Discone antenna gives a bandwidth of 10:1 with an omnidirectional characteristic. It is perfect to use this antenna with VHF and UHF antennas. You can use a Wide Band Discone Antenna for many radio communication applications. It is also used for military purposes and monitoring homes.

1. Everything you need to Know about
Discone Antenna
Discone antenna gives a bandwidth of 10:1 with an omnidirectional
characteristic. It is perfect to use this antenna with VHF and UHF antennas. You
can use a Wide Band Discone Antenna for many radio communication
applications. It is also used for military purposes and monitoring homes.
This blog describes everything about the Discone antenna, its uses, benefits, and
drawbacks in detail. We will also discuss many things related to this antenna.

2. What Is a Discone Antenna?
A discone antenna is a kind of biconical antenna. Unlike other antennas, this
antenna has a disk instead of cones. This disk is located at the top of a cone. Some
discone antennas have a metal disk on top of a metal cone.
You can use discone antenna for frequencies of 30 MHz and above. However, you
can also this antenna for a lower frequency range. Cone and disc in discone
antennas are made from fine quality metal sheets. Normally, these antennas
contain 6 to 16 rods within a lower region.
This antenna operates over a frequency range of 10:1 depending on different
designs. It also provides a low angle of radiation. Moreover, discone antennas are
widely used for VHF/UHF applications. The angle of radiation in this antenna
increases at the top position.
Use of Discone Antennas
Armig Kandoian is the investor of the first discone antenna. He received a patent
in the year 1945 for direction finding and aircraft communication. These antennas
are used in military areas as they are used to provide good communication in
border areas.
UHF Discone Antenna has many uses such as monitoring and radio scanning. It is
used even for RF transmissions. You can use discone antenna for several UHF and
VHF applications. It is mainly used in the areas where the signal is very close to
ground level.
One of the most popular examples of an Ultra wide Discone Antenna is an indoor
UHF antenna. It is developed using durable sheet metal. Now, we will discuss how
discone antennas work. It is difficult to understand the working of a discone
antenna but we will discuss it simply.
Disc and cone elements radiate the energy. This antenna will get better
simulation by adding more elements. 6 elements are used to maintain a balance
between cost, performance, and wind resistance.

3. The feeder meets the antenna and spreads over the cone surface. RF antenna
receives and radiates energy and the radiation pattern is omnidirectional in the
horizontal line. It radiates energy at a low angle and gives a better operating
range. Discone antenna does not need any ground connection and can work from
a coaxial feeder.
Advantages of Discone Antennas
Discone antennas can be used for VHF and UHF applications. Apart from that,
there are also many other Advantages of Discone Antennas such as:
1. Wide band Omni directional antenna
Discone antenna is a Wide band Omni directional antenna. It works the same as
a planar antenna. The frequency range ratio of discone antennas is about 10:1.
The best VHF Discone Antenna is the antenna that includes a frequency range
between 30 and 1300 MHz. Moreover, the discone antenna is a wideband
antenna.
2. Good for TV broadcasting
Discone antennas operate at a frequency range of 10:1. They also follow an omni
directional pattern from 470 MHz to 862 MHz. Apart from that, the antenna also
has a range from 1.75 to 2.3 dBi. Because of different omni directional
characteristics, you can use a discone antenna for TV broadcasting systems. It
improves picture quality while watching different TV channels.
3. Wind resistance
In the case of discone antennas, the disc and cone are made from solid metal.
They do not rust or break due to winds, water, dust, and UV rays. You can install
these antennas in any kind of weather. They give good performance even in harsh
climatic conditions.
4. Gives powerful signals
One of the major Benefits of Discone Antennas is that they help to radiate
spurious signals easily. The level of reflected power will differ as per operating
range and even rises above limits in some areas.

4. You can use special tools to filter signals. These tools will help to get better signals
while monitoring or broadcasting TV channels.
5. Attractive looks
One benefit of a discone antenna is that it has attractive looks. You can mount it
on your commercial or residential buildings easily with simple equipment and
tools.
Disadvantages of Discone Antennas
Discone antennas also have many drawbacks. Let us have a look at some
disadvantages of Discone Antennas in the below section:
 Interference of other signals
A Military Discone Antenna is omnidirectional and receives signals from many
directions. This pattern often causes interference in many signals from different
directions. You might face some problems in broadcasting by using a discone
antenna.
 Bulky antennas
One of the major drawbacks of discone antenna is that it is heavy and massive if
you want to get lower frequencies. You can use discone antennas only for
frequencies above 30 MHz. Heavy antennas are difficult to use for broadcasting
and monitoring purposes.
 Reception pattern increases upward with frequency
One more drawback of using a discone antenna is that the radiation pattern has
lobes. These lobes increase upward with the rising frequency. So, you cannot
receive or transmit signals at a very high-frequency range.
 Creates more space for birds
As discone antennas are mounted at a good height, they are easy to find by birds.
These antennas are easy to reach for birds and you may get problems with
signals.

5. Final words
A discone antenna is an Omni directional antenna that receives signals from
different directions. It is widely used for TV broadcasting applications. This
antenna is easy to mount at a higher altitude with simple tools.
Dipole antenna is similar to discone antenna. You will have a gain of less than 0.
The diameter of a discone antenna must be 0.7 times the quarter wavelength of
the lowest frequency got by the antenna. It does not need any ground support to
work.