Sky Scan 1300 Desk Top Antenna

The Sky Scan line of antennas have been available over in England since sometime in 1994. Three models are presently available. They are the DX V1300 discone (outside), the Desk Top 1300 (indside) and the Magmount MKII (mobile). All are advertised as receiving from 25 - 1300 MHz. Recently, ads for these antennas began running in Monitoring Times and my need to know had to be quenched. I made a call and ordered the Desk Top 1300 which arrived in about ten days from England. I hooked it up to my PRO-2042 and that's where it's been for the last few months. It performed well for the bands I used it on so I thought I'd put it through a comprehensive test and offer up the results to my fellow monitoring enthusiasts. This, in no way, should be viewed as an endorsement to purchase this antenna nor is it intended to discourage anyone from buying it. I have no personal or business relations with the manufacturer of this antenna. These are simply thoughts offered to my fellow hobbyists who may be interested in purchasing this particular antenna. Thank you and enjoy! Rich Wells N2MCA Strong Signals web site

The base is constructed of black painted steel approximately 6" in diameter and covered on the bottom by a thin film, rubber cap to keep it from scratching whatever it is you might set it on.

Removing this cap exposes the underside and reveals a large, magnetized iron core of 3" outer-diameter, 1.25" inner-diamter and 3/8" thickness which has been glued to the base. In the middle is a large brass screw used to attach the base to the mast.

The mast is constructed of 1" round, 9.5" high black PVC pipe. The top of the pipe is capped with a rounded, pyramidal block of aluminum and held in place with two set screws.

This aluminum block is where the eight, 11" aluminum radials are attached forming a 30 degree angle with the mast giving it the characteristic discone shape.

Atop this block is a 3" round, 1/2" thick aluminum disk. This disk is used to attach the four horizontal, 3" rubber ducks and is the base for the four vertical top elements. Three of the vertical elements are simply whips of lengths 22.5", 9" and 6.5". The fourth is a 11" whip with a 2" coil near the bottom.

The total height is 36" while the maximum width is found at the tips of the lower radials and measures 15". Also note that the eight radials, four rubber ducks and four vertical whips are all tipped with rubber caps for added protection.

Included with the antenna is a 13' 21" length of RG-58/U coax cable. One end is a BNC connector while the other is supposedly PL-259. The cable enters the mast through a small hole near the bottom then feeds upward to the pyramidal block to which it attaches with the PL-259.

Out of the box, the base simple screws into the mast. The coax cable is already fed into the mast and attached with the PL-259 connector so no work is needed there. All that's left is to screw in the eight radials and four rubber ducks and you're ready to go!

Overall fit and finish of all parts is very good. Everything seems well constructed and has held up well outside on my screened-in back porch for the last few months. Slight rust is evident which is not surprising as this model is intended for indoor use only.

VHF/UHF Performance
To test this antenna, I treated it as another handheld type antenna since it is advertised as a desk model. For outdoor use, the V1300 discone is recommended.

I decided to test it against the stock GRE handheld antenna (A0337) which represents a typcial/average, run-of-the-mill antenna these days. I also tested it against a more sensitive antenna, the Diamond RH-77CA as well as the four foot Cushcraft/Grove telescoping whip (ANT-8) which represents the best wide-range, do-it-all antenna you can use on a handheld.

I used my Yupiteru MVT-9000 as the test radio and took S-meter readings for each antenna over a wide range of frequencies. What follows is a tabulation of my measurements. If a reading just barely opened the squelch, a value of 0 was given. A signal S-meter bar was given 1 point up to an S-meter indication of 9 while a 10 was given for a full-range deflection. If the squelch remained closed, a '-' is indicated.

Assigning point values for each reading puts the ANT-8 in first place with 182 points followed by the 1300 with 144 points, the RH-77CA with 124 and the A0337 with 75 points.

As can usually be expected, a nice long telescoping whip is the best choice for most monitoring. For most scanning though, you'll have to adjust its length to match the frequencies being monitored. If you usually stay within a single range, this does not present a problem. However, for monitoring everything from VHF to UHF, one set length is not going to produce optimum reception.

The 1300 turned in good results but I had hoped for a little better performance. It seems to work very well in the very-lo VHF as well as in the commercial and military aero, FM radio and 800 MHz bands. I use mine mainly for the commercial and military aero monitoring and have been very pleased with the results. Results for VHF-hi were very disappointing and for all other bands the RH-77CA or ANT-8 would be a better choice.

The RH-77CA showed its superior performance as was proven in my handheld antenna review from a few months ago. The A0337 shows everyone how much better you can do and how much more you can hear by simply replacing a stock antenna.

Summary
The Sky Scan Desk 1300 turned in pretty good results. Hard to go wrong if the bands you monitor are those in which it scored the highest. This particular unit was purchased from S.R.P. Trading in England for $100 plus about $13 for import duty.

Any wide-band antenna is hard-pressed to compete against a telescoping whip that can be adjusted to match the desired frequency. Not bad for being one of the cheaper antennas out there today. But everyone knows you can't take the time to constantly keep adjusting its length.

The 1300 held up fairly well but did not turn in much better results than the RH-77CA. Especially when you consider that the 1300 is nearly 4 times the 77CA's price tag. For some people it is not worth the added expense.

However, if you happen to spend a lot of time in the bands where the 1300 performs well, it does redeem itself. If an outdoor model is desired, the larger but similar DX V1300 discone might be worth a look.

I will also mention that you could also replace the RG-58 with RG-6 or 9913 should you desire to wring more performance from this antenna. You could also tailor the length to one which might prove more suitable for your usage.

The cable, while a source of slight attenuation at short lengths, does offer you the opportunity to move the antenna closer to a window or allow it to reach sweet spots. You don't have this option with your regular indoor, handheld antennas. This might be a deciding factor for some.

Overall, it delivers good performance, is well made and offers you good placement flexibility. On top of that, you have the opportunity of owning one of the weirdest looking antennas ever made!

Other Reviews

shortwave Magazine, Nov. '94, V1300 Discone

U.S. Scanner News, Oct. '95, Ed Muro, Desk 1300

Monitoring Times, Apr. '96, Ed Muro, Desk 1300

Copyright © 2010 by Richard J. Wells