Moonraker Skyscan Desktop Antenna Tested On 7 Bands

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[@shammon1]

I got this antenna and put it on the loft. I was amazed to see I was able to get amateur radio broadcast chat from the USA and Canada on a basic Uniden Bearcat UBC355CLt on 145.690. I'm in Glasgow Scotland , Superb!

[@IainSTARGAZER]

@shammon1 You would most likely have been receiving a signal on 145.6875 or 145.700, which would be a Ham Radio repeater reasonably local to you (within around 20 miles or so) which was linked via the internet to a system containing chat from Hams in the USA and Canada. So this was not a direct radio receive from the Americas. Hope you are enjoying your radio.

[@OliverMappin]

​​@@IainSTARGAZER Damn what a way to shut down his excitement ,poor guy, good information tho 😂😂😂😂

[@IainSTARGAZER]

@@OliverMappin Hi Ellie. Only trying to be helpful, and hoping that such information helps the scanning hobby. Iain.

[@DanMarkland]

A baking tray ground plane does make a repeatably measurable difference for me using this indoors. I have proven this to myself on numerous occasions now and seeing as I am the only person I need to prove this too, I am quite ok with that.

[@alberrs4313]

Can you explain to me what the motherboard thing is?Thanks

[@RobWhittlestone]

0:00 - Intro 0:35 - Description 4:08 - CB Channel 40 mid band - 27.405 MHz 4:36 - 4m band simplex - 70.425 MHz FM 5:02 - Air band - 119.400 / 118.625 MHz AM 5:36 - 2m band - 145.525 MHz FM 6:07 - Marine band - 156.700 MHz FM 6:41 - 70cm GB3EG Repeater - 430.9125 MHz FM 7:10 - PMR 446 - 446.00625 MHz FM 7:43 - Wrap-up 8:20 - Outtro Great review, I have a 125 XLT scanner, I may well pick one up. 73's Rob in Switzerland

[@seanfinch8011]

Rob gb3eg is on echolink if you like to chat..

[@RobWhittlestone]

@@seanfinch8011 Thanks for the tip Sean - I don’t know what Echolink is - I probably need an amateur license, don’t I? 73’s Rob

[@Mottersmotters]

Great video and great antenna Lewis. Was also good to hear two of my locals on both of my local sota's. Motters M7TRS 73

[@chrisplunkett2814]

It would be interesting (and possibly more relevant) to give S meter readings where possible for this against band specific dipoles.Without comparing it to something else it's not possible to tell if it's any good or not.After all up that high with near perfect all round visibility a coat hanger would work reasonably well.🙂

[@FrancoDX]

I have the other magmount version without the radials and cone, it’s surprisingly quite good even indoors. Even better static mobile with it on my van roof. Looking forward to see what yours pulls in 👍🏼

[@assistantto007]

Do pilots and control towers try to out - do each other in a "let's see how fast I can talk" competition?

[@SocialistDistancing]

I've often wondered why the talk so fast. Racing through pertinent information that maybe, just maybe should be said slower and annunciated for clarity.

[@m1cxf]

I think some are training to be auctioneers, the others are frustrated horse racing commentators.

[@chrisplunkett2814]

At a busy airport it saves a lot of time over the course of a whole day.At some very busy American airports the approach controller never lets go of the mic's press-to-talk button so the aircraft have to reply by pressing the squawk ident button.When they tell them to contact the tower it's almost always 'callsign only'.

[@davidgraemesmith1980]

Simple answer, yes

[@gordslater]

There's a very limited phraseology (the number of different words and situations, basically, that they discuss), so with practice it's quite simple to understand once your brain is "in the zone". Until then, it does sound very fast and a bit confusing. CAP 417 Radiotelephony Manual is a good read and is available in pdf form free from the CAA website and will demonstrate the limited phraseology set they use. One reason that they sounds annoyed on being told to say again is that they reduce their speech speed very deliberately, which can sound quite intimidating, but is done for a valid reason and is almost never real annoyance. UK aviation comms are quite strict and clipped compared to some other countries, but it works well.

[@Phil-M0KPH]

Interesting aerial, suitable for the home office so you can listen while you work. It would be interesting to put it on the VNA to see the main areas of resonance.

