Everything you need to Know about Discone Antenna

For many years, the Discone Antenna is used for gaining better radio communication. It is a kind of biconical antenna where one cone is replaced with a disk which is generally mounted on the top of the cone.

This blog describes the Discone antenna, its features, history, benefits, and disadvantages of an antenna. We will also discuss many other things related to this antenna.

What Is a Discone Antenna?

A discone antenna is a kind of biconical antenna in which one cone is replaced with a disk. This disk is tied on the top of the cone. These antennas contain a solid metal disk on the top of a solid metal cone. Discone antennas receive bands between 140 and 500 MHz.

These antennas work with local repeaters only when there are strong signals. They contain rods that help to decrease wind loading. Apart from that, the rods also simplify construction. This is the reason why many discone antennas are built by new radio operators.

You can make the ribs of the discone antenna with the help of stiff wire or brazing rods. In a discone antenna, you can use between 6 and 16 rods.

History of Discone Antenna

Now, let us discuss something about the history of a discone antenna. This antenna was made by Armig Kandoian in the year 1945 after getting the patent. Discone antenna was mainly used in aircraft communication and finding directions. It was widely used by the military. Another name for discone antennas is discone aerial antenna.

Use of Discone Antennas

After discussing the meaning of discone antenna, let us discuss the different uses of a discone antenna. This antenna is mainly used for monitoring and radio scanning. They are not much used in RF transmissions.

A discone antenna is widely used for UHF and VHF applications where the signal is near the ground level because these antennas have low angles of reception and radiation. The radiation angle increases slightly at the top of the frequency range of an antenna.

Wi-Fi antenna is a kind of discone antenna used in many indoor applications. It is generally made of solid sheet metal.

Components of a discone antenna

A Military Discone Antenna contains 3 major elements: the cone elements, the insulator, and the disc elements. In these components, the insulator size governs the number of factors of the antenna performance.

The insulator is developed from insulating material and holds the disc and cone elements in one place. The distance is the factor that determines the overall frequency range of an RF antenna design. The cone elements must be a quarter wavelength at the minimum operating frequency.

The diameter of the top of the cone depends on the diameter of the coaxial cable used. This determines the upper-frequency limit of the antenna. The small diameter has a high frequency.

The diameter is about 15 millimeters for many designs operating in the VHF/UHF area of the radio spectrum. The space between the cone and the disc must be a quarter of the inner diameter of the cone.

Advantages of Discone Antennas

Discone antennas are widely used in radio communication. Now, we will further discuss the Benefits of Discone Antennas in detail in this section:

1. Omnidirectional antenna

One of the major benefits of a discone antenna is that it is an omnidirectional antenna. It helps to gain strong signals from multiple directions. Besides, the antenna also has a frequency range ratio of 10:1. You can purchase discone antennas with a frequency range between 30 and 1300 MHz. There is no need to point this antenna toward the source of the signals.

2. Sensitive to distant signals

Wide Band Discone Antenna generally contains a very narrow radiation pattern. Due to the narrow pattern, this antenna does not work properly in long-distance areas. It is mainly used in indoor applications like radio and transmitters.

3. Works in every kind of weather

A UHF Discone Antenna is designed with the help of a high-grade metal sheet. This antenna can work in any kind of weather. It does not rust due to water, sun rays, moisture, dust, or pollutants. This antenna can work even in heavy snowfall or harsh weather conditions.

4. No ground station connection

One of the best points of discone antennas is that they do not need any ground station connection. You can use this antenna without any special equipment or tools. It is a good antenna that is easy to install and use for anyone.

5. Easy to handle

It is very simple to handle this discone antenna because of its basic design. You can carry it anywhere easily because of its compactness. Besides, the antenna also has a speedy installation for various applications.    

Disadvantages of Discone Antennas

Now, let us discuss the disadvantages of Discone Antennas in detail in this section.

·        The Ultra-wide Discone Antenna is very sensitive to higher frequencies. You must choose the higher ones and not the lower ones.

·        A VHF Discone Antenna is not used for transmitting and used only for receiving signals.

·        Discone antennas work only with the help of the latest developments and technologies.

·        You cannot carry a discone antenna everywhere.

·        These antennas are omnidirectional and can emit signals from all the directions.  They will not work in narrow areas where you need signals from one direction.

Final words

This is all about a discone antenna, its features, advantages and disadvantages. It can be used for VHF and UHF applications and many other indoor applications. A discone antenna can be used in many areas such as amateur radio, military, radio scanner applications and military.

The antenna operates on a frequency range between 20 MHz and 6000 MHz to transmit and receive signals. It can be used for oceans and arctic regions where snowfall is the main issue. This antenna stops unwanted emissions and gives better performance than other kinds of antennas. It is one of the best antennas to use in military and commercial regions.