BDK wrote:

A ground plane made with an SO-239 connector and some coat
hangers will blow a discone away. A total waste of money, unless you
want it as a back up antenna to transmit on....

I guess I've have different experiences than you.

Is it possible that there is a strong signal source close to you that
was desensing your receiver when using the discone and you've created a
"high pass" filter with your tuned 1/4 wave?

-D
--
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe