A Strange Military Antenna Up Close

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Should you buy a discone antenna? Do they work? Are they any good? These are the questions I receive often when it comes to discone antennas.
They're probably the best antenna option for a wide range of frequencies but for specific bands there are better options.
In this instalment we look at a strange military discone as well as some other models and it should help you decide whether or not a discone is for you.
Music used with permission by Scanner (Robin Rimbaud)

[@bingbong7316]

More a Wilf Zaha than a Bob Marley. Anything that doubles up as a laundry drier is a winner, tbh.

[@greenman4508]

Marley was cia, so it’s kinda fitting

[@wisteela]

​@@greenman4508He wasn't though.

[@greenman4508]

@@wisteelaI’m open to information.tell me what you know for sure . I’ve spent a lot of time with rastas, in my twenties,and his white, military intelligence father, and undermining of the repatriation movement and his effects on Peter tosh we’re just the opening lines in what they called him. “That white devil…”Rasta is a black supremacy movement,there’s no arguing that, and he sang about equality. A cia influencer it seems presently to me. like that big group of counter culture acid test children of military intelligence,that came out of Charles mansons mk ultra valley. If they died at 27 , do some digging

[@wisteela]

@@greenman4508 Sorry, don't do the conspiracy shit.

[@bronsondeliac2625]

Conspiracy is a federal crime on the books, if you ignore that it exists then you're ignorant of basic jurisprudence

[@tiggydorset9041]

"Do you love me enough to come and see me tonight...do you love me enought to come and see me tonight..." When hearing this, it always sounds to me like it should have been/should be a sample on an old 90's rave/dance/DnB tune. Get Andy Kirby on the case to produce something with it ;)

[@David_K_Booth]

It's from the 1995 album "Spore" by Scanner. Dark ambient rather than rave. :)

[@tiggydorset9041]

@@David_K_Booth Oh its already been done? Dammit 😂 I better go check it out 🙂

[@flannelshirtdad]

I'm intrigued by the mysterious voice asking "do you love me enough...". A classic scary story intro for Halloween.

[@RingwayManchester]

That was a phone call recorded in London, around 1993

[@-TheRealChris]

Track name: 915.675 by Scanner/Robin Rimbaud

[@earlyadapter643]

i like it how in scanner forums, new scanner owners tell that they dont catch anything and ask for a real universal antenna that works on any frequency, and then usually are directed to either a discone or a periodic log.

[@zsi]

Please have sympathy for us. From various connector types, different kinds of antennas, endless radio options, modulations, etc, it is extremely overwhelming for us newbies. The best thing us is a broad solution that works well enough for mist things, even if not optimal. From there, we can optimize for what it is we are trying to do. That is why I like HackRF, RTL-SDR, and Btech radio with good-enough antennas. Not great, but I've been able to do quite a lot with them.

[@Cobalt985]

@@zsi RTL-SDRs are great for certain frequency ranges, unfortunately for me the RTL-SDR mostly just told me I should've bought an AirSpy HF lmao. But oh well, that's how it goes

[@earlyadapter643]

@@zsi Sure, it is comprehensible that in the beginning one wants to cover the widest range with a single antenna. A discone is a starting point, it is a bit like in photography where later one wants to replace the 50x zoom lens by fixed focuses that have better performance at their respective focal length.

[@Fluffkin-the-Femboy]

These intros alone. they are so masterclass. And the Videos are just so informative. Love your videos :D

[@David0lyle]

The discone combined the software defined radio are sort of a match made in heaven. The antenna that receives essentially everything combined with the radio that interprets essentially everything. I’ve even heard some guys say it’s kind of a “cheating” set up. 🤷 it’s kind of an “Omni” receiver.

[@draeath]

What's wild, is that they can be designed to be used for transmission even. You can't transmit whatever you like, of course, they're engineered for specific bands... but it's wild to me that this is a thing. Take the Diamond Antenna D3000N for example!

[@AdamosDad]

We used them in the US Navy back in the 60's and 70's USS Newport News CA-148, The discone-cage antenna is actually two antennas combined into one structure, each antenna having a separate feedpoint. The highband antenna is of the discone type, utilizing an array of radial elements in a horizontal plane at the top of the cage.

