Elecraft

OT: HF discone

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Ken G Kopp

OT: HF discone

There is/was an HF discone at a missle silo in Southern AZ that has/had a
coax cable available for public use. Just drive up and connect your mobile
rig. (:-))

There's another for HF use at the FAA aircraft control center in SLC.

73 !

On Fri, Dec 7, 2018, 15:30 Charlie T <[hidden email] wrote:

> I wonder if anyone has ever tried, for want of a better name, a "Skeleton
> Cone" which consists of a single horizontal wire connected to the coax
> center conductor and two sloping wires at 45 degrees, in the same plane
> connected to the coax shield. A true Discone antenna would have many
> (typically eight each) horizontal and sloping elements. I'm guessing many
> of us have used the VHF/UHF version for very wide band coverage, for
> example 144, 220, 432 MHz and even higher. I know I have one up and it
> performs as well as a regular single band ¼λ ground plane (unity gain)
> on all three bands with low SWR. The ICOM version as well as a few others,
> also have a loaded whip for 52 MHz mounted on the bushing that the
> horizontal elements are screwed into.
>
> I'm also guessing the formulas for a true Discone would work for a
> "skeleton" style as well. I Since it is inherently a wide band design, the
> actual lengths are probably not too critical. I've heard this type antenna
> described, but I don't remember where or how well it supposedly worked. It
> obviously requires two supports, high enough that the sloping wires ends
> are off the ground by a bit.
>
> 73, Charlie k3ICH
>
>
>
>
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k6dgw

Re: OT: HF discone

I think one or more of the WWV antennas in Ft. Collins are semi-discone
designs with the guy cables acting as the skirt.

73,
Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 12/7/2018 2:43 PM, Ken G Kopp wrote:
> There is/was an HF discone at a missle silo in Southern AZ that has/had a
> coax cable available for public use. Just drive up and connect your mobile
> rig. (:-))
>
> There's another for HF use at the FAA aircraft control center in SLC.
>
>

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donovanf

Re: OT: HF discone

In reply to this post by Ken G Kopp

Its a somewhat improved version of the Happy Accident Ground Plane
in January 1957 QST

http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/38955

73
Frank
W3LPL

----- Original Message -----

From: "Walter Underwood" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft QTH.net List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, December 7, 2018 11:45:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: HF discone

The lower element is a cone, but I think the analysis for the discone is pretty different. At least, that’s what I understood from the L. E. Cebik article.

The WWV antennas don’t need to be wideband, because they have one for each frequency.

"The WWV antennas are half-wave vertical antennas that radiate omnidirectional patterns. There are antennas at the station site for each frequency. Each antenna is connected to a single transmitter using a rigid coaxial line, and the site is designed so that no two coaxial lines cross. Each antenna is mounted on a tower that is approximately one half-wavelength tall. The tallest tower, for 2.5 MHz, is about 60 m tall. The shortest tower, for 20 MHz, is about 7.5 m tall. The top half of each antenna is a quarter-wavelength radiating element. The bottom half of each antenna consists of nine quarter-wavelength wires that connect to the center of the tower and slope downwards to the ground at a 45 degree angle. This sloping skirt functions as the lower half of the radiating system and also guys the antenna.”

https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/radio-stations/wwv <https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/radio-stations/wwv>

wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)

> On Dec 7, 2018, at 3:02 PM, Fred Jensen <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I think one or more of the WWV antennas in Ft. Collins are semi-discone designs with the guy cables acting as the skirt.
>
> 73,
> Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
> Sparks NV DM09dn
> Washoe County
>
> On 12/7/2018 2:43 PM, Ken G Kopp wrote:
>> There is/was an HF discone at a missle silo in Southern AZ that has/had a
>> coax cable available for public use. Just drive up and connect your mobile
>> rig. (:-))
>>
>> There's another for HF use at the FAA aircraft control center in SLC.
>>
>>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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Jim Rhodes-2

Re: OT: HF discone

In reply to this post by Ken G Kopp

I have used the one in Arizona. You have to log in at the gift shop in the
museum, then just hook up and go. Made contacts all over the country on
several bands. No tuning needed, flat across the bands.

Jim Rhodes
K0XU

On Fri, Dec 7, 2018, 16:44 Ken G Kopp <[hidden email] wrote:

> There is/was an HF discone at a missle silo in Southern AZ that has/had a
> coax cable available for public use. Just drive up and connect your mobile
> rig. (:-))
>
> There's another for HF use at the FAA aircraft control center in SLC.
>
> 73 !
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 7, 2018, 15:30 Charlie T <[hidden email] wrote:
>
> > I wonder if anyone has ever tried, for want of a better name, a "Skeleton
> > Cone" which consists of a single horizontal wire connected to the coax
> > center conductor and two sloping wires at 45 degrees, in the same plane
> > connected to the coax shield. A true Discone antenna would have many
> > (typically eight each) horizontal and sloping elements. I'm guessing many
> > of us have used the VHF/UHF version for very wide band coverage, for
> > example 144, 220, 432 MHz and even higher. I know I have one up and it
> > performs as well as a regular single band ¼λ ground plane (unity gain)
> > on all three bands with low SWR. The ICOM version as well as a few
> others,
> > also have a loaded whip for 52 MHz mounted on the bushing that the
> > horizontal elements are screwed into.
> >
> > I'm also guessing the formulas for a true Discone would work for a
> > "skeleton" style as well. I Since it is inherently a wide band design,
> the
> > actual lengths are probably not too critical. I've heard this type
> antenna
> > described, but I don't remember where or how well it supposedly worked.
> It
> > obviously requires two supports, high enough that the sloping wires ends
> > are off the ground by a bit.
> >
> > 73, Charlie k3ICH
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:[hidden email]
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to [hidden email]
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]