[@MrKeys57]

I have this antenna, - very pleased with it overall, - have it on my balcony, - can even pickup some HF frequencies! - 73, Levi in sweden

[@Swaggerlot]

I had their original discone some years back. It worked and matched to a number of bands, but then a 50 ohm resistor would also give a good match. Its amazing the difference that a real antenna made....

[@paulmark63]

I got this antenna in my room we are in high ground I put a biscuit tin to act as a ground plain on Airband I get over 100 miles plus from south London and all the local airfields around the south east Essex and Hertfordshire

[@ronwade2206]

We built discones in west Phoenix, good broadband signal to noise ratio, broad band coverage.

[@KarlHobson]

Great review just ordered one for my Uniden SDS200E

[@captainhookrecovery5580]

I'm off to watch Big Clive Live... I'll watch this tomorrow.

[@johnnywood8082]

Bye

[@WX4CB]

if you dont have a metal desk... you can always use a quality street or roses tin on the window sill... we used to do that all the time.

[@Aengus42]

Hahaha! A DV27 on a biscuit tin was a classic setup in the American AM CB days 😃

[@WX4CB]

@@Aengus42 i used to ride around town with a dv27 on the back of my push bike with the radio on the handlebars kik

[@Aengus42]

@@WX4CB How'd you supply 12V in a bike? Did you have a car battery in a rucksack?🚴 I bought a Cobra 19X from a guy in a multi storey car park at midnight (CB was illegal back then!) and i made a quarter wave dipole up in the loft. But the DV27 on a biscuit tin on the floor in the front room was the more common set up. I was the Hamster 🐹 way before Richard Hammond nicked my handle!

[@WX4CB]

@@Aengus42 had a small 12 volt sla from a fire alarm in a pouch slung under the seat post.

[@WX4CB]

@@Aengus42 then i found the fun of the portapack and never looked back

[@SocialistDistancing]

The last catch was humorous. I better pissoff because it's almost teatime. LoL.

[@bodazaphfa]

After research and watching reviews, I spent $81.00 on the bundle from Moonraker and the tax, VAT, and shipping were an additional $53.00. I mean FFS, the government charges were almost the same cost as the products. Fk the gubment. Regardless, I paid it and am looking forward to seeing what this antenna and loup can do for a guy who lives in an apartment. Great video. Thank you. Liked and subscribed.🫡

[@therealdjflip]

Would be interesting too see how this performs for things like ADS-B and AIS while using it outdoors

[@matth7272]

I've had my eye on one of those since about 2013. I've built some of my own mono band antennas. I have one reciever for HF and on for VHF/UHF. I'm not an amateur I have more fun listening.

[@357Shakey]

First - love your videos! I might have to order one of these for portable use. I have a Diamond D-130 in the attic. Running it as my V/U antenna on my RSPdx. Not as good as the sloper for HF/SWL but good from about 80MHz up. I like the idea of using the Moonraker Skyscan mobile, as some of the other commenters did.

[@nascar0509]

I have two of these both used with a RSPdx connected to input C of said SDR receiver for frequencies above 50Mhz.

[@Nitrrous19]

I've got this set up in the garage with spy server on a pi ... Interesting to see what results you get

[@normanhill535]

Thanks for the informative video.

[@Digital-Talk-Groups]

Awesome. I got one of these and a scanner I really must use it

[@seanfinch8011]

Thanks for using gb3eg for the 70cms part Lewis your welcome to use it more more often than not someone always listening .. good work on the video's mate... m0oeg

[@woody1766]

no link for the antenna ?

[@bwc1976]

Looks good, I'll keep it in mind for when I get my first scanner! (maybe Christmas?)

[@-The-Darkside]

I have this antenna and you got great results but indoors I haven't had great results at all, a 2m piece of wire with a jack plug on the end out performs it indoors. I've been using it connected to my sdr and connecting the wire to it. Noisy as hell but it massively boosts the signal.my area is not the best, rural area on the coast

[@rustyknight4580]

I have the mobile version on a biscuit tin on the window sill but watched this because I wanted to see if would be worth getting the desktop version to put in the loft. As the base is magnetic I might still stand it on a biscuit tin of only to make it more stable.

[@WATTYUK]

I've been looking at these as no matter what I try, SDR,PMR repeater listening ( no licence yet ) ADSB even bought a active mini whip for SWL and a CB I pick up zero :( in South Wales in a valley but my house is above the others round

[@TheSillyshyguy]

Excellent!