[@veganguy74]

Each of the Iowa-class battleships have a transmitter discone antenna on their bow to this day. Battleship New Jersey was the first to receive one after modernization for use during her deployment to Vietnam in the 1960s and the other 3 Iowas had the antennas installed in the 1980s: kzbin.info/www/bejne/foK2dGNums9kmrcsi=HZU5-FG4KjyK9RxN

[@mickd6942]

The Bob Marley antenna part of clansman don’t know if it would be any good for Jamming.

[@Desert-edDave]

For receiving in the city, especially in an apartment with no balcony, it's hard to beat a discone - so versatile and out of sight - helps to be top floor with an RF-transparent roof.

[@terryjwood]

I put one in the attic of my house in 1989. It still works great today. I can even transmit on 6 meters. The SWR is 1.5 to one or better!

[@UD503J]

I tried making a DIY discone years ago when I got my first SDR dongle. It didn't go well, because the elements coupled internally because I used the wrong pipe fittings and they touched. It taught me a bunch about antenna theory though. The next DIY antenna I did was a spider for ADSB that I still use.

[@TheRealBanana]

I live in a dense city and have had a ton of fun with a Tram 1410 discone connected to a cheap rtl-sdr. its amazing how many small businesses around me have two way radios.

[@Ampelmannchen42]

Living next to a US military base used for the hotline to the USSR back in the 1970s - 1980s, I remember seeing several four to five meter-long discone antennas poking up through the treetops. I always wondered with whom they were used to communicate.

[@soobash]

Great video on these wide band antennas. One thing missed is that military antennas unlike civilian ones are expected to perform in potentially EM hostile environments. So they need capabilities to withstand jamming for example. Frequency hopping over a wide band can be used to evade jammers.

[@robertburdoff1789]

I'm playing with CB, both 27 & 447 in NZ, & a bit of meshtastic, but despite the extra cost can see it would make exploring with SDR more rewarding... good vid.

[@AMouldyCake]

I have no idea why this was recommended to me or why i watched it, i have zero knowledge on this topic.

[@RingwayManchester]

And just like that, you’re a radio fan

[@Sus6k]

And it was fire huh

[@AMouldyCake]

I binge watched everything on this channel over the last couple of weeks.

[@Sus6k]

​@@AMouldyCakehahahahaha I'm currently in the process sof doing so

[@madf00bar15]

Yes, I love you and I will be by to see you tonight. 😁 Lovely video as always!

[@RingwayManchester]

☺️

[@robertschwartzman195]

I have a similar antenna I purchased over 35 years ago. Mine folds down and came in a cloth bag. It also has a type ( C ) connector on it. I bought 20 of them and kept the last one for myself. Mine is a full discone and bought additional elements if any of mine broke. The frequency was 202 MHz to 325 MHz.

[@Subgunman]

I have an unusual antenna that was sold many years ago at one of the radio shops in my old hometown in the states. It was made by a company called Nil John ( spelling? ) which was later purchased by a company specializing in military antennas. It’s of a strange design where the base is a plain Larson NMO base with a screw stud in top where a piece of 1” diameter by one inch high aluminum rod sits the top portion of the rod is turned in about 3/8” down from the top at an angle of about 40°. In that beveled section there are three holes 120° apart where 3 .1” rods of different lengths are inserted and held in by set screws. This assembly in turn screws onto the NMO base which one screws down onto the NMO mount of the car. So in essence it is an inverted discone where the car body is the disk ( but in actuality the ground plane) and the three whips as the radiators. It is recommended that it should be mounted on the center of the roof of the vehicle. Now this was advertised as having a continuous coverage from 140-470 MHz coverage. Personally I never checked the SWR however from over twenty miles out from the repeater sites I had full quieting into both 2 meter up to 460 MHz repeaters. Thanks for the information Lewis! I'll have to keep my eyes open for one of those Clansman antennas.

[@SkootaBoota]

Yeah I have a Discone for my Scanner. That last discone "..in your arsenal" looks really interesting. I look forward to the video on it.

[@krrudn]

I am using Sirio SD1300U as a RX/TX antenna and Moonraker Scanking Royal Double Discone with my own little mod (I added an additional 8 horizontal counterweights from another Discone antenna under the upper Discone element, thanks to which it receives slightly further signals) for RX only, both of them have their advantages and disadvantages (Sirio receives some bands a little weaker, some a bit stronger, but it can transmit in many bands, while Moonraker can only receive, but it copes very well with each band and with signals from above, like satellites), I can recommend both od them with clear conscience 😉

[@raystewart6524]

Did alot of work in the 70s and 80s in HM Forces with Clansman kit..but never came across the "Bob Marley" antenna...excellent video..thanks Lewis

[@mikeclifton7778]

Perhaps they're called Bob Marleys because of their jammin properties? Good video Lewis...

