Stealth Antennas for a Cliff-Dweller
I am a licensed amateur radio operator living in an apartment. How can I work HF with no roof access?
Last year, I moved to a two storey apartment. As part of their extensive list of rules, I’m not allowed to attach anything to my balcony (that’s anything they can see in the daytime) – nor do I have access to the roof.
As a licensed Ham radio op, I really want to be able to work the HF bands and talk to ham operators in foreign countries.
Is QRP low power radio going to be my best or only option? I’m frightened of causing RFI with my neighbors and getting kicked out. So I’d guess that 100 watts or more will be pretty-much out of the question.
What suggestions do you have for clandestine or stealth antennas that a cliff-dweller like me can use?
Most hams who live in apartments have to hide their antennas. But this amateur appears to have neighbors who tolerate his hobby!
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100 watts is definately possible and it has been done successfully by many hams in your situation. You could make invisible antenna by using a very thin wire, such as 24 guage magnet wire. Construct a dipole and find a creative way to hang it outside. Trust me… it can’t be seen. Don’t use any insulators but use very thin fishing wire. They are insulators themselves. One caution is, at the end of the dipole, high voltage will develop. Make sure to keep it out of reach for people.
There are too many ways to do what you want – your best bet is to go to ham radio outlet and purchase antenna books. I believe there are books available for ARRL that specifically talks about compromise antenna.
As far as RFI is concerned, it is definately possible. If you do not want to deal with it, you could do QRP. 10 watts maybe.
I understand. It’s tuff…
If you use 100 watts and you key up your mic, you are gonna wipe out your neighbors’ TV screen, and you know they are gonna hear you also. That’s TVI – Tele Vision Interference.
I used to have TVI problems when I tried to transmit 5 Watts with an unmodified CB radio. I would sure like to know what you end up doing to get around the problem. Good luck!
You have a lot more options than you might think, especially if you stick to the Amateur radio VHF/UHF bands or to the HF bands between 40 meters and 10 meters (radio frequencies between 7 MHz and 19 MHz). Most hams even with their own houses find 160m (1.8 MHz) impractical because of the space needed for a 250-ft long half-wave antenna. And even 80m (3.5 MHz) can be difficult to get 135 feet of wire in the air.
These two HF examples are halfwave length aerials which, in theory at least, are supposed to be a strung up a half-wave IN HEIGHT for maximum efficiency over long distances. That ought to explain why portable antennas don’t work too well at the lower frequencies… it can be done but with badly reduced efficiency. Like maybe with 99% of your transmit power being lost as heat!
You could use one of the Par Electronics End-Fedz halfwave antennas that get fed from one end, and just drop it out of a window after dark. There are versions for at least 40m, 20m and 10m that will take 100 watts, plus a QRP version that is multi-band. Check their website for details and prices.
Then there are some great portable antennas which can be screwed to a photographic tripod or clamped to a balcony railing (after it is dark), and removed before daylight. There is the Buddipole, the SuperAntenna and the Pac 12 (which is the one I own). MFJ used to have a window clamp antenna for 40m to 10m, but I haven’t seen it in their catalog recently. You might get one second-hand.
http://www.parelectronics.com/end_fedz.htm
http://www.buddipole.com/
http://www.superantennas.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/