[@AdamSWL]

Would be interesting to plug it into a Nano VNA and see if it is resonant anywhere!

[@wigglepig115]

Whilst this would be a great approach I feel it my duty to point out that the VNA will not show resonance, only peaks in return loss (so ranges of good match.)

[@AdamSWL]

@@wigglepig115 Thanks. You are right there! Always something to learn in this hobby!

[@dnel83]

I've had the magmount version for years and it works very well when coupled with a grounded metal base like my radiators. I wasn't thinking about that though when I let my plumber feed my new radiators with PVC pipe and it took a minute until the penny dropped after I saw the huge increase in noise next time I used it. Perhaps this is a good alternative

[@mattottie6410]

I use this same antenna on my uniden home patrol 2, works well and i am at least 20 miles from any towers, i am in a very quiet enviroment however.

[@scottso241]

it reminds me of the discone ant just wondering how well can it revr the iss repeater

[@mrkultra1655]

Thanks

[@darrenm2736]

Is it any good for military airband

[@MuzzaGamingLife]

Thank you for your videos they have been great. Would this work for a multi band radio such as a UV K6? I am interested in listening to airports and marine (not worried about transmitting). I am saving up for a scanner so it would be great to have this be able to work on both. Cheers

[@RingwayManchester]

It will yes :)

[@MuzzaGamingLife]

@ great will buy one today. Will see if I can track one down in Australia. Thank you

[@boilerroombob]

First class as ever m8

[@keithskidmore1382]

Brilliant antenna for the price I paid, £19 from Moonraker at the last National Hamfest before the Covid Cancellations, looking forward to this year's show.

[@c4715]

That's an excellent price, I paid about £50 I think!

[@GadgetAddict]

Seems pretty good for £49.99

[@DeeFPV]

i ues the MiniWhip Antenna on the ATS25 and works well

[@ocsrc]

Check out the ABBREE 518 It has reception down to 20 MHz Unfortunately they don't have an AM mode It transmit is 136 MHz and up I wish it was able to be modified to transmit Down to 20 MHz

[@TonyLing]

That actually looks quite nicely built for something from Nutscraper.

[@AdamSWL]

And you could even use it as a Nutscraper!

[@palmtopman24]

How would this perform please on Rx HF? Thanks.

[@martinstanworth7468]

Is this antenna suitable for short wave reciever. Thank you

[@stastosh]

How to transfer the audio from a scanner with a 3.5mm port to a PC to record the audio?

[@MM0IMC]

What was the guy on CB bumping his gums about a Sadelta microphone for?

[@robredridge1703]

Rx only or Tx Lewis? If its Tx/Rx how about another video showing CB, 10m, 4m, 6m, 2m & 70cms? That would be interesting.

[@redsky1433]

RX only.

[@scottd7470]

Hey there. I'm new to this hobby and was thinking about buying this antenna. Do you know what adapter I will need for this to work with my NESDR Mini (TV28T v2) SDR Thank you

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Interesting, thanks. Did you try transmitting on it? I have a full discone and it's pretty forgiving and wideband for TX. I think you trade wideband tolerance for transmit performance though.

[@JeanLoyens]

Hi there, I have the same question. I have a portable CB-radio with only 5W of TX. I wondered if I could use this antenna to also transmit, since it's not a heavy load...

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

@@JeanLoyens I'm guessing it will be OK but don't sue me if your rig dies! Joking apart, if the SWR is OK, 5W should be OK, provided it has a good ground plane like a car roof. I recently picked up one as in the video and will try it with a rig when I've cleaned it up a little. You may find your CB rig is 4W. 5W is unusual on a standard rig.

[@JeanLoyens]

@@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE thank you for answering and indeed it's 4W, my bad.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

@@JeanLoyens No problem, good luck with it and let me know how you get on.

[@JeanLoyens]

@@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE Thank you for your quick answer. Very kind of you and thank you for your nice review. I'll keep an eye on this antenna, in the case that my ordered active GA-800 antenne will not be sufficient for my Malahit DSP2 (both ordered end September, but it will only arrive between 1 and 14 november, they say).

[@LuisRodriguez-417]

I would like to mount this antenna on to a tripod. Do you know what the screw size is on the base?

[@JeanLoyens]

BNC

[@rayinpau.s.a.6351]

I would like to find an indoor antenna for cb radio that can RX & TX . This looks promising !