[@GluteMaximuz]

If there is one antenna I remember from my apprentice days, it's the Bi-Conical Monopole with Counter Poise Skirt. Still around covering various frequencies in many formats.

[@georgebarnes8163]

I built my own for RX only, folds up like an umbrella for ease of transportation and ease of setting up when on site which takes no more than 3 minutes, works a treat right down to 15 metres

[@NorthernChev]

The best “entenner” channel on KZbin.

[@jaedenspider877]

Those look like a type of rare antenna also known as a "fingered dipole"they are mainly used for picking up vlf (very low frequency) signals but they can also be used for transmitting at slightly higher frequencies (they are similar to the ones you showed in the video but not exactly

[@cobrasvt347]

Very nice ICOM ID-52. Will be getting one very soon. Thank you for bringing the world such awesome content.

[@KI7JOM]

I took you up on the drinking game. I had enough that I lost track of how many times you said discone.

[@eekee6034]

To me, the strangest thing about this was the video title! ;) Years ago, I used to see antennae like that (but less sturdy) almost every time I looked at radio gear. I was never into the radio side of electronics though.

[@KlodFather]

The discone can be put into a colinear arrangement and be used horizontal or vertical for gain. Making one of these for use in a project was interesting but taught us a lot about designing compromise antennas. Everything you do to an antenna, right down to the coating or paint you put on it, affects its performance and SWR. EVERYTHING.

[@wisteela]

Great for use with an SDR. That's really cool with receiving that BBC link.

[@mountainmonkey1984]

We used one to communicate from Maintenance Control to our flight line.,

[@andyhowlett2231]

I've never been particularly impressed with discones. They work over a wide range of frequencies, but it's like buttering a large slice of bread with only a small scoop of butter - it ends up very thin! I get the results I want with a mix of amateur 2m and 70 cms verticals, and a homebrew short yagi on 23cms, which works well from about 900 MHz to 1500 MHz. The downside of this approach is that you need a decent selector switch to change the antennas over, which is a critical component if you want to keep losses low. And of course discones do not work on HF unless they are massive, so a Wellbrook loop serves from 20 kHz to 30 MHz. For the spectrum between 30 MHz and 144 MHz I use a wire dipole in the loft, roughly tuned to 50 MHz.

[@christophernewbury7444]

If you think this one is odd, try the 'Clansman Clothesline'. Grossly over engineered, but gets the punters interested at militaria shows as it looks really complicated!!! (It is).

[@elguapo1507]

Took me back to the old army days. The "Bob Marley" as it was known....it was absolutely rubbish! We usually ended up laying out a long wire. Oh! You said it after I wrote it! 🤣

[@HighWealder]

Strangely interesting, even though my knowledge of aerials is limited to the piece of wire of my crystal radio set that I built aged 12.

[@КГБКолДжорджКостанца]

Astouding videos you always make friend, i am here for the shortwave oddities

[@barryfox7625]

USAF AT-197 used mainly for UHF ground-to-air radio communications USAF ex 304X4

[@4stringz.]

Awesome videos. Love your research/history

[@anthony4530]

The antenna at 3:57 looks exactly like the pole one would hang an IV solution bag at the hospital. I looked at it three times and I am still convinced that it’s exactly what I was looking at.

[@winterburan]

I have had a Sirio model SD 1300 U disk antenna on my roof for over 15 years, I also receive HF with it, identical to the Diamond D130J, I get along well with the IC9000 and SDRPlay, but for HF I use an unobtainable RF Systems DX1Pro MkII ! 😀

[@paulanderson79]

Nice garden.

[@anandarochisha]

Good job..i use one with an Alinco DJ-X11 handheld SDR receiver. In my opinion, its a great little-known wide band receiver/scanner. Discones are ideal for this unit. On HF it works well with my 5/8 wave modded Hustler vertical. Great job on your channel. You are not as much an enthusiast as You are an adept..which is far more rare. Kudos.

[@thederangedwartomato5383]

I use a Discone Antenna for a backup receive of AMSAT downlinks. BUT, I also have a SSB Electronics Preamp, wide band. Works well. I can receive the RS-44 satellite downlink when it is over the Gulf of Mexico here in EN-66. 73!

[@markiangooley]

Disco may be dead, but discone antennas just go on! Discone duck!

