living in an apt
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hi folks,
I know live in an apt that i inhabit the first floor with no attic. I would like to have an indoor antenna that would not attract too much antenna from outsiders. the apt managers/site owners don't want anything afixed to the outside porch. if you have a sattellite TV antenna you can mount it inside a large potting plant. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. one idea I have is to make a loop antenna that stays at the same height and starts from the outside and goes around in a square form towards the insided center. using speaker wire and tacs or U-nails to hold it to the cealing. any negatives or positives on this idea above. Daniel Brinneman kg4dni www.qsl.net/k4wbt/ - webmaster Skype.com & Echolink.com - "kg4dni" ________________________________________________________________ Get your name as your email address. Includes spam protection, 1GB storage, no ads and more Only $1.99/ month - visit http://www.mysite.com/name today! _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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I have had excellent results from a 'stealth' antenna that consisted of thin
white wire running the top of the wall of the apartment. Yes, if you can get outdoors, all the better. I used the thin white insulated wire sold by Radio Shack. The white insulation matched the "apartment white" walls. White pushpins make good anchors (you can just wrap a turn to make a half hitch around a push-pin at intervals. (And don't believe the guys who say that those loops form "RF Chokes" - the inductance is negligible at HF). Length pays off, even if you have to do some fancy zig-zagging. At one apartment where I had a spot for the rig near the porch, I ran the radiator outside and along the inside top edge of the covered porch (completely invisible unless you point it out. Then I ran a series of "counterpoise" wires, 1/4 wave long each, along the apartment wall going in the other direction. You'll have decent efficiency down to where your radiator is 1/4 wave long. It'll work if shorter but the efficiency drops very, very fast once the radiator drops below 1/4 wavelength. In most apartments I operated 40/30/20 with best results. Absorption of the RF by the building increases with frequency, and the low height and length limitations make 80 and 160 a real challenge. (If you have room for a 240 foot radiator, you have a much bigger apartment than I ever had). In one apartment I managed to shoot a weight over a tree near the window, and that held up a 40 foot vertical that was invisible. I used some fishing line for the "end guy/insulator" that fine wire. It stayed up all summer. That's a way to gain height when you're trapped in a ground floor apartment! The radiator/counterpoise arrangement eliminates any need for baluns, etc. The counterpoise connects to the case of your rig, and the ATU takes care of matching the radiator. Didn't work much European DX from my apartment locations on the west coast of the United States running 10 watts with a homebrew rig, but I did work all over the US/Canada and, whenever the bands were open lots of Asians and South Americans. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Daniel L Brinneman Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 11:23 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] living in an apt hi folks, I know live in an apt that i inhabit the first floor with no attic. I would like to have an indoor antenna that would not attract too much antenna from outsiders. the apt managers/site owners don't want anything afixed to the outside porch. if you have a sattellite TV antenna you can mount it inside a large potting plant. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. one idea I have is to make a loop antenna that stays at the same height and starts from the outside and goes around in a square form towards the insided center. using speaker wire and tacs or U-nails to hold it to the cealing. any negatives or positives on this idea above. Daniel Brinneman kg4dni www.qsl.net/k4wbt/ - webmaster Skype.com & Echolink.com - "kg4dni" ________________________________________________________________ Get your name as your email address. Includes spam protection, 1GB storage, no ads and more Only $1.99/ month - visit http://www.mysite.com/name today! _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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I agree with all of Ron's advice in this excellent post. Antennas don't have to be perfect to
work. Jim On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 16:51:16 -0700, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: >The radiator/counterpoise arrangement eliminates any need for baluns, etc. >The counterpoise connects to the case of your rig, and the ATU takes care of >matching the radiator. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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