Everything you need to Know about Discone Antenna

 

Discone antenna gives a bandwidth of 10:1 with an omnidirectional characteristic. It is perfect to use this antenna with VHF and UHF antennas. You can use a Wide Band Discone Antenna for many radio communication applications. It is also used for military purposes and monitoring homes.

This blog describes everything about the Discone antenna, its uses, benefits, and drawbacks in detail. We will also discuss many things related to this antenna.

What Is a Discone Antenna?

A discone antenna is a kind of biconical antenna. Unlike other antennas, this antenna has a disk instead of cones. This disk is located at the top of a cone. Some discone antennas have a metal disk on top of a metal cone.

You can use discone antenna for frequencies of 30 MHz and above. However, you can also this antenna for a lower frequency range. Cone and disc in discone antennas are made from fine quality metal sheets. Normally, these antennas contain 6 to 16 rods within a lower region.

This antenna operates over a frequency range of 10:1 depending on different designs. It also provides a low angle of radiation. Moreover, discone antennas are widely used for VHF/UHF applications. The angle of radiation in this antenna increases at the top position.

Use of Discone Antennas

Armig Kandoian is the investor of the first discone antenna. He received a patent in the year 1945 for direction finding and aircraft communication. These antennas are used in military areas as they are used to provide good communication in border areas.

UHF Discone Antenna has many uses such as monitoring and radio scanning. It is used even for RF transmissions. You can use discone antenna for several UHF and VHF applications. It is mainly used in the areas where the signal is very close to ground level.

One of the most popular examples of an Ultra wide Discone Antenna is an indoor UHF antenna. It is developed using durable sheet metal. Now, we will discuss how discone antennas work. It is difficult to understand the working of a discone antenna but we will discuss it simply.

Disc and cone elements radiate the energy. This antenna will get better simulation by adding more elements. 6 elements are used to maintain a balance between cost, performance, and wind resistance.

The feeder meets the antenna and spreads over the cone surface. RF antenna receives and radiates energy and the radiation pattern is omnidirectional in the horizontal line. It radiates energy at a low angle and gives a better operating range. Discone antenna does not need any ground connection and can work from a coaxial feeder. 

Advantages of Discone Antennas

Discone antennas can be used for VHF and UHF applications. Apart from that, there are also many other Advantages of Discone Antennas such as:

1. Wide band Omni directional antenna

Discone antenna is a Wide band Omni directional antenna. It works the same as a planar antenna. The frequency range ratio of discone antennas is about 10:1. The best VHF Discone Antenna is the antenna that includes a frequency range between 30 and 1300 MHz. Moreover, the discone antenna is a wideband antenna.

2. Good for TV broadcasting

Discone antennas operate at a frequency range of 10:1. They also follow an omni directional pattern from 470 MHz to 862 MHz. Apart from that, the antenna also has a range from 1.75 to 2.3 dBi. Because of different omni directional characteristics, you can use a discone antenna for TV broadcasting systems. It improves picture quality while watching different TV channels.

3. Wind resistance

In the case of discone antennas, the disc and cone are made from solid metal. They do not rust or break due to winds, water, dust, and UV rays. You can install these antennas in any kind of weather. They give good performance even in harsh climatic conditions.

4. Gives powerful signals

One of the major Benefits of Discone Antennas is that they help to radiate spurious signals easily. The level of reflected power will differ as per operating range and even rises above limits in some areas.

You can use special tools to filter signals. These tools will help to get better signals while monitoring or broadcasting TV channels.

5. Attractive looks

One benefit of a discone antenna is that it has attractive looks. You can mount it on your commercial or residential buildings easily with simple equipment and tools.

Disadvantages of Discone Antennas

Discone antennas also have many drawbacks. Let us have a look at some disadvantages of Discone Antennas in the below section:

·      Interference of other signals

A Military Discone Antenna is omnidirectional and receives signals from many directions. This pattern often causes interference in many signals from different directions. You might face some problems in broadcasting by using a discone antenna.

·      Bulky antennas

One of the major drawbacks of discone antenna is that it is heavy and massive if you want to get lower frequencies. You can use discone antennas only for frequencies above 30 MHz. Heavy antennas are difficult to use for broadcasting and monitoring purposes.

·      Reception pattern increases upward with frequency

One more drawback of using a discone antenna is that the radiation pattern has lobes. These lobes increase upward with the rising frequency. So, you cannot receive or transmit signals at a very high-frequency range.

·      Creates more space for birds 

As discone antennas are mounted at a good height, they are easy to find by birds. These antennas are easy to reach for birds and you may get problems with signals.

Final words

A discone antenna is an Omni directional antenna that receives signals from different directions. It is widely used for TV broadcasting applications. This antenna is easy to mount at a higher altitude with simple tools.

Dipole antenna is similar to discone antenna. You will have a gain of less than 0. The diameter of a discone antenna must be 0.7 times the quarter wavelength of the lowest frequency got by the antenna. It does not need any ground support to work.