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Stealth HF antenna ideas
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Try this
Stealth Amateur Radio
Quote "Another possibility is to tape a wire to the back of a plastic downpipe and use that as a vertical, fed at the top or bottom against a counterpoise, or in the middle as a dipole." Unquote
Being covert means knowing what all your neighbors are doing and planning subterfuge in deploying the stealth antenna of choice.
I could have fun doing that!
Stealth Amateur Radio
Quote "Another possibility is to tape a wire to the back of a plastic downpipe and use that as a vertical, fed at the top or bottom against a counterpoise, or in the middle as a dipole." Unquote
Being covert means knowing what all your neighbors are doing and planning subterfuge in deploying the stealth antenna of choice.
I could have fun doing that!
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Think of an antenna like this. It has to be able to conduct electricity. Doesn't need to be wire, tubing, tape, or whatever as long as it's metal that conducts electricity fairly easily. It is desirable to have certain lengths for certain frequencies. Several ways of determining what that length is, one is by dividing 468 by the frequency in Mhz which will give you an approximate length in feet. That length is a half wave length, btw. Maybe a more useful number is 234, or half of that 468, which would make it a 1/4 of a wave length, one typical length for vertical antennas. That's the base way of getting the right length for an antenna. There are ways of shortening that length electrically, but that's the usual way of going about it.
You'll find that the lower the frequency the larger the antenna, not absolutely certain way of getting around that, it just 'is'.
So what you got that may be made into an antenna? How about a couple of window screens made of metal sort of close together? Or a rain gutter, a down spout, or maybe who knows what else? Got a bird house on a pole? How tall is the pole? Got plastic siding on your house? Tape a wire on it and paint the wire/tape? See where that can go with a little imagination?
No antenna 'hidden' like that is going to be an 'earth shaker' but it can be made to work adequately. Don't expect miracles. But who says you gotta have the bestest antenna anyway? Most of us don't (no matter what we say!).
An imagination can be a terrible thing! But it can also be a lot of fun...
- 'Doc
You'll find that the lower the frequency the larger the antenna, not absolutely certain way of getting around that, it just 'is'.
So what you got that may be made into an antenna? How about a couple of window screens made of metal sort of close together? Or a rain gutter, a down spout, or maybe who knows what else? Got a bird house on a pole? How tall is the pole? Got plastic siding on your house? Tape a wire on it and paint the wire/tape? See where that can go with a little imagination?
No antenna 'hidden' like that is going to be an 'earth shaker' but it can be made to work adequately. Don't expect miracles. But who says you gotta have the bestest antenna anyway? Most of us don't (no matter what we say!).
An imagination can be a terrible thing! But it can also be a lot of fun...
- 'Doc
Thanks Lil'Yeshua, for the link much appreciated. Many options indeed.
Onthecoast, I would rather not go in the attic, although I'm sure it would work well though. I have a trap 40m and 20m dipole on my back fence that is up only about 7 feet. the feed point is in the corner with each leg going horizontal each way. I just put it up last night, I seem to be copying W1AW pretty solid at 599 I do have a 102' G5RV that I used to have up. But I promised my wife I would try to cut down on the amount of antennas I use.Also it doesn't help my yard is very small. However, I welcome more comments and feedback.
Thanks
Onthecoast, I would rather not go in the attic, although I'm sure it would work well though. I have a trap 40m and 20m dipole on my back fence that is up only about 7 feet. the feed point is in the corner with each leg going horizontal each way. I just put it up last night, I seem to be copying W1AW pretty solid at 599 I do have a 102' G5RV that I used to have up. But I promised my wife I would try to cut down on the amount of antennas I use.Also it doesn't help my yard is very small. However, I welcome more comments and feedback.
Thanks
Have any of you ever used a dipole like this ?
http://www.mapleleafcom.com/PDFs_Downloads/sh4080K2.pdf
http://www.mapleleafcom.com/PDFs_Downloads/sh4080K2.pdf
It's basically a Cobra Lite linear loaded dipole with the ends extended slightly. http://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_cobra.pdf
It is a compromise antenna sacrificing gain and performance for smaller size. Because of the linear loaded elements there is a lot of signal cancellation. It's not a great antenna but it will get you on the air.
BTW I have done business with "Honest Bob" at Maple Leaf Communications a few times before and he is a great guy to deal with. Even sent me parts to repair my tribander after an ice storm before I even had a chance to send him the money.
You could make something artsy looking that's doubles as a tower/inverted V
Don't be tacky unless the neighbors are.
Don't be tacky unless the neighbors are.
Thanks guys ,Yes CK, he is a good guy , for sure great service as well. I'm looking forward to getting in the air. I have it mapped out as an Inverted v. It will be up about 20 feet with about a 120 degree apex.My back yard is only 44' x about 25' with a strip of about another 25' x about 6'. I figure I will use the 50' space to stretch out the legs then the remainder of the legs drooping down each end on the fence. I'm looking forward to some 40m and 80m cw
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Any trees on your property? Besides the obvious dipoles other wire antennas you could probably hide a vertical in a tree. Back in the day when my Dad was a CBer it wasn't all that unusual for folks to put a vertical up in a tree. The neighbors rarely notice them because they rarely look at the top of a tree that's been around for awhile.
Zero Five makes antennas that are hard to see from the road and I have worked a few who own them that put them out in the corner of their yards and paint them so no one realizes, "Hey, that guy has an antenna up!".
Zero Five makes antennas that are hard to see from the road and I have worked a few who own them that put them out in the corner of their yards and paint them so no one realizes, "Hey, that guy has an antenna up!".