wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I'd like some advice for determining the best antenna to put up in my
situation.

I am getting set to move to a trailer park in northeast arizona, about
50 miles west of Gallup, NM. Locals have no objection to antennas so
long as people don't have to run into them via normal passage ways.
The trailer is 12 feet high by 15 feet wide by 50 feet long, facing
N-S. Nearest certain ground is electrical panel. The water pipe is
metal but could be interrupted throughout system by PVC. There may
also be significant noise from AC systems in park.

Good news is that my wife is giving me an entire walk-in closet for my
station, and that I can lay aluminum foil against all surfaces to
create a Faraday cage.

I have approx 25 to 30 feet between my trailer and neighbors, and a 35
foot altitude streetlamp 6 feet away curb. Soil conductivity is red
clay, extremely poor. Significant rainfall (monsoons) summer to fall.
Winds gusting to 50 or 60 mph during winter. Soil frosts between
October to March.

I would like to work CW DX on 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters. 80 and 160
would
be a bonus. Conventional options such as tower or surplus telephone
pole are out of the question due to cost and lack of available area.
Radials must be buried as children are playing nearby.

Probable options:

1) Load up the streetlamp with an antenna matcher, work against 180
degrees of buried radials out to 1/8 lambda.

2) Solder a series of tin/steel cans (cantenna) using pocket torch and
copper tape to 1/4 lambda with added capacitance hat(s), brace the cans
against the ground and the trailer, work against 270 to 360 degrees of
buried radials out to 3/8 lambda.

3) Create a mast from 40 feet of metal pipe and 15 feet of wood rod,
brace against trailer burying pipe end 10 feet, mount an inverted vee
trap dipole in N-S direction for E-W DX.

4) Pair of masts on either side of the trailer, mount a delta loop
from each mast, feed one loop and use the other as a reflector.

5) Pair of cantennas on each side of the trailer, operating as out of
phase pair of 1/4 lambda verticals.

Which would be best? And where do I place the lightning arrestor(s)?

Thanks,

The Eternal Squire

How about the screwdriver antenna. This is compact, can even be "disguised"
inside a PVC pipe, can be positioned vertically OR horizontally and can be
used to tune a random wire strung into a nearby tree. I used this system on
a motor home where we positioned the antenna on the rear ladder with a
swivel mount. When traveling, the antenna was positioned at a 45 degree
angle and rested in a wooden cradle on top of the bus. At rest, the antenna
could be raised to the vertical in a minute or two and tightened with
thumbscrews. Because the motor home was mostly fiberglass, we quickly
discovered that the antenna could be used in the semi-horizontal position
while going down the road with good results! In your case, your trailer
would be a "mobile", but you could set it up in several ways to take
advantage of various situations, and, also tune a random wire with it. I've
done this while on field exercizes with CAP.

Now I know I am partial since I make screwdrivers, but you can find a
variety of makers on the web. Just try to avoid the ones made of PVC and, of
course, there are those that are SUPER expensive. Go for the ones with
larger diameter coils and wire sizes and avoid the ones that promise 160
thru 10. Those that promise 160 thru 10 are the ones that are wound on
small diameter forms and are wound with 20 gauge wire CLOSELY together (in
effect, transformer-wound) which destroys your "Q".
I doubt seriously such an antenna would do much "punkin" on 160!

Every body runs into compromises at times, so you have to be do the best you
can do with what you have to work with.

If you have 75 feet of room over your lot, then you might visit
www.k1jek.com for an all-band dipole 80-10 Meters. I'm told this is a good
choice for short lots.

Hope this helps

73

Jerry
K4KWH

www.qsl.net/k4kwh