3D Print – Discone Antenna.

The project involved both the 3D printer and radio… – a discone antenna for use between 400MHz and, hopefully, 2GHz. The cone’s diameter and slant height are both 18cm and the disc diameter is 12.6cm. The disc and cone are 3D printed (there are several papers supporting use of the filament at these frequencies) and covered with thick conducting-adhesive copper foil. This is the same foil used to surround sensitive pick-ups in electric guitars to reduce hum. A simple 20cm diameter, 20cm high radome provides environmental protection. Apart from the 3D printed structures and foil, the only other parts are one SO239 socket, 25cm of 50 Ohm coax, an M8 bolt with washers and nuts, and five self-tapping screws. The total cost including 3D filament was about £12…

Now I get to see how well it works – it’s my first discone antenna!! The biggest downside so far is the 3D print time that was probably about two complete days in total for the four sections.

If anyone wants to try and make their own, I can provide the stl files for the four sections if you email me. They are too big to upload with this post.

Mike H – mike@harwood.org.uk

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