Antennas for getting started with sdr sdrplay community. Figure 2 return loss of aor da3000 discone antenna. Normally a discone or a scantenna is suggested as the wideband antenna of choice, however there are alternative designs such as the dressler ara2000 which is a type of log spiral antenna. The discone object creates a discone antenna that consists of a circular disc. The discone antenna is on a pipe which is just above the roof line of my house and works very well. The main advantage of a discone is that it is very broad banded, perhaps as much as a decade. Rustfree stainless steel is employed in major component parts making the antenna rust resistant and durable. Change the parameters of the antenna to the below given values at the matlab command line and save the. Figure 3 return loss of radioshack 20043 discone antenna. Mfj discone monitor antennas not only allow scanner enthusiasts the opportunity to listen from 25 through 1,300mhz, but they also let hams transmit up to 200 watts on 50 through 1,300mhz, depending on the model. You may expect a low swr across their entire range find mfj discone monitor antennas mfj1866 and. Posted in radio hacks tagged discone, softwaredefined radio hackaday links. I am just questioning the benefit of grounding as the discone.
As an application, a radial discone for operation from. I noticed that there are discone antennas which cover from 50 mhz 1. Diamond antennas are sold through authorized dealers. This document shall not be reprinted in part or in whole for any commercial enterprise. In this paper, biconical antenna design and testing sequence is proposed. A discone antenna is an omnidirectional vertically polarized antenna. A discone is a good general antenna for the rtlsdr as they are extremely wideband, and can be expected to be useful over almost the entire frequency range that is tuneable by the the rtlsdr. Sarris the wide band of frequencies that includes all those allocated to 2g3g applications was defined as 2g3g band and the discone antenna with a structure of radial wires was defined as radial discone. The radios are combined via 3 diamond mobile duplexerstriplexers onto a single coaxial cable feeding the discone antenna. It will be effective but not as good as a simple dipole. I was wondering if it is possible to make a much larger discone that will be able to cover most if not all the hf band and not require tuning like the one for vhfuhf.
So to improve the situation and spend as little as possible i decided to make a discone antenna. How much better would a qfh cut for the specific frequency perform than my current discone. Discone antenna 250 mhz compact design allows flexibility when choosing an installation site low wind resistance and lightweight allows higher mast mounting resonator and tunable whip for best 50 mhz performance easy assembly and connection uses rugged stainless steel hardware, radiator rods. The proposed antenna is designed in electromagnetic simulation software cst studio suite. Eznec antenna analysis nec2 based antenna analysis software for the amateur. They can be used on hf bands but its not very practical due to physical size.
The basic rf discone antenna or scanner antenna design consists of three main components. Since tinkersoc designed their antenna for 110 mhz, it ended up being pretty large. Asap a free general purpose antenna analysis useroriented software program for numerical electromagnetic antenna design, antenna modeling and antenna analysis. Normally a discone or a scantenna is suggested as the wideband antenna of choice, however there are alternative designs such as the dressler ara2000 which is a type of log spiral antenna that can receive from 50 2000 mhz. Online calculator dimensions of a discone antenna changpuak. This antenna beams into three quadrants without the use of a rotator. Until then design the antenna for a 1% lower frequency and inform me of the results. Oct 01, 2012 a discone has no gain at best and maybe a slightly negative gain. The result is that the exterior shield of the coax acts as part of the antenna. As the rtlsdr and other sdrs are wideband, we recommend that people use a wideband antenna if they want to scan over all the frequencies. These antennas are omnidirectional, and usually have a very large bandwidth range. Common mode currents can be suppressed by installing a choking balun on the coax as it exits the discone. When employed as a transmitting antenna, it is often less efficient than an antenna designed for a more limited frequency range. Professor, department of ece, k l university 2student, b.
Another page on a home made discone also designed for a minimum of mhz is here with some brief instructions links to design calculators. Janfeb 2007 39 figure 7 wire table of an eznec discone model. Rustfree stainless steel is employed in major component parts making the antennas rust resistant and very durable find diamond antenna dj super discone antennas dj and get free standard shipping on orders. This antenna was theoretically analysed and software simulated with the purpose of computationally design a broadband model. There are dozens of dual band antennas with gain that will beat the pants off a discone every day. A discone antenna is a version of a biconical antenna in which one of the cones is replaced by a. The discone antenna is used for many radio communication applications from radio scanning and monitoring for the commercial or military services to the home scanner enthusiasts.
