That's all good info Paul, but with the aid of some ferrite cores and
the like I plan to steer clear of any possible signal entering the
local wiring.

After I've been on the air for a bit, if I find that I'm not causing
any problems, I may run another rig I have (Yaesu ft-857D) and
use a bit more power.

In the meantime, I just want to get a signal out and see what
I can do with 5 watts and assorted attempts at balcony verticals
and later magnetic loops.

Another interesting thing is how I can feed the antenna through
the door to the balcony. I can't drill holes, but I currently have
a piece of RG-58 squeezed through the closeddoor. Every day I
check to see if anything has happened to it such as migration of
the center conductor to the point where it shorts to the sheild.
I've only been here for a week, but so far so good. I am aware
that there may be an impedance bump, but I'm not at all
concerned -- if I can get one or two watts ERP I'll be more
than happy. My earliest Elmer/Mentor, VE7YY, used to run a half
watt homebrew rig and got all over the place with it although
I think that his tower and beam helped a wee bit!

I'm not desperate, but nearly so, and anxious to get on the
air again. It might take a bit of time, but I hope all the
ideas I have put into setting up the system will work right
the first time. We had a touch of snow last week, and I'm
getting a little beyond the point of enjoying antenna work
outdoors in the winter.

Irv VE6BP

"Paul Drahn" wrote in message
...
On 10/4/2013 8:48 PM, Irv Finkleman wrote:
I wonder how much difference it would make if I were to
build a loading coil on a piece of 3''x3" wood? It would be
very easy and I could suspend the winding above the wood
form with plastic dowel glued on each corner of the wood.

I could also make a similar coil using PVC pipe. Even in that
case the winding would have a somewhat rectangular form
factor.

It wouldn't be air core considering that it would be over
wood (dry and waterproofed) or PVC pipe.

I do require the structure be relatively strong or I
would wind the coil, put epoxy glue strips along it
to make it like AirDux and the like.

Any comments or suggestions??

Irv VE6BP







Interesting postings. An old friend of mine, Don, K7hsj, and his wife
recently moved to an assisted living center in Bend, Oregon. He was very
concerned about still being able to get on the air. He approached the
management about a wire from their third floor apartment to a pine tree
several hundred feet away. They were very enthusiastic about his
continuing ham operation and agreed to help if they could. Several of
Don't friends from Bend helped get the wire up.

I suggested that since the building was fairly new, they probably used
steel studs to partition the rooms and they all had to be connected to the
electrical ground wire of the building wiring. So he used the screw in the
center plate of an outlet cover as ground.

His 75 meter signal is MUCH louder than when he was at home with a dipole
antenna. He got an auto tuner and works most HF bands, now.

So, to make a long story short, try the electrical outlet ground for your
rig. It may work fine for you, also.

73 and good luck
Paul, KD7HB

"Irv Finkleman" wrote in message
...
That's all good info Paul, but with the aid of some ferrite cores and
the like I plan to steer clear of any possible signal entering the
local wiring.

After I've been on the air for a bit, if I find that I'm not causing
any problems, I may run another rig I have (Yaesu ft-857D) and
use a bit more power.

In the meantime, I just want to get a signal out and see what
I can do with 5 watts and assorted attempts at balcony verticals
and later magnetic loops.

Another interesting thing is how I can feed the antenna through
the door to the balcony. I can't drill holes, but I currently have
a piece of RG-58 squeezed through the closeddoor. Every day I
check to see if anything has happened to it such as migration of
the center conductor to the point where it shorts to the sheild.
I've only been here for a week, but so far so good. I am aware
that there may be an impedance bump, but I'm not at all
concerned -- if I can get one or two watts ERP I'll be more
than happy. My earliest Elmer/Mentor, VE7YY, used to run a half
watt homebrew rig and got all over the place with it although
I think that his tower and beam helped a wee bit!

I'm not desperate, but nearly so, and anxious to get on the
air again. It might take a bit of time, but I hope all the
ideas I have put into setting up the system will work right
the first time. We had a touch of snow last week, and I'm
getting a little beyond the point of enjoying antenna work
outdoors in the winter.

Irv you may just be over thinking things. One thought that comes to mind
is to make something similar to the ham stick dipole. You take two mobile
whips and mount them on a plate so you have a horizontal dipole made of
them.

http://www.k7su.com/hsdipole.html

An easy way to home brew something may be to get a few pieces of PVC pipe.
Get a T and don't glue it, but just stick a piece out of each end and make a
loaded dipole out of each side for the band you want to work. Then use the
long side of the T to come down as a support. All this can be broken down
and assembled as needed in a minuit or so. You may be able to get a big
flower pot and fill it with cement with a hole in it so you can place the
vertical pipe.

Too bad that you can not drill about a 3/4 inch hole in the wall and use a
long bulkhead coax connector.

"Irv Finkleman" wrote in message
...

Another interesting thing is how I can feed the antenna through
the door to the balcony. I can't drill holes, but I currently have
a piece of RG-58 squeezed through the closeddoor. Every day I
check to see if anything has happened to it such as migration of
the center conductor to the point where it shorts to the sheild.

You might benefit from something like this:

http://www.cometantenna.com/pdfs/CTC..._and_instr.pdf

Alternatively, leave the door open a crack while passing coax through
the opening but seal the opening with a full-height strip of masking
tape to keep out the wintery winds.

