Thinking about upgrading to a discone

[firefighterbiddle]

Hello i'm thinking about upgrading to Dimond Discone, or the Radio Shack Brand one. Are these good for the VHF-hi band, and 800Mhz band. Any help would be great.
Thanks
Scott B

 

[mastr]

Here is a good thread on discones....

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18761

W

 

[Al42]

A very long thread, but the bottom line is still that a discone has loss over a dipole (Scantenna) or ground plane (like the Radio Shack 20-176) designed to cover the same frequencies. The only advantage with a discone is that it covers a frequency range of designed frequency to 3 (or 4, depending on how lenient you want to be) times that frequency, continuously, while a ground plane or dipole only covers specific bands within its design range.