Hi all,
I have had a bit of contact with a few SECCers in recent months, but much.
I graduated from Clemson in May and moved into an apartment in Greenville,
SC shortly afterwards for a job doing quality assurance work for a software
company. I have been getting adjusted to the new "life" and am getting
fairly settled in at this point. I have most of my ham gear with me, there
are a few things at my parents house, but the majority of it is with me. I
am looking forward to participating in some contests again very soon --
once I get an antenna figured out.
My apartment is on the 2nd floor in a 3 story complex, at the end of the
building. Unfortunately, there are no trees nearby my window (I have a
charming view of the parking lot) and, of course, my apartment complex has
a strict "no external antennas of any type" policy. Several times now I
have deployed a 20m dipole out my window late at night, one end tied to my
small balcony and the other end more or less just dangling free, and
managed to work some EU stations. I need a more long term solution though.
I have been considering many different antenna options -- my favorite being
a yagi on a tripod mounted on the roof.... I can dream! -- but given the
logistics of the layout of my complex and everything, I think I'll start
out with a long "invisible" dipole cut for 160m. I think I can make that
work if I use thin enough wire, tie off the ends using fishing line to help
keep it out of sight of the neighbors. Additionally, are relatively good
tie off points around that length, with the center point being at my
window. It wouldn't be great but it would be a whole lot better than no
antenna and hopefully will get me going on all the bands.
I've been reading over a lot of stealth/apartment antenna materials in
recent weeks but if anyone has any brilliant suggestions I've been
overlooking, please do let me know! Hope to QRV again very soon.
73 de Greg N3ZL
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