FACTS VS. MYTH
Many amateur radio operators have the mistaken
assumption that the only way you can ever work DX, Contests, or WAS is
with beam antennas, full-gallon linear amplifiers, and monstor towers.
No doubt, those things do give them the edge and I do not suggest that
my antennas are more efficient or better in any way than a good tower and
beam. But; I have been a successful contester, qrp aficionado, dx hound,
etc. All using simple wire antennas and a vertical. Plus!
I get a particular kind of joy when I beat the big guns in a dx pile up.
WHY STEALTH?
In many cases it is your only way. In others
it just helps keep the peace. Its funny how your neighbors are very
peaceful, even supportive of your ham hobby; and then you put up your dream
tower with that TH-7 super beam. Wow! you work great DX and get the
side benefit of its magnetic properties. Thats Right, your
beam and tower will draw complaints from everyone within eyesight (and
beyond). You will be accused of everything from TVI to sterility,
even though you've been on vacation for two weeks and the power to the
house was shut off. IF THEY CAN'T SEE IT THEY WON'T COMPLAIN.
You'll have to try some of these stealth antennas to believe this, but
it works.
ANALYSE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES
If you live in a neighborhood, town, or city
with the same types of restrictions; look for your opportunities:
-Do you have an attic in your house, condo, apartment?
If you can get in it at all you can use it to hang all kinds of antennas.
I have found ample space for loops and dipoles in several area ham's homes.
-Do you have any trees? Front or back yard
trees provide opportunities for resonant dipoles and multiband verticles.
The more trees you have the easier it is to hide bigger antennas.
-Read your deed restrictions and covenants.
Very few restrict flag poles or bird houses. You can hide multiband
verticals inside both flag poles and bird house poles (purple martins birdhouses
have to be mounted pretty high). If you can mount the poles then
you can also mount guy wires to keep your poles up. Inverted vee
dipoles and slopers look a lot like guy wires!
-Use your house to hide a loop antenna under
the eaves. Attach directly or with small standoffs all the way around
your house and run feed line in thru a soffit vent. No way to get a loop
here? Then hide dipoles under the eaves on different sides of the house.
Get two dipoles up at 90 degrees apart and you can work most of the USA
with ease.
- Do you have a wood backyard fence? A
fence can hide a very low loop, dipole, or doublet. These antennas
have a near vertical take off angle but will work great for stateside contacts
of several hundred miles or more.
Use your imagination! Every situation has its OPPORTUNITIES. You just have to look for them, and then ACT. I have seen antennas laid on the grass, metal fences loaded with a tuner, wire that outlines the shape of the house and painted to match. All of these are different approaches to a problem but had the same result. The ham that lived at that location was ON THE AIR, and making contacts!
TAKE ACTION
Build some antennas! Or buy some antennas and get to work hiding them. I managed to hide a Cushcraft R7000 vertical in some oak trees on my property for the past 10 years.
-Cushcraft R7000 Repairs and Optimization
APPLY POWER WISELY
Use only what it takes to make the contact.
Sure you can run a linear and beat your way into a pile-up. Do it
while your using your hidden vertical and your neighbor will probaly scream
when you overload his TV, VCR, or stereo front end. I have the ability
to run as much as 700 or 800 watts at this location; but seldom do I ever
run more than 70 watts. In fact, I am a real fan of QRP so
a lot of the time I dont even run 5 watts. At that power your neighbors
will never know you are even on the air. IF you must crank on your linear,
use a resonant horizontal antenna. They interfere less than verticals
with house wiring, tv sets, vcrs, and stereo systems. Make sure your
linear operating correctly, tune it with a monitor scope for a perfect
trapezoid pattern. My guess is you will have so much fun working
stations at 1 watt to 100 watts that you wont ever need to crank in that
extra fire.
HF ANTENNAS
-80m full-wave horizontal loop up 35 ft; right above roof line of house, extends to rear of lot -40m/15m multiband dipole up 28ft; in a couple of oak trees in my backyard -20m 2 element wire beam in attic up 24 ft; beam is attached to rafters with insulated standoffs - Cushcraft R7000 vertical antenna up 14 ft; hidden in center of several oak trees in backyard -40m/80m coax receiving antenna; on floor right behind operating desk VHF ANTENNAS -6m full-wave vertical loop in attic up 24 ft -2m/440cm J-Pole antenna hanging from roof peak -Cushcraft 2m/440cm 3 element yagi with rotor (for ssb work) - 440cm co-linear antenna |
HF ANTENNAS
-80m full-wave horizontal loop up 35 ft; right above roof line of house, extends to rear of lot -40m/15m multiband dipole up 28ft; in a couple of oak trees in my backyard -20m 2 element wire beam in attic up 24 ft; beam is attached to rafters with insulated standoffs - Cushcraft R7000 vertical antenna up 14 ft; hidden in center of several oak trees in backyard -40m/80m coax receiving antenna; on floor right behind operating desk VHF ANTENNAS -6m full-wave vertical loop in attic up 24 ft -2m/440cm J-Pole antenna hanging from roof peak -Cushcraft 2m/440cm 3 element yagi with rotor (for ssb work) - 440cm co-linear antenna |
HF ANTENNAS
-80m full-wave horizontal loop up 35 ft; right above roof line of house, extends to rear of lot -40m/15m multiband dipole up 28ft; in a couple of oak trees in my backyard -20m 2 element wire beam in attic up 24 ft; beam is attached to rafters with insulated standoffs - Cushcraft R7000 vertical antenna up 14 ft; hidden in center of several oak trees in backyard -40m/80m coax receiving antenna; on floor right behind operating desk VHF ANTENNAS -6m full-wave vertical loop in attic up 24 ft -2m/440cm J-Pole antenna hanging from roof peak -Cushcraft 2m/440cm 3 element yagi with rotor (for ssb work) - 440cm co-linear antenna |