The discone is most seen as a receive antenna but is underrated. By using relays, a single feed line could be switched to 1 of 3 elements or to all for an omni position. Listed under the antennas receiving category that is about receiving only antennas. Discone antenna design written by bill pretty highpoint security technologies property of highpoint security technologies inc the user of this document may use the contents to recreate the design for their own non commercial use. The antenna designer app lets you design, visualize, and analyze antennas in the antenna toolbox library interactively. Vhfuhf discone antenna ultra wideband antenna receives 250 mhz. Discone antennas typically have the widest bandwidth of any communications antennas.
Feb 02, 2018 the mfj1868 is a lowcost ultrawideband discone antenna, with a receive rx range of 250 mhz and it can be used to transmit tx from 500 mhz. Eznec antenna analysis nec2 based antenna analysis software for the amateur and professional. It is usually mounted vertically, with the disc at the top and the cone beneath. To really get the most broadband capability out of a discone, and maintain durability, i think it would be desirable to build it inside of a cylindrical radome. I have a scanner discone on my balcony that ive used for most of my ham radio and sdr hobby activity. The discone antenna design works equally poor over a wide range and you can buy a hustler dcx. Sep 14, 2015 as the rtlsdr and other sdrs are wideband, we recommend that people use a wideband antenna if they want to scan over all the frequencies.
This antenna has an exceptionally large coverage, offering a frequency range ratio of up to 10. A discone antenna is a version of a biconical antenna in which one of the cones is replaced by a disc. Helix antenna design helix antennas with this dos program by oh0nc. Antenna, ve3sqb ham radio antenna design software programs. I just mounted my radio shack discone antenna to a metal mast which is mounted to my wooden frame chimney. So even here you may want a longer usb cable such that the antenna socket of the rsp is closer to free space and an antenna closer to being in the open air. The other antenna was made by antenna specialist who are still in business and may still produce the super scanner. This discone scanner and ham base station antenna is our most efficient omnidirectional antenna system, combining a disc an tenna with electrically matched radiators.
Find discone antenna design software related suppliers, manufacturers, products and specifications on globalspec a trusted source of discone antenna design software information. The comet antenna is marketed mainly to scanner use but i believe it should be nearly perfect for the software defined radios. The top portion is usually made just a little smaller then the ideal dimensions and that helps make it easier to build. Excellent for testing various transmitters on single coax. Discone antenna design discone antenna design program by k5dkz. Winradio ax71c discone antenna the ax71c antenna is a compact vhfuhf omnidirectional receiving and transmitting antenna for professional and consumer surveillance and monitoring applications. Ive never been one to use a discone antenna for transmitting on 2 meter70 centimenter usebut last night while over at another hams house who happens to be a friend, he had one mounted up with the feed point at 20 ft. In the matlab workspace, you will see the exported antenna. This link is listed in our web site directory since wednesday jul 24 20, and till today home made discone antenna has been followed for a total of 4571 times. It can cover multiple bands and has more gain than verticals. Radiojitter is into iot based solution, antenna design, softwaredefined radio sale and research. Grad220r 1444409001200mhz 2m70cm33cm25cm mini discone multiband wideband mobile scanner antenna, 29. Would it be a marginal improvement, or night and day.
Great antenna for software defined radio is really easy to make. Of the rf antenna components the insulator size governs a number of factors of the performance of the antenna. The discone antenna or discone aerial is often used where an omnidirectional wide band or bandwidth rf antenna design is needed. The app will overwrite the previous discone antenna design and open the updated discone antenna. I dont even technically own a scanner anymore myself, ive been using sdr hardware and software for several years now but i monitor civair and milair just fine off my laptop. The design is composed of two broadband discone type antennas 757075 mhz, a singlepole double throw spdt switch to select the desired antenna, several filters to remove undesired outofband and overloading fm signals, a lownoise preamplifier to enhance is connected to a laptop via ethernet and controlled by a tailormade.
