[CTSARA] Urban Hilltopping

[Jon Perelstein]

In terms of getting on HF -- if you've got a general or higher ticket, the
usual thing that holds people back is getting an antenna put up.  They're
big -- an 80m 1/2 wave dipole is about 136' long, and any HF horizontal
should be at least 35' up if not more like 50'. 

However, there are lots of compromises that can get someone started a lot
sooner:

1.  While a 1/2 wavelength 80 meter dipole is 136', a 1/2 wavelength 40
meter dipole is only 66' -- and if it's done right, it's a very effective
antenna on 20, 15, and 10 meters.  In fact, if it's done right, you can use
it on 80/75.  You can buy one commercially for about $100, or make your own
for about $10.

2.  Alpha Delta sells a shortened 40-10 meter dipole that's only about 40'
long.

3.  There are a lot of ground-mounted verticals that are good, effective
antennas and don't require mounting on your roof.  Note:  they do require
putting in some radials or grounding.

4.  There are antennas like the inverted L that mix vertical and horizontal
components to get you horizontal distances as short as 30 or 40 feet (with
the rest being made up by vertical distance).

4.  There are all sorts of commercial mini-antennas that can get you on the
air.  They won't be the MOST effective antennas ever, but some of them are
not bad and will keep you in QSOs for at least a year or two while you
figure out what you want for your better antenna.

For example, I started out with the MFJ Apartment Antenna (MFJ-1622), which
is a 40-2 meter coil loaded vertical (with wire counterpoise) that you stick
out your window.  I had some very nice results with it, including
California, Arizona, Japan, England, and much of the 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9
regions of the U.S.

I've been playing with the TAK-tenna and having good results with it ($128).
It's essentially a dipole that consists of two coils on opposite ends of a
boom that's only 39 inches long.  Mount the boom to a pipe driven into the
ground (or attached to a camera tripod) and you have antenna.  It's not
going to beat a Yagi mounted on a 100' high tower, but it'll keep you in
QSOs for a long time to come.

There are also verticals like the Buddistick, MP-1, and Chameleon.  They're
also 40-2 meter coil loaded verticals with counterpoise that can be mounted
on a tripod, on a deck railing, or just about anyplace else you can use a C
clamp.  They run in the $100-$150 range.

And, of course, there's the Buddipole.  More expensive than the others, but
it provides all sorts of interesting configuration options, including a
vertical dipole (not a vertical, but a vertical dipole).  It takes about 10
minutes to set up a Buddipole, and I've been having a lot of fun
experimenting with mine.

Finally, in terms of putting up something like a dipole, there are people in
the club like Terry Martin and me who can help you.  Terry is the undisputed
master of getting antenna lines up in trees and pretty much the best that
there is at it.  If you're willing to settle for someone who is just his
lowly student, I am beginning to get the hang of it and with enough fumbling
around I too can help you.

Jon
KB1QBZ


-----Original Message-----
From: ctsara-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:ctsara-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Jonathan Solomon
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:02 PM
To: CTSARA at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [CTSARA] Urban Hilltopping

Frank-
I'm not sure what Empire security might think about hams and HT's in  
public areas of ESB, but yes, there are quite a few AM/FM/TV  
transmitters, among many other RF devices! I do believe the ABC/Disney  
engineering ham club has a repeater on there as well.

Matt-
I agree 100%.  I got my General ticket this past summer, and haven't  
done squat with it. Mostly because of moving and everything else.  Oh,  
and I don't have an HF rig. But I want to...

On the other hand, I"m not really sure what hilltopping is...  Who  
wants to give the quick explanation.