Antenna philosophy
 

In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot where we
lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved into a
restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the crawl
space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I sold
the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and
trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x 100-foot lot
where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have a
tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about this wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice on an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no antenna.

--

-----
Joe S.

Joe S. wrote:
. . .
So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about this wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice on an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no antenna.


The point is, that some people are satisfied with any antenna that
radiates. That's fine, nothing wrong with that, and it looks like that
describes you.

Some other folks are interested in making an antenna that radiates as
well as it can given whatever constraints that are applied (size of
yard, size of budget, directions of interest, etc.). Others are simply
interested in learning more about how antennas work. Those two groups
are the folks who usually hang out here.

You'll find the same thing on other newsgroups -- people in the
photography newsgroups aren't primarily snapshot-takers, the ones in the
(amateur) homebrew groups aren't the appliance operators, and the ones
in the (beer) homebrew groups aren't the Bud Lite swillers.

You might find topics which are more interesting to you on other
newsgroups or venues.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
...
Joe S. wrote:
. . .
So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about this
wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice on
an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.


The point is, that some people are satisfied with any antenna that
radiates. That's fine, nothing wrong with that, and it looks like that
describes you.

Some other folks are interested in making an antenna that radiates as
well as it can given whatever constraints that are applied (size of
yard, size of budget, directions of interest, etc.). Others are simply
interested in learning more about how antennas work. Those two groups
are the folks who usually hang out here.

You'll find the same thing on other newsgroups -- people in the
photography newsgroups aren't primarily snapshot-takers, the ones in the
(amateur) homebrew groups aren't the appliance operators, and the ones
in the (beer) homebrew groups aren't the Bud Lite swillers.

You might find topics which are more interesting to you on other
newsgroups or venues.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Joe came across like the man with no feet, looking into the window of a shoe
store, and wondering why anyone with shoes would complain at all. He's only
expressing his feelings that he wished he had an antenna to discuss.

Joe, I live in an apartment and I use an MP-1 clamped to my patio
railing..............I get out from middle Tennessee. I even have the
occasional contact on the west coast on 40M phone. I try to keep the power
down to about 60 watts or so...........don't want the "Worked all Stereos"
award. There is hope. I may consider the ATAS-120 to work with my
FT-897..................Don't give up.

John

"Joe S." wrote in message
...
So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about this
wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice on
an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.

Hal Rosser wrote:

Joe came across like the man with no feet, looking into the window of a shoe
store, and wondering why anyone with shoes would complain at all. He's only
expressing his feelings that he wished he had an antenna to discuss.

I apologize if I misinterpreted his lament. If the problem is that the
current discussions involve antennas which would be impossible for him
to construct, I suggest going to groups.google.com and search past
postings on this newsgroup for "limited space", "apartment", "stealth",
"invisible", "attic" and the like. Although not on the plate at the
moment, there's been a great deal of discussion about limited-space
antennas on this group in the past, and a lot of good ideas and
suggestions have been offered. And I'm sure a lot of folks would be glad
to offer more if asked.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Joe S. wrote:
In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot
where we
lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved
into a
restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the
crawl
space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I
sold
the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
and
trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x
100-foot lot
where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have
a
tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about
this wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice
on an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.

--

-----
Joe S.

You can always operate from the car...Seriously...If I had no shack,
antennas, etc, I would still have a decent mobile rig. You can sit
in it, or just park it in the driveway, and run a coax to it, from
house, garage, etc...I've done the "remote mobile antenna" thing
many times when camping...I'll sit the rig on a picnic table, and
run coax to the car antenna. Works better than you might think.
The higher bands, very good. MK

"Joe S." wrote in message
...
In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot where
we
lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved into
a
restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the crawl
space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I sold
the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and
trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x 100-foot
lot
where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have a
tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about this
wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice on
an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.

AMEN on that! I have been on both sides of it, right now i have a big
aluminum farm, but i have been in apartments and still found a way to
operate. if nothing else load up the bedsprings and chat around town.

On 3 Mar 2005 08:50:16 -0800, wrote:


Joe S. wrote:
In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot
where we
lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved
into a
restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the
crawl
space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I
sold
the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
and
trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x
100-foot lot
where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have
a
tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about
this wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice
on an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.

--

-----
Joe S.

You can always operate from the car...Seriously...If I had no shack,
antennas, etc, I would still have a decent mobile rig. You can sit
in it, or just park it in the driveway, and run a coax to it, from
house, garage, etc...I've done the "remote mobile antenna" thing
many times when camping...I'll sit the rig on a picnic table, and
run coax to the car antenna. Works better than you might think.
The higher bands, very good. MK

Sure. My Elmer and neighbor had an acre and lots of bux but he still
liked his "mobile" rig.

http://www.qsl.net/n7ws/w7uvr.jpg

This was "state-of-the-art" in 1958.

Full tilt with a high level modulated 4-1000A. Thirty foot "tower"
and 2 el. beam for high bands and remotely tuned verticals for lower
bands.

