Which Antenna is Best Locally

[Gemini4]

Which in your opinion is the best for scanning locally !...a White Stick or a Discone..i've been using a White stick this past year...but i think in all fairness
the Discone was a better all rounder. Admittedly i've pick up quite a few frequencies on the white stick, but i can't help but think i'm missing quite
a few local frequencies without the discone..what does anyone else think and what are you using to pick up local frequencies.

[radio_ryan]

my finding our for the air band both VHF and UHF a Discone works best for me, it get other stuff but it down on power for the user use in S points. but it will pick up out to the Humber and the wash old the marine band.

but for ham radio, and other VHF, UHF stuff I find the X3000 works better plus you can tx on it. the White Stick at this time just seem to be picking up better.

But you get what you pay for and just moving it a few feet can make a difference to what you get.

for local user I would say the white stick.

What you happen to pick up and which part of the band

[Gemini4]

Am and VHF is probably the better out of the three..my antenna's are blocked by the back of the house from going north a lot..i get as far as manchester airport and some humberside airport or other..but its mainly shouth i go.

[radio_ryan]

Am and VHF is probably the better out of the three..my antenna's are blocked by the back of the house from going north a lot..i get as far as manchester airport and some humberside airport or other..but its mainly shouth i go.

Try getting it a little higher or move it to a new point on your QTH. but moving it may get you different station but you may loss some too.

I get Manchester, Birmingham, Humberside, Doncaster but on the air grafts Also get EMA both sides, also Waddington, Coningsby crewel. on the air band. and lots of local air fields Plus the UK wind channels for LONDON, ACC, London mill east and west. shanwick ATC. That's one the discone.

The Whilst stick get me in to Yorkshire on a good day and Birmingham and with a life lots more miles. But I am in a dead spot to so do fairly well. that's ham radio and about 40 miles for gen use in the VHF/UHF

I think from your QTH you will get down south more and may be north east and not so much Derbyshire and into Yorkshire due to the peaks.


but end of the day ham radio ham and short wave listeners we also ways wont more. you will just have to try both and a switch I have for RX and there is a difference but they are in different place on the house. I could get north Yorkshire police and FRS years ago and get whales FRS that's was on a discone but I could not do this on a white stick.

hope my finding help. but I think we cover the tonic before on TM1 and members side go for whilst sticks.

[Gemini4]

i do get better results facing south..i do get some Derby freqs..but funnily enough Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead come through very strong..Waddington is good but Coningsby is very weak.But saying this Ryan..I've had problems with contacts on FM ham..but have discovered that the cable i bought keeps breaking at the end.
Point is you only have so much money to play with and trying to get better equipment is expensive. Someone did give me a 10 foot yagi lol..which sits at the top of the garden because the width and length prevent me from putting it up..but i did see this picture on the net.

[kr0ne]

That's not a Yagi, it's to keep the birds off your chives...

[Gemini4]

your probably right ..but i wonder how he manages to get out with it being so low

[kr0ne]

I'm hoping it goes like something out of Thunderbirds...

First that fence folds over flat, then the lawn rotates out of the way before a 200 metre mast slides into position and elevates the beam in painstaking slow motion while the theme tune plays on a loop. Fab.

[Gemini4]

I'm hoping it goes like something out of Thunderbirds...

First that fence folds over flat, then the lawn rotates out of the way before a 200 metre mast slides into position and elevates the beam in painstaking slow motion while the theme tune plays on a loop. Fab.

now for one moment be seriuos kr0ne...could you or could you believe that you could get any contacts from where the antenna is positioned? me i've got one of these and to be perfectly honest i have'nt a clue where i can situate it except for what this guy has done..it was given to me to make more contacts..but neighbours prevent it from going to high. now over to you for a serious comment at least.

what do you think ryan? could it be used like this?

[kr0ne]

Oh alright then...

Logic and science would suggest it would be completely useless. However, you never know... aerials are funny beasts and it is hard to guess what is off the front end from that photo.

Perhaps that garden is right on the edge of a cliff with a clear take off for miles into the ether, or perhaps not and it just works slightly better than no beam at all.

If you have one lying around, why not try it and see what results you get? Remember it will be quite directional though, so if there are no signals of interest coming from the direction you point it in then the results will be equally disappointing whether it is at 0 feet or 1000 feet.

[Gemini4]

he or she has a lot of cables running from it which baffles me...but same as you say he could near a cliff

[kr0ne]

Some of those wires could be a dipole running round the fence... that grey plastic box could be the centre... impossible to say for sure though.

Crossed Yagis are often used for satellite work, and the lower a dipole is to the ground the more it's gain is directed upwards. I think that the horizontally polarised Yagi will have it's gain directed upwards by it's proximity to the ground but I don't think the vertically polarised one will be affected in the same way at all.

I think that this close to the ground though, both of these antennas would be far more useful for receiving than for transmitting.

The truth is, there are just too many variables to consider to accurately estimate what will happen. You know what they say, suck it and see.

[Bogget]

If i may add my two penneth......... i think it would be usless like that you would do far batter having a small dipole on your fave frequency mounted at your guttering height. It would also be pretty much invisible. Also in most areas you do not need planning if your antenna is below the apex of your roof meaning your fellow street dwellers can not do anything about it.

Bogget

[Gemini4]

thing is bogget, if i had that 10 feet in the air you would notice it far away and ive got it..just dont how to use it in a small space.the other thing is..because i would have to use it at the top of the garden..what sort of cable would i need ?

[kr0ne]

So, plug it in and see how it performs!

You can simulate an antenna all day in EZNEC and you can spend a lifetime reading about how it should perform on the internet and in books. The truth is, you will never no for sure until you try it though...

Suck it and see Gemineeee!