[@Saelig66]

I loved the discone for emergency communication kits where you might be supporting a large variety of departments and agencies. The spread of frequencies berween departments could be very large and difficult to cover with more conventional antennas.

[@Matt-yy8tl]

Back in my military comm days, used to blast my coworkers' cheap government pc speakers with a discone while doing UHF R/T repair and test. Always got a few to jump. We could reach pretty far through the building for this effect if we wanted.

[@brianlastname3808]

I got one for my SDR radio. I haven't used it yet, but I will try it out soon.

[@raymondmartin6737]

I agree, I have had bad luck with discones over the years, 😮, and the last one like you showed in a closeup in your video, I sold earlier this year on eBay. They were never satisfactory for my scanning and amateur repeatsr use 😢 How about something on Adcock antennas!😊 73 de W2CH Ray New Hampshire.

[@GoSlash27]

That's called a discone antenna. It maintains 50 Ω impedance and low VSWR across a very broad spectrum up to the frequency where the horizontal aerials are 1/4 λ.. You'd think that it would be horizontally polarized, but it's actually vertical. It's useful for a radio that has to transmit on several different nets widely spaced in frequency.

[@GoSlash27]

lol and then I watch the video and you talk all about them XD

[@Itachisclone420]

I love that call holding tone at the very begning, I am very cures as to what that tone is used for?

[@jhonsiders6077]

Very informative I have a Jetstream discone Wanted to clean up my tower had 3 antennas up there plus my TV and Fm transmitter one A Dominator .95 wave . Now just 3 total cut the wind loading down a lot . I have transmitted on it every thing from 10 meters (CB) to 800 MGHZ with a SWR no more than 2 and bumping a repeater 20 miles away. On 800 business radio . It’s taken a really bad wind storm well. My 5/8 wave CB was bent up badly that I had in its place before putting up the cone from a storm that was not as bad as this last one I clocked A 80 MPH gust on my wind gauge ! It’s survived nicely . The tower is 90 feet tall I too old to be up on that thing often !

[@gamlemann53]

Nice vide Lewis! The best to you from LB1NH 🙂

[@petercarter9034]

You have some nice interesting equipment Lewis, thanks for the post very entertaining

[@drsysop]

I remember Pirate FM radio used them for transmit & they worked well.

[@Scotscan]

Ive got the double discone and it works very well. As I like to listen to things from 30mhz to 500mhz it's perfect. Just make sure you get it out as high as possible .

[@joeborders]

That setup was used with fixed site rf jamming in Afghanistan.

[@jameshunter2993]

Ah yes I remember we used a AJE antenna mast mounted on a submarine mast. This was the standard RN antennae for HF MF to and rx

[@TeamYankee2]

ahh.. that rubbery discone antenna is a UHF mil airband antenna.. I used to use one plugged into a clansman PRC 344 in a former life in the Royal Signals. lol ) just watched the video!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

It looks like a *_Shadow vessel_* from *BABYLON 5.* 😊 *_"What do you want?"_* 😉

[@graemedavidson499]

I thought exactly the same thing! Latterly, the Shadow vessels were less well received ;) Their front ends were forever zapping.

[@TheSillyshyguy]

Great Video Lewis. Shared with my groups.

[@RingwayManchester]

Awesome thank you!

[@philipcole5444]

I don't watch TV any more and I am thinking of getting a discone fitted in place of my TV arieal. I have an SDRPlay Duo receiver and I think a discone will be perfect for that.just need to pick a good one .

[@Bdub1952]

I have an RSPdx, and use an inexpensive TRAM 1410 discone and it works very well. It's been performing well for the last 4 years. Very surprised how well it receives 20m and up.

[@wilfriedklaebe]

I've been receiving interesting stuff with a lambda/2 wire stuck into the ISO connector of an RTLSDR stick...

[@ingussilins6330]

"Tarantula spider" antenna :)

[@raymondmartin6737]

The military discovery you showed looked like it melted in the sun😅

[@Hermes-Quadmegistus]

It's fascinating how the shape correlates with half a magnetic field with the crossbar being the inertial plane and the cone being half of the centrifugal force trajectory of one pole, and another example you showed ( time stamp 2:16) is the inverse of the torus field with both fields in opposition without the inertial plane at the pinch point........ can't be a coincidence, surely.

[@paladinmaid2334]

I got my hands on a Clansman 344 (obviously only as a collector's piece) it came with the battle whip, and now I want a Bob Marley!

