Windom inverted vee

[Frederick Dwight]

Hello Clark,
         Well it sounds like you have real challenge erecting a dx antenna on your property.  If your Windom gives you some good local coverage out to say 500 or 1000 miles on 40 and 80, I would probably just leave in place for those bands.  For DX, at this part of the sunspot cycle, I will assume your major interest would be 20 meters.  Would it be possible to erect a small high 20 meter wire dipole, inverted vee, or say even one of the two element minature yagis either on top of the street side of your house or perhaps in a tree on the street side of your house ???  This might give you acceptable (but not great) performance even if the antenna was only slightly above street level.  If the far side of the street continues to slope steeply upward this may not work.  If you are in a restricted area, even a stealth dipole out of very fine wire at a good height should perform ok, although you may need to replace the wire a few times a year due to wind, ice, or birds.  I mentioned 20 meters since even radiation at elevations of well over 15 degrees, and perhaps even over 20 degrees is not always wasted even for DX, although most long haul DX tends to come in at the lower angles.  
         On 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters your higher angles of radiation would be even more likely to be useless.  That is why I would concentrate on the highest possible antenna for 20 meters now...get it working, then worry about higher bands in a few years when the sunspot nos. climb.  Many hams around the world have erected small 2 and 3 element yagi's on roof tripods (just look in CQ and QST) as low as about 5 feet above their roofs (but higher is better).  I have never erected a yagi that close above a roof, but if it is not looking into a building or hill it would probably work.  Before spending money on a beam or rotator I would erect a temporary dipole or vee at that position and only if that worked would I go to a yagi. I would not erect a yagi close to a metal roof without doing some research.
         If you cannot erect an antenna on your house or on the street side of your house, and if the hill does not slope up too much on the other side of the street, you could put a very good 20 meter mobile antenna on a car or truck parked at street level.  Then run coax through the bushes or burry it and hook it to your mobile antenna. Perhaps you could even invent a quick disconnect so if you forget and drive off it will automatically disconnect.  The mobile antenna should be as tall as possible and use a large ugly loading coil.....not one of the sleek thin ones.  On 20 meters and higher frequencies mobile antennas can have very reasonable efficiencies.  On 30, 40 and 80 meters a mobile antenna will have greatly increased losses and much reduced bandwidth.  If you have a long coax run look up the losses.  You may need to use something like RG8, or even a better cable.  I would probably either drag my rig up for a test, or get a friend to try operating 20 meter mobile from there before you go through the effort and expense in trying the mobile route.  I have even heard of hams putting extra long mobile antennas on cars in fixed locations....but be sure to interlock it so the car cannot be driven with a long antenna (like hide a steering wheel lock key) inside the mast section.  If you have a boat or trailer possibly a whip could be installed on it.  The mobile whip idea would NOT be my first choice....just an idea to think about if all else fails.  Unless you live very near saltwater or a saltwater marsh vertical antennas tend to SIGNIFICANTLY underperform horizontal antennas at any reasonable height. If you do use a mobile whip on a car at street level, look at the antenna patterns in a handbook since it will be slightly directional and you want to park so you have the most gain in your favorite direction.
       I too live on a hill although not as steep as yours. The hill slopes upward toward Europe.  My yagi at 59 feet is about level with the street 300 feet north of me.  The terrain on the other side of the street continues to slope gently upward for a long distance.  I am sure this significantly degrades my signal toward Europe, however it is still possible for me to work Europe, even with QRP.
                                                  Good Luck,     Rick   KL7CW    Palmer,  Alaska      KX1 #  798
       
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