I was cleaning out a closet this morning and found a length of wire and
an old 33 ft MFJ telescoping mast that I'd all but forgotten about.
Just for the heck of it, I attached one end of the wire to the top of
the mast, walked out to my fire escape, and started raising the mast.
When fully extended, I had a 33 ft vertical antenna, with the base at a
height of about 35 ft and the top at about 68 ft. I attached the bottom
end of the wire to the 450 ohm input of an ICE matching transformer,
then attached a length of coax and plugged it into my receiver.

I guess it's a good thing I don't have anyone living above me.

This worked surprisingly well. In fact, I'd say it worked amazingly
well given that the antenna wasn't attached to a decent ground of any
kind. At least on the 40 meter band, it was worked better than my
Wellbrook. I didn't have time to do a more extensive comparison, but
the improvised vertical is still there in case I want to mess around
with it more later today.

It's always interesting to make little "discoveries" like this,
especially when they run counter to your expectations.

Steve

Be sure to tighten up whatever screws or bolts that might be loose on
that MFJ.When those MFJ guys are having a beer or two,sometimes they
forget. www.MFJEnterprises.com
cuhulin

Telamon wrote:
In article .com,
"Steve" wrote:

I was cleaning out a closet this morning and found a length of wire and
an old 33 ft MFJ telescoping mast that I'd all but forgotten about.
Just for the heck of it, I attached one end of the wire to the top of
the mast, walked out to my fire escape, and started raising the mast.
When fully extended, I had a 33 ft vertical antenna, with the base at a
height of about 35 ft and the top at about 68 ft. I attached the bottom
end of the wire to the 450 ohm input of an ICE matching transformer,
then attached a length of coax and plugged it into my receiver.

I guess it's a good thing I don't have anyone living above me.

This worked surprisingly well. In fact, I'd say it worked amazingly
well given that the antenna wasn't attached to a decent ground of any
kind. At least on the 40 meter band, it was worked better than my
Wellbrook. I didn't have time to do a more extensive comparison, but
the improvised vertical is still there in case I want to mess around
with it more later today.

It's always interesting to make little "discoveries" like this,
especially when they run counter to your expectations.

The ground (RF return) is the coax shield then the radio chassis then
the AC power line if the radio is plugged in. If the radio is not
plugged in to the AC line the length of the coax is the counterpoise
element of the antenna.

The ICE transformer helped make this a workable antenna for you.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Performance wasn't as good on some bands, I later found out. Still,
this was a perfectly serviceable antenna. When the power next goes out
and I'm unable to fire up the Wellbrook, I will recreate this vertical
antenna on my fire escape.

Steve

Why not hook a wire to the fire escape itself and see what kind of
action that brings you? Be carefull though,some radios can't take too
much over loading.
cuhulin