-=jd=- wrote:

On Fri 14 May 2004 06:43:47p, "Peter" wrote in
message news
I can bend it a bit. I am using the Drake R8B radio.

Is 12 inches above the roof of the house enough to be away from
interference?



Reading that, it seems there's a joke in there dying to get out...

In any event, if I were you, I'd string as long of a wire as I could as
high as I could and see what happens. You have to start somewhere.

If you can only fit 50 feet of wire 8 feet off the ground, then that's all
you can do. String it up in a temporary fashion (if you want) and see what
you get. "Looks" don't necessarily indicate performance. If it seems to
work ok, then go back and make your mounts more permanent and pretty.

Then start looking around at the amandx and hardcore-dx sites and see if
you get any ideas to either improve it, or perhaps just some ideas to
experiment with.

There's no shortage of antenna info on the web for you to try, but it
seems to me that after you get the initial wire up, there aren't too many
more improvements to be made before you start entering the realm of
diminishing returns. Once you get past installing a good ground and
perhaps a matching transformer for a coax feed, it's as if you are a drag
racer looking for that extra 100th of a second.

My general take on it is that if I had a similarly shaped lot and a
similar antenna and radio, we could try the same thing and get two
different sets of results (large or small).

The main point is you won't know what your specific situation can do until
you try something.

Sally forth and boldly string your wire antenna and then come back and
tell everyone how it seems to work.

-=jd=-


A good post from jd, and I agree with every word of it. I would add
one thing (which is basically a compression of his post, with my own
slant): Antennas are 50% science, 25%
"what-the-hell-let's-give-it-a-shot", and 25% sheer luck.

Tony