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.