[@gordslater]

"summits on the air" me: well - what is it then?

[@gonz33-]

Hello, which antenna is better to receive the air band, a Dipole type or a ground plane whip? I want to have the most powerful one to receive 118.0 to 136.0 Mhz. I want the better.

[@IainSTARGAZER]

@gonz33 Depends on what you want to mainly listen to. A ground plane whip has a lower angle of radiation/reception - typically 10° up from the horizon, so will be stronger on receive from distant stations, whereas a vertical dipole has a higher radiation/reception - typically 45° up from the horizon, so will be better for aircraft. Signals from distant ground control towers will be stronger on the ground plane whip, whereas the dipole would give stronger signals from aircraft. If your local airport is some distance away, it’s likely the ground plane whip would be best compromise. If your local airport is fairly close, the dipole is likely the best choice. It’s always horses for courses!

[@gonz33-]

​Thanks for You information.

[@jekkodejekkis7372]

Could you tell us the maximum diameter at the end of the radials?

[@johnnywood8082]

Link for antenna?

[@-The-Darkside]

They're on amazon, Ive got one, theyre about 60 quid.

[@patrickjamessimpson7268]

can anyone recommend a quailty connector to connect my jianpai and baofeng to this antenna please thank you.

[@Wayne-Pr]

Hi Ringway Manchester. love your videos, I have been trying without luck to purchase 2 x of these antennas & have them shipped to Australia but cannot find anyone in the U.K. that even has them in stock, can you recomend anyone to purchase these from ?. TIA. Rgs Wayne

[@RingwayManchester]

Hey Wayne sorry mate I got mine from moonraker in the uk. Nothing on amazon?

[@sivoltage]

Can this be used to transmit on?

[@MCruzDXer]

Great antenna! 73

[@Corruption-uncensored]

Would this be worth getting for amateur radio communications? I have good height being in a tower block as well

[@RingwayManchester]

Not really any good for transmitting only receive

[@Corruption-uncensored]

@@RingwayManchester thank you. What would you recommend please

[@RingwayManchester]

Diamond x50 for vhf uhf

[@Corruption-uncensored]

@@RingwayManchester thank you I’ll have a look at it

[@seanfinlayson3943]

@@Corruption-uncensored Mag loop

[@TheVicar]

I'm going to buy this antenna as I've just been using a 2m split coax, taped onto a broompole in my attic for a few years now. I'm lucky that I'm high up on a hill and have a great line of sight, so it works ok. Question: I've heard people say that using a metal baking tray under such an antenna as a ground helps. But does it make any difference having the baking tray earthed to your house mains? Or is that just a bad idea?

[@allancopland1768]

I bet your broompole will outperform it.

[@samgraham4168]

House mains is noisy AF, better off with a direct earth stake into the ground if you want to go that way. Your house earth loop is not a good idea for a groundplane.

[@TheVicar]

@@samgraham4168 Many thanks. I've never tried it, but always wondered how it would perform. You've saved me from that experiment.

[@shaunhagan6527]

Good video

[@jfbabar]

I bought this antenna from Moonraker a year ago. (with exerbitant shipping costs). very good quality, careful construction but COMPLETELY MUTE. it is like a Mercedes without engine. I use it as a Christmas tree with some garland.to believe that they never did a test before selling them..heartbreaking....

[@onceways]

Are these antennas only design to RX?

[@IainSTARGAZER]

@onceways Yes - this antenna is designed for receive only, although in theory it should be reasonably TX resonant on at least four different band areas (hence the four verticals). The only way to tell is by using an antenna analyser - if the SWR is less than 1:2.0 then it would be safe to use for TX, but it’s likely the TX would be very inefficient. Despite what many think, a reasonable (even good) SWR is not an indication of efficiency!

[@zeproo]

Please analog communication 4 ever. Thank you!

[@trainsfan2114]

does this work with unidan

[@RingwayManchester]

Yeah it does

[@johnlomasney]

Interesting

[@wam2610]

👍

[@no1be4me2]

Rather have the fun of making my own and saving money and they work just as good if not better...

[@nottjohn9418]

I bought one of those from Waters and Stanton about twenty years ago (the magnetic desktop version) and maybe I got unlucky but was a waste of money and worse than a standard Uniden rubber duck! Deaf as a post and noisy with it! I await your video with baited breath.

