Can someone make my cb dream come true?

[Limeybastard]

No matter how I try , the situation in unavoidable. I need a half decent antenna setup on my property, currently I use either a 11m dipole in attic ( HOA ) or the Wilson 1K magmount on my truck roof parked in the driveway.

I was thinking about renting one of those lifts, and getting a proper antenna put up in an tree near my home , but I want to be discreet about it. Meaning I dont my neighbours knowing my business.

My shortlist is the following, A99 strapped to oak tree, Dipole strapped to swinging trees out back , magmount on top of chimney , but lightning is terrible here in FL.

 

[wavrider]

Limey lightning does indeed suck here in Florida.

Put the damn antenna up anyway and enjoy the hobby.

When you not using the antenna unplug the coax from the equipment.
Unplug your equipment from the electrical outlet.

 

[ExitThirteen]

Hope ya get something up and going, Limey... would love to catch you out there in DX sometime!


~Cheers~

 

[Limeybastard]

Looking forward to it, ExitThirteen, would be great!
Wavrider,so true , I kid you