Wes Stewart wrote:

On 3 Mar 2005 08:50:16 -0800, wrote:


Joe S. wrote:

In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot

where we

lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved

into a

restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the

crawl

space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I

sold

the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

and

trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x

100-foot lot

where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have

a

tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about

this wire,

that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice

on an

antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no

antenna.

--

-----
Joe S.

You can always operate from the car...Seriously...If I had no shack,
antennas, etc, I would still have a decent mobile rig. You can sit
in it, or just park it in the driveway, and run a coax to it, from
house, garage, etc...I've done the "remote mobile antenna" thing
many times when camping...I'll sit the rig on a picnic table, and
run coax to the car antenna. Works better than you might think.
The higher bands, very good. MK


Sure. My Elmer and neighbor had an acre and lots of bux but he still
liked his "mobile" rig.

http://www.qsl.net/n7ws/w7uvr.jpg

This was "state-of-the-art" in 1958.

Full tilt with a high level modulated 4-1000A. Thirty foot "tower"
and 2 el. beam for high bands and remotely tuned verticals for lower
bands.



I seem to recall seeing your mobile (!) rig before. Has it been
published before?

Dave WD9BDZ

wrote in message
oups.com...
:
: Joe S. wrote:
: In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot
: where we
: lived in Manassas, VA:
: -- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
: -- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
: -- TH7
: -- assorted VHF and UHF beams
: -- 40-mtr inverted Vee
:
: Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved
: into a
: restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the
: crawl
: space.
:
: In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I
: sold
: the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.
:
: Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
: and
: trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x
: 100-foot lot
: where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have
: a
: tower.
:
: So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about
: this wire,
: that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice
: on an
: antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
: antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
: antenna.
:
: --
:
: -----
: Joe S.
:
: You can always operate from the car...Seriously...If I had no shack,
: antennas, etc, I would still have a decent mobile rig. You can sit
: in it, or just park it in the driveway, and run a coax to it, from
: house, garage, etc...I've done the "remote mobile antenna" thing
: many times when camping...I'll sit the rig on a picnic table, and
: run coax to the car antenna. Works better than you might think.
: The higher bands, very good. MK
:

I thought about hooking my Kenwood TS 520
up to my car and doing the mobile thing also.Only problem is I have a Honda
Civic and it does not offera lot of room for the rig and was wondering about
current draw on my alternator ie would I need a bigger alternator for that
etc.
I'm definetly a newbie when it comes to mobile hamming HF.Hate to break into
a thread like this but you guys intigued me into the subject .....
Thanks .

OICU812 wrote:

:

I thought about hooking my Kenwood TS 520
up to my car and doing the mobile thing also.Only problem is I have a
Honda
Civic and it does not offera lot of room for the rig and was
wondering about
current draw on my alternator ie would I need a bigger alternator for
that
etc.

The alternator is probably ok, being you probably won't even be
50% duty cycle...The early 520's will work on 12v, but they are
sort of weird, being the voltages and regulation are not quite
as good as on 117v. But it will work. Probably at a reduced
power compared to 117v. Yea, kinda large too. Would have to
keep it on the seat, or floor...You might wanna save for a 12v
rig. Much easier to deal with mobile and portable. I had a 520
I rebuilt about 4-5 years ago..Sold it to a friend, and he ran
it mobile for a short time...It worked, but was kinda funky, and
he got a TS-450 shortly after that...He liked the 450 much better
when mobile, needless to say...I ran a IC-730 for a long time, but
the display board pooped out, and I couldn't get the part..:(
"goofy small 9 pin transformer in the dc-dc converter circuit"
So I broke down and bought a IC-706mk2g. I still plan to fix the
730 one of these days, when I get another junker to get the part.
Shame for it to collect dust...Other than the display board,
it works great...It's easier to use when driving than the 706,
cuz it has no menus...I can work nearly everything on it, just
by feel...MK

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 17:38:09 -0700, Wes Stewart
wrote:

On 3 Mar 2005 08:50:16 -0800, wrote:


Joe S. wrote:
In 1996, I disassembled my antenna farm that graced the 3-acre plot
where we
lived in Manassas, VA:
-- 40- and 50-foot Rohn towers
-- two 135-foot dipoles each center-fed with ladder line
-- TH7
-- assorted VHF and UHF beams
-- 40-mtr inverted Vee

Bundled it all up and moved from Virginia to Tennessee where I moved
into a
restricted subdivision. The antenna farm stayed bundled up in the
crawl
space.

In 2003, sold the house and moved into an apartment at which point I
sold
the antenna farm for a fraction of what I paid for it.

Now, in 2005, living in an apartment on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
and
trying to scrape together the money to build a house on a 100 x
100-foot lot
where maybe I can put up a short dipole but will not be able to have
a
tower.

So -- what's the point? As I sit here and read the debates about
this wire,
that vertical, some other yagi, yes/no on the Carolina Windom, advice
on an
antenna for a 10-acre plot -- I can't help but think: If you have an
antenna, thank the gods because any antenna radiates better than no
antenna.

