a hill aprox. 214' above sea lev.) , So far it works ( OK ), It seems to pull in too much noise ! I hear that very annoying static "pager" like sound I am sure allot of you have heard before, If you too live in a large city like Los Angles,,
I have a fast food place down the hill and about 1 1/4 miles away and I cannot hear it well or at all, nor can I hear the PD here when they are on low power "car 2 car".. And I can hear them both in my driveway with my $10 (THREW THE GLASS) can antenna I bought on e-bay.
Plus If I dont want that "page" sound or other noise I have to use the ATT

I have not put the ST2 back up yet, as I think I should just get a new one (unless anyone could rec. something else)

I am still planing on making 2 home brewed yagi antenna for the 470 and 700 range

All in all I know I need to try some diff things, but for now I give it a 4or5 out of 10

I will keep ya posted!
Thanks
Blah

 

[af5rn]

I wouldn't give up. Sounds like you somehow screwed something up. Broke or shorted out the coax. Screwed up one of the connectors. Stressed the transformer or it's connexion maybe? It doesn't sound like it's the antenna.

 

[BLAH]

Hummm. Do I have to, or should I ground this ? or is that just for HF ?

TIA , Blah

 

[andrewccm]

Sounds to me like its overmodulated if you're having to use ATT to stop it. Just a guess...