[@Okie-00-Spool]

Did David Lynch direct the into on this one? Love your videos!

[@zero_G.0]

Great outro (Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud) is awesome! Not sure about the Bob Marley Ref either😆😎

[@RingwayManchester]

He’s a top guy, spoke to him just today

[@zero_G.0]

@@RingwayManchester cheers 👍🏼 love it! there’s something about listening to random voices weaved into electronica.. big fan✌🏼

[@confuseatronica]

the mil discone looks like a large Shadow cruiser from Babylon 5: they both have short straighter spikes and longer droopier spikes.

[@Vodhin]

Your Fun Game: 1 minute, 48 seconds into the video and I'm already drunk...

[@happisakshappiplace.6588]

It's a Shadow Battlecrab from Babylon 5, yeah I'll let you look that one up. :D

[@Vash612584]

instructions unclear, blackout drunk with serious liver damage

[@boilerroombob]

Great video Lewis.....where the hell did you get that small black one from??😮

[@RingwayManchester]

😂

[@benjaminjones5029]

Free from lovehoney

[@CapStar362]

Discone's are now making rounds again for ADSB Receivers, they make ADSB reception simple.

[@JamesHalfHorse]

Dunno about military but some government agencies/police/etc here have them mainly on offices that don't have a tower for the larger antennas.

[@kendexter]

I had one constructed quite like that but much bigger in the 90`s .. a multiband antenna for my scanner and yes not good..edit, o i comment first minute into video..you said it :*) and you have one in your video like the one i had i saw now

[@KDill29]

Welp, I took a shot everytime you said discone. And now I'm wsated

[@КГБКолДжорджКостанца]

Looks like a really strange antenna.....the beeps make it eerie

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

Your videos make me want to fire uo the scanner. Get a semi proper antenna for it and at times dust off the President Lincoln with the extra black box that requires the 30 amp linear PSU.

[@alainbroekema5000]

Discones are good antennas for receiving radiosignals !

[@Baldmaxx]

Kinda feel sorry for the lass who has to beg for whoever to come see her tonight.

[@RingwayManchester]

Did he ever go and see her? 30 years has passed. I often wonder where she is now and what became of her

[@arthurtwoshedsjackson6266]

Jason 2E1HKO has just put up a video about his discone.

[@VirtualJMills]

FYI, at 2:47 looks like you might have an unintended disc-to-cone short from one of the verticals stacked onto the disc.

[@RingwayManchester]

I did notice when I was editing. I hoped nobody would notice 😂 I didn’t tighten the nut

[@Pedro8k]

Had one wide side band no gain and don't try to tx on one soon replaced with a tri band colinear so much better too

[@jameshunter2993]

Maybe you can do a general video on sub communications ie Inskip vlf to and forest Moor Rx site.

[@RingwayManchester]

On my list :)

[@u.e.u.e.]

You talked about lots of things I even didn't know exist. 🤭

[@anthony4530]

You said it enough, apparently, because I am now blotto!

[@RCDUDEFPV]

Great info

[@RingwayManchester]

Thanks for watching!

[@ainteasybeingwheezy]

Hi Lewis discones were ok at the time if you couldn't have a porcupine farm at home as a teenager, not sure if you have heard whats on 100.8 fm locally 😉

[@abandoninplace2751]

i'm glad i waited to watch this until evening, because i am completely hammered now.

[@AdamEbelgccengineering]

That's a small UHF discone antenna. I have one in my 2nd bedroom listening post, but mine needs to be replaced soon since the ground plane elements are falling off slowly. Mine covers 25 MHz to 1.3 GHz.

[@RingwayManchester]

What gave you the clue? Me telling you in the video? Lol

[@DavidDavid-ip1xf]

Got one near my house in Lincolnshire its called a number station they broadcast spy stuff

[@michellepowell1956]

I first thought you were saying disco Antenna

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

Bleep bleep... Snake can you read me. Snake. . . Snake . . SSSNNNAAAKKKEEE!

[@RogierYou]

Awesome

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

At 06:01 in this video: *_"Ain't war hell??"_* *-- FULL METAL JACKET [1987]* 😉

[@kentaylor6563]

I am very interested in the HF disk cone antenna. 73 From VK3KZ

[@DarkSitesChannel]

I've taken a shot every time......I think I'm going blind.

[@PenryMMJ]

Tha whus a geatsh vishdoe Lewishhh. Burr I'm Shhhmashhhed nowsshh.