--

-----
Joe S.

You can always operate from the car...Seriously...If I had no shack,
antennas, etc, I would still have a decent mobile rig. You can sit
in it, or just park it in the driveway, and run a coax to it, from
house, garage, etc...I've done the "remote mobile antenna" thing
many times when camping...I'll sit the rig on a picnic table, and
run coax to the car antenna. Works better than you might think.
The higher bands, very good. MK

Sure. My Elmer and neighbor had an acre and lots of bux but he still
liked his "mobile" rig.

http://www.qsl.net/n7ws/w7uvr.jpg

This was "state-of-the-art" in 1958.

Full tilt with a high level modulated 4-1000A. Thirty foot "tower"
and 2 el. beam for high bands and remotely tuned verticals for lower
bands.


I'll bet he used the air conditioner in the winter time in that car :)

and I thought I was crazy with my mobile setup. Years ago I had two
hustler MO mounts each with the three way spider for 80-10 meters. I
had two 2- meter antennas and two 70 cm antennas on the car in
addition to the am/fm broadcast antenna on the car. It was nick-named
'The Porcupine'. Going to Charleston one day I had a console of
radios surrounding me. The IC-730, Kenwood TS-440SAT, a dual-band 2
meter/70 cm radio and one each of two meters and 70 cm rigs. I
haven't established my antennas yet on my current car, but the IC-706
MKII replaces most of the above. I'll be looking for a good dual band
for the car for FM to go with the 706. Then I can operate HF while
listening to V/UHF and visa versa.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

wrote in message
ups.com...
:
: OICU812 wrote:
:
: :
:
: I thought about hooking my Kenwood TS 520
: up to my car and doing the mobile thing also.Only problem is I have a
: Honda
: Civic and it does not offera lot of room for the rig and was
: wondering about
: current draw on my alternator ie would I need a bigger alternator for
: that
: etc.
:
: The alternator is probably ok, being you probably won't even be
: 50% duty cycle...The early 520's will work on 12v, but they are
: sort of weird, being the voltages and regulation are not quite
: as good as on 117v. But it will work. Probably at a reduced
: power compared to 117v. Yea, kinda large too. Would have to
: keep it on the seat, or floor...You might wanna save for a 12v
: rig. Much easier to deal with mobile and portable. I had a 520
: I rebuilt about 4-5 years ago..Sold it to a friend, and he ran
: it mobile for a short time...It worked, but was kinda funky, and
: he got a TS-450 shortly after that...He liked the 450 much better
: when mobile, needless to say...I ran a IC-730 for a long time, but
: the display board pooped out, and I couldn't get the part..:(
: "goofy small 9 pin transformer in the dc-dc converter circuit"
: So I broke down and bought a IC-706mk2g. I still plan to fix the
: 730 one of these days, when I get another junker to get the part.
: Shame for it to collect dust...Other than the display board,
: it works great...It's easier to use when driving than the 706,
: cuz it has no menus...I can work nearly everything on it, just
: by feel...MK


IOW I should look for maybe a mobile unit to work with to do mobile
dx.Gotcha.
See ,the reason I kinda brought this thing up is I have a landlord who is
not real keen on me having an antenna farm or even something like it on his
premises.I could get sneaky and do the dipole in the attic thing I guess.I
also need to get an atenna tuner when I plan to get stealthy.Ebay here we
come.

wrote in message
ups.com...
:
: OICU812 wrote:
:
: :
:
: I thought about hooking my Kenwood TS 520
: up to my car and doing the mobile thing also.Only problem is I have a
: Honda
: Civic and it does not offera lot of room for the rig and was
: wondering about
: current draw on my alternator ie would I need a bigger alternator for
: that
: etc.
:
: The alternator is probably ok, being you probably won't even be
: 50% duty cycle...The early 520's will work on 12v, but they are
: sort of weird, being the voltages and regulation are not quite
: as good as on 117v. But it will work. Probably at a reduced
: power compared to 117v. Yea, kinda large too. Would have to
: keep it on the seat, or floor...You might wanna save for a 12v
: rig. Much easier to deal with mobile and portable. I had a 520
: I rebuilt about 4-5 years ago..Sold it to a friend, and he ran
: it mobile for a short time...It worked, but was kinda funky, and
: he got a TS-450 shortly after that...He liked the 450 much better
: when mobile, needless to say...I ran a IC-730 for a long time, but
: the display board pooped out, and I couldn't get the part..:(
: "goofy small 9 pin transformer in the dc-dc converter circuit"
: So I broke down and bought a IC-706mk2g. I still plan to fix the
: 730 one of these days, when I get another junker to get the part.
: Shame for it to collect dust...Other than the display board,
: it works great...It's easier to use when driving than the 706,
: cuz it has no menus...I can work nearly everything on it, just
: by feel...MK
:

I also am led to believe my 7136's are going on the fringe also.It is a
radio given to me as a gift so you know how that goes.