On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 08:05:40 -0800, "Wayne"
wrote:

At one time, I lived in an apartment and used a similar, shorter antenna for
2 meter operation via a repeater. It was easy to build, and worked fine
because I didn't need much signal to hit the repeater.

Hi Wayne,

In my basement shack, using a 300mW 2M Alinco HT, I can hit my buddy's
repeater 10 miles away. The HT's antenna, fully extended, is only an
8 inch whip.

It doesn't need a resistor. It doesn't need fancy cable preparation.
It is roughly one-hundredth the size of Arnie's, operating at
one-twentieth the wavelength as Arnie's(?).

So, the amended Arnie's minimalist design:
1. Take a 45 ft/15 meter 52 ohm Coax;
2. connect center conductor and braid together on both ends;
3. throw a 50 OHM resistor over your right shoulder for luck;
4. then connect that coax through a tuner to your transceiver;
5. listen and talk to the world.

This pretty much describes my antenna that I could use to listen to
Radio Habana Cuba (and more) when I was a kid. However, I was driven
by economic necessity to be more minimalist. For instance:
1. Take a 45 ft/15 meter surplus armored 1" multi conductor cable;
2. strip out the wire from inside the cable for other projects;
3. keep the 50 OHM resistor for other projects;
4. then connect that cable shell through a tuner to my receiver;
5. listen to the world.

Using the armored shell was an extravagence, as I could have had used
one of the wires that formerly ran through it. That antenna heard
Habana, Quito, Sydney, and Cape Town (or Jo'burg) quite easily.

My radios back then were a Knight Kit Star Roamer, a BC348, a BC453,
and a RBB-1. I used the BC348 as a highly selective, second IF
(85kHz) conversion to the other sets.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC