"Bruno" wrote in message ...
Hi all,

I've had a planning application for a tower turned down which is a real
pain. My options are now very limited. I'm in a bungalow with a roof apex
height of 18 feet and I'm not allowed to put up anything much above this
roof line it transpires, so inverted vees that need to be mounted high up
at the feed point like G5RVs are not possible for me. My garden
boundaries limit the length of any wire antenna I might wish to put up to
about 120 feet overall. On the plus side, though, the QTH is several
hundred feet ASL close to the top of the hill and am not overshadowed by
any trees or buildings to speak of.
What's my best choice for an HF antenna under these circs? (I mostly do
CW on 20m & 40m, but would like a bit more band choice ideally if poss).
Many thanks.

You may want to put up an off center fed antenna. Good for most all bands
except 15 meters. Whatever, stick up something and get on the air. While
it might not be the best, anything to get on the air with to start and later
you can refine the antenna system for what you have.

If you do put up a vertical, most of them will need to have radials burried
just under the ground.

The main thing is not to overthink things to start with. Start simple, get
on the air and if it doesn't work well, put something else up when you have
time.

There was something in QST magazine a few months ago. They were vertical
loops. I tried them for the 18 and 24 mhz band, but they did not work
nearly as well as my OCF and dipoles cut for those bands. I have a coax
switch so I could switch the antenas in just a fraction of a second.
However the other antennas are at 50 feet high on the ends and the loop was
only about 5 feet off the ground at the bottom.