May 01, 20 a discone is a good general antenna for the rtlsdr as they are extremely wideband, and can be expected to be useful over almost the entire frequency range that is tuneable by the the rtlsdr. Im interested in getting better noaa satellite images. A prototype skeleton discone antenna for 2nd and 3rd. Conclusion in this paper, biconical antenna design and testing sequence is proposed. This antenna was theoretically analysed and software simulated with the purpose of computationally design a broadband model of it. You can use it to receive and transmit a wide range of signals, including amateur radio, aircraft and other special services, on your scanner or other receiver.
An interesting application note about wlan discones 2. Updated to fix bug in metric conversion of element spacings after director number six the discone is most seen as a receive antenna but is underrated. The discone antenna has a useful frequency range of at least 10 to 1. Discone antenna for rtl sdr iw5edi simone hamradio. You may expect a low swr across their entire range find mfj discone monitor antennas mfj1866.
The ideal discone would be a perfect cone that comes to a perfect point right at the bottom of the disk. For higher frequencies, though, a discone antenna become fairly small and more than portable enough for a mobile rig. All the dimensions for their discone antenna were gleaned from ve3sqbs antenna design programs. The mfj1868 is a lowcost ultrawideband discone antenna, with a receive rx range of 250 mhz and it can be used to transmit tx from 50. The arrl antenna book has the construction details on how to make a discone antenna for hf.
This paper presents parameters of two types of antennas discone and microstrip patch obtained. The wide band of frequencies that includes all those allocated to 2g3g applications was defined as 2g3g band and the discone antenna with a structure of radial wires was defined as radial discone. Mfj discone monitor antennas mfj1866 free shipping on. Antenna design programs and info on this page courtesy of, and written by al legary, ve3sqb many thanks al. Mfj1868 discone antenna for broadband sdr receivers. Mfj discone monitor antennas mfj1866 free shipping on most. I have been getting into software defined radio via rtlsdr and found the stock antennas woeful for reception and picked up a tonne of noise from my lcd and laptop though its hardly surprising. Create and export a discone antenna using antenna designer app. Normally adiscone or a scantenna is suggested as the wideband antenna of choice, however there are alternative designs such as thedressler ara2000 which is a type of log spiral antenna that can receive from 50 2000 mhz. Of course with the frequencies the rtl softwaredefined radio deals with, its rarely necessary.
A novel double discone antenna is composed of the asymmetric biconical antenna and upsidedown discone antenna. The coax jumpers made the other 2 unactive elements. Im using the dj discone antenna as an transmitreceive antenna for my four mobile fm radios mounted on my ham bench. Choosing a wideband antenna design amateur radio stack. By touching the coax or the electrically connected sdr enclosure, your body becomes part of the antenna system altering its performance for better or worse. First he looked into classic discone and sphere antenna designs, but found that. Prototyping of uhf antennas using simulation software.
The antenna consists of two conical conductive objects, nearly touching at their vertices. About home made discone antenna the resource is currently listed in in a single category. While designed to be entirely generalpurpose, the ax71c wideband discone antenna is especially suitable for the winradio range of vhfuhf receivers. The d3000n super discone antenna is an ultrawideband antenna covering amateur radio, commercial 2way, cellular, air traffic control and various utility frequency bands. Thats a very, very interesting antenna design, from an antenna theory point of view. Ultrawideband design 25 to 0 mhz receive, 500 mhz transmit 6m tunable for transmit compact and lightweight design enables antenna to be installed on balcony railing at an apartment or condominium ideal for 2m, 114m, 70cm, 33cm and 23cm amateur bands excellent shop antenna for testing various transmitters on a. The main category is receiving only antennas that is about receiving only antennas. Diamond antenna dj super discone antennas are ultrawideband antennas covering amateur radio, commercial 2way, cellular, air traffic control and various utility frequency bands. Jan 28, 20 the idea discone antenna looks exactly like its namesake. The antenna covers the frequency range of 25 to 1500 mhz, offering a typical vswr figure of less than 1.
87 514 1110 419 854 771 907 931 576 887 975 1267 376 1434 1446 908 173 51 804 1437 1490 1108 890 673 1506 965 468 46 1309 1513 14 299 33 416 1474 844 765