[TowerTalk] Re: Small lots

[Gorsline]

While its nice to say the solution to a small lot is to move, there are other considerations!!  Like the time to operate wouldn't be there if you were stuck in traffic commuting...

I live in centre of Toronto on a 15.5 x 120' lot in an attached row house.  Have used a roof mounted beam (F12 C3S which replaced a TA33jr) with a 12' boom which is carefully parked to stay parallel to my
roof line.  When rotated, it "sweeps" over both neighbours.  Always run barefoot, and since acquiring a Mark-V, do most work at 10 watts to reduce inevitable RFI to every cheap phone, stereo, and computer
that's closer to the antenna than it is to me.  Also have a 30-40-80 trap dipole slung over the roof and back to a tree.  I use double shielded Ethernet cable for low loss and noise pick-up reduction.
I'm now buying and learning about line filters and ferrites for my neighbours as I used to just go off the air when I bothered them.

Ideal?  Hardly.
Competitive?  Usually - I don't crack EVERY pile-up, but as an example just got D68C cards for 10-12-15-17-20 ssb and cw and 40 cw QSOs, so it does work OK.  DXCC is at 323 confirmed, but they're getting
tougher.

Bottom line - put up the best you can afford and fit for antennas - maximize it to get as much out of it as you can, drive it with a good rig, and use it well - become a better, smarter operator and you
can match or beat all but the super stations.  Besides - what do you do when you've worked them all?  HI  73,  George VE3YV / K8HI


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