[@sr-xv7eu]

Uk frequency... So no one can come chat .

[@chrisscott1547]

Testing an antenna without swr or swept impedance data (VNA) is kind of like testing a car without a speedometer. If you choose to just compare signal strength, you need an accurate level meter and a dipole on that frequency to compare it to.

[@CadillacDriver]

Not at all. Actual recordings of the antenna's performance tells the average user all they need to know. Instruments may give you numbers, but *_hearing_* the gain is more important.

[@chrisscott1547]

@@CadillacDriver Sorry, no. Professionals do it with much more precise methods. I've worked in the field for 40 years. Read any of the IEEE antenna range publications and you'll better understand.

[@CadillacDriver]

@@chrisscott1547 ummm. You have completely missed my point, and you also have no idea what I know or who I am, so please don't imply I am speaking from a place of no experience here. I've literally laid out why actual real-world testing is better for the "average user" - note those 2 words. Most people who listen to scanners casually will not care for numbers, data and analytics - they want THIS type of video to actually *_hear_* what the antenna is capable of compared to others. It's like telling 99.9% of people all about the inner workings of the I.C.E. or how many lumens a torch has, and what Cree chip is in it.... they don't care. It's the real-world usage they care about because numbers mean absolutely nothing to them. I can sit here and look over my BLF Q8's instruction manuals and marvel at the extreme amount of settings, customisation and tech packed in to it - most people are literally like "click to turn on, click to turn off". They see a torch that produces light (because that's all they need and they don't care because it's not their niche) not a wonder of technological advancement. When you start getting in to technical jargon, people's eyes glaze over unless it's their particular niche hobby. This is obviously your niche and I have owned scanners since 1997 myself, and use PRS radio, so I'm not exactly amateur here - but that doesn't mean I need or want instruments to throw numbers at me when I compare antennas in the field.

[@chrisscott1547]

@@CadillacDriver While it's true that unlike most viewers, I am an engineer, the trouble with extremely casual comparisons made without controlling as many variables as possible, is that a given set of "results" may have very little to do with the antennas' merit and more to do with other factors. All antenna folks will tell you that impedance matching is assumed to be good, and for wideband operation this can be a real challenge, so before wasting time on any other metric, such as gain and radiation pattern, that is evaluated first. If it's 5:1 or worse vswr over needed bandwidth, that's going to cause significant signal loss and additional line loss. Without these considerations, you might just as well say "I can hear some signals so the antenna must sorta work."

[@CadillacDriver]

@@chrisscott1547 well naturally if the swr is that high, there is no point using it. The other issue I see with "controlling variables" is that in the real world, that can't be done.... Hence open-air comparisons are, in my eyes, the way to go.

[@hyperionsixzeroeight5064]

NEVER NEVER NEVER waste your money on this. When mine arrived there was a dead short across the antenns and there id NO WAY to get it apart to repair due to the adhesive holding the base tube in place. I ended up throwing it in the trash as there was no way to get to the coax attachment point inside the tube. Just throw your money in the garbage before wasting it on any Moonraker product, over $100.00 wasted.

[@zerobow9413]

Discones are never any good unless you have a pretty good receiver and use filters like a FM-stop filter. On a wide RX like an SDR almost useless without even more filtering/bandpass. Even up in the microwave bands they get swamped by cell towers in suburbia.

[@speedymartin2]

Actually the antenna performance is very disappointing for the frequency range where it is made for. Would have been better if you had checked it with an analyzer or show the performance comparing to simple uhf/vhf amateur band antennas they perform a lot better, also outside the ham bands.

[@mickjones1941]

junk

[@SCzxjk]

These antennas are notoriously crap! Don't waste your money,they are no better than a tabletop telescopic. Another shameless yt'er

[@RingwayManchester]

Is there something wrong with you?

[@17cmmittlererminenwerfer81]

Please, lose the sing-song up-and-down weird cadence like some BBC reporter. It's hugely annoying.

[@RingwayManchester]

Either that or you just go and watch someone else’s videos. Comments from people like you are highly annoying

[@huwkelvinmorgan3575]

cool

[@kubectlgetpo]

It's sold as Whistler WMM-860 in the USA.

[@oldrango883]

Welp, I was gonna buy one buuuut, the shipping is more than the antenna