The MFJ-1868 is a low-cost ultra-wide-band discone antenna, with a receive (RX) range of 25-1300 MHz and it can be used to transmit (TX) from 50-1300 MHz. It can handle up to 200 Watts SSB. Ideal for 6/2/11 Meters, 70/33/23 CM ham bands. Excellent for testing various transmitters or to be used with any wide band SDR receiver. Includes SO-239 connector, 50 feet coax with PL-259 installed, stainless steel elements and mounting hardware. If you are new to the hobby this is very good starting antenna. 73 Pascal VA2PV
Cool video and antenna, Pascal---but the first thing I would do if I bought one of those would be to ditch the 50 feet of RG58 that it comes with (!) and replace it with low loss coax such as DXE400Max or Times Microwave LMR400. The RG59 can be used for HF which is what it's a lot more suited to. 73, Jeff
"Ideal for 6/2/11 Meters" I prefer my Shakespeare Big Stick for 11 meters. And, so sorry Pascal but, considering the continuing level of very poor customer service and dismal product reliability, I wouldn't consider anything from Mississippi State since my last and final conundrum with them.
SO-239 connectors for UHF???? Come on now! Broadband antennas are notorious for having peaks and "valleys" in their coverage. The valleys usually are right over what you want to monitor. And transmitting into one of those discones? Better make sure of the SWR or you may blow your finals if your rig doesn't havebuilt-in high SWR protection. BTW, these broadband discones aren't anything new. I was using one into a CV-253 /ALR converter in a AN/APR-4 in the early '80's!!!
I heartily second the idea of the discone........just not the MFJ discone. Diamond, Comet, Hustler anything but an MFJ
I used to think the same---but not all MFJ stuff is junk---sort of the same as Harbor Freight tools. Both companies get bad reps that are not always well deserved as many think. 73, Jeff PS: I meant "The RG58..."(not RG59) in my earlier post...
Hi Jeff, you’re right and that’s what most experienced ham’s will do. But the fact that they included the coax with the PL-259 already installed is a good thing for somebody getting started and that has fewer experiences. They can upgrade later on after learning how to improve reception. ;-) 73 Pascal VA2PV
You can find that discone from several sources. I have one I got off Amazon under a different name. It bothers me that it is suppose to go to 1.3GHz but it uses a SO-239 connector. I really wish that was an N connector. But, for the price I thought I'd give it a try. I should put it up in a few weeks. Mine will be feeding a SDR stick through a 30 dB LNA.
Realistically, using a SO-239 to N connector at the antenna base you lose like 1dB. No big deal./\ This discone is not a lot different that the RatShack 20-043. It's a discone. Your experience may vary...
Be Careful. Some metal looking parts are chrome plated plastic/resin/??? and break very easy... But- it does work well with my Uniden/Bearcat scanner. I used it with a RTL-SRD receiver connected to an old PC for a while. RJ
Yeah, I agree although I think that when I put a PL-259/SO-239 mated combo on a VNA that it was closer to 3dB at a 1 GHz. But that's been awhile back and I could be mistaken. But, even dropping 3dB in a SDR receiver really isn't the end of the world. If I were using it in a transmitter application I might care a bit. I just don't see why they aren't making these things with the proper N connector as I can't imagine it would have any impact on manufacturing cost whatsoever.
I did buy a discone for my SDR. The Comet was worth the extra $20.00, nice finish on the aluminium. I get excellent results on 2m, 6 and 440.
I had an MFJ discone when I first got my license. I have a Radio Shack discone now and it's not as nice but works almost as good. Not a lot of gain but it is very useful. Only problem is it's so wideband I got IMD on certain Japanese radios. I can only imagine it could be a pain with Chinese radios.