I'm not desperate, but nearly so, and anxious to get on the
air again.

Have you considered single band whips? The names "Hustler"
and "Hamstick" come to mind but there are others. They
need a counterpoise to work but the following anecdotes
will provide some insight, I hope:

I assembled and successfully demonstrated (for Field
Day this year) a quick-and-dirty portable HF rig.
I used the following crap:

a pair of steel chassis slides bolted together at the ends
and laid on the ground at a right angle. Their weight
and orientation will keep them where they are placed.
They are magnetic;

a very thin single-use aluminum pan with two 20m
radials (about 15 feet) bolted firmly to opposite
sides of the baking dish; It laid on a flat part of
the chassis slides;

an MFJ magmount base (from a 1724B I think,
whatever one has the 3/8 threaded socket), with
the whip removed. It was placed onto the pan in
such a location as to stay magnetically "stuck."
the magmount base is capacitively coupled to
the pan with the radials; (Would direct wiring
from the shield to the radials be better? Dunno.)

A Hustler 20m element screwed into the above
magmount base.

This foregoing electrified junkpile worked multiple
stations in the Midwest from San Diego on 20m
for Field Day. I used it on 20 and 40 (different
whips and different baking pan radials, of
course) while on a trip earlier this month with
considerable success.

The radials might prefer to be stretched out
but this, too, can be worked-around. I've
used them with the ends drooping off the
corners of a balcony and had no trouble
getting a match with a $5 swap meet manual
tuner.

More radials would likely be better but
unwinding and re-winding radials around
the baking pan is already a pain with just
two.

Irv, does any of this resonate with you
and your balcony?

Aside: Maybe I can improve the described
radial scheme, like something that involves
retractable metal tape rules. Then I'd just
need one pan and I can set my radial lengths
at will.

New thought: If I bolted the free ends
of some retractable metal tape rules directly
to the steel chassis slides i would eliminate
the baking pan, altogether. It offers a
certain bizarre appeal.

"Sal"

Hey Sal -- thanks! I didn't know they made anything like
that. I had considered using a piece of 300 ohm TV Twinlead
in a similar manner. For the short distance, and not worrying
about the impedance bump and any losses, I think I'll make one
up and give it a shot. The CTC-50M is not far different,
and for what it does I consider it a little pricey.

It will be a quick and easy project -- two UHF females
and RTV compound to seal up the ends. What's a guy
got to lose? If it works to any degree, then great! If it doesn't,
then back to the drawing board.

So far, the test piece of RG-58 that has been placed in
the closed door has not deformed too badly, nor
has it shorted. The temperatures here lately range
from just below freezing at night to about 20 degrees
on the balcony in direct sunlight (the balcony faces
South).

Your other suggestions have already been discounted.
What I really want is something cheap and simple where
I don't have to do too much moving about to change bands,

Thanks again,

de VE6BP, Irv



"Sal" salmonella@food poisoning.org wrote in message
...

"Irv Finkleman" wrote in message
...

Another interesting thing is how I can feed the antenna through
the door to the balcony. I can't drill holes, but I currently have
a piece of RG-58 squeezed through the closeddoor. Every day I
check to see if anything has happened to it such as migration of
the center conductor to the point where it shorts to the sheild.

You might benefit from something like this:

http://www.cometantenna.com/pdfs/CTC..._and_instr.pdf

Alternatively, leave the door open a crack while passing coax through
the opening but seal the opening with a full-height strip of masking
tape to keep out the wintery winds.

I'm not desperate, but nearly so, and anxious to get on the
air again.

Have you considered single band whips? The names "Hustler"
and "Hamstick" come to mind but there are others. They
need a counterpoise to work but the following anecdotes
will provide some insight, I hope:

I assembled and successfully demonstrated (for Field
Day this year) a quick-and-dirty portable HF rig.
I used the following crap:

a pair of steel chassis slides bolted together at the ends
and laid on the ground at a right angle. Their weight
and orientation will keep them where they are placed.
They are magnetic;

a very thin single-use aluminum pan with two 20m
radials (about 15 feet) bolted firmly to opposite
sides of the baking dish; It laid on a flat part of
the chassis slides;

an MFJ magmount base (from a 1724B I think,
whatever one has the 3/8 threaded socket), with
the whip removed. It was placed onto the pan in
such a location as to stay magnetically "stuck."
the magmount base is capacitively coupled to
the pan with the radials; (Would direct wiring
from the shield to the radials be better? Dunno.)

A Hustler 20m element screwed into the above
magmount base.

This foregoing electrified junkpile worked multiple
stations in the Midwest from San Diego on 20m
for Field Day. I used it on 20 and 40 (different
whips and different baking pan radials, of
course) while on a trip earlier this month with
considerable success.

The radials might prefer to be stretched out
but this, too, can be worked-around. I've
used them with the ends drooping off the
corners of a balcony and had no trouble
getting a match with a $5 swap meet manual
tuner.

More radials would likely be better but
unwinding and re-winding radials around
the baking pan is already a pain with just
two.

Irv, does any of this resonate with you
and your balcony?

Aside: Maybe I can improve the described
radial scheme, like something that involves
retractable metal tape rules. Then I'd just
need one pan and I can set my radial lengths
at will.

New thought: If I bolted the free ends
of some retractable metal tape rules directly
to the steel chassis slides i would eliminate
the baking pan, altogether. It offers a
certain bizarre appeal.

"Sal"