said by drjim:
Just a comment on Discone antennas....They're really bad! ZERO gain, vertical polarization, and usually multi-octave bandwidth. Good for scanners, and Amateur Radio VHF/UHF when it's all you can put up, but that's about it.
drjim
Yes these things are true. I do believe there is a bit of gain over a dipole but not more than 3 dB. Still running sims.
The nicest thing about this antenna (discone) is the fact that you get out pretty nearly what you put in. It is extremly efficient and exhibits a *VERY* low SWR across a 10:1 frequency range. That means one designed for 2.4 GHz will work *EQUALLY* well on 5.8.
This antenna is not a good design for PtP work. It is a darn fine design for *REPEATERS* and *INTERCEPT* work, and that means it is an excellent design for a laptop clip on antenna. There is a second design which is good for a clip on but it will not work *BOTH* bands. I will make one of those when time permits...
I just built another one today and took pictures. I did the template and will put together a web page on it before next Monday, Ryan... "Check is in the mail."
-m-
[text was edited by author 2002-10-30 00:03:11]