hi just ordered a dvb-t stick but can i use a discone aerial in my loft instead of the small aerial it comes with cheers
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You can, but it won't work well. A discone is a wide frequency coverage antenna: it doesn't work well, but it does it over a large bandwidth. Some antennas sold as discones aren't proper discones anyway: they have a whip antenna in the middle to boost performance on a narrower frequency range.
In the loft isn't ideal, particularly if your roof contains metal. Mine has a wire mesh that supports the thermal insulation.
If you want to receive 1090MHz you'd get better results with a resonant antenna, outdoors. If you're handy with a soldering iron, build a multi-element colinear. Fit it inside a length of plastic electrical conduit, seal the top to keep the water out, and you have an effective and low-cost antenna that will work well.
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There's a very long antenna thread in here, with a lot of chat about different types. As a radio amateur of long experience and a lazy soandso, I built a colinear (took me under an hour) and it works well.
You can get an idea from http://www.balarad.net/
I used a similar design, but soldered the joints. It may be possible to buy one, I don't know.
If you put it outdoors, put it inside a length of plastic wiring conduit and seal the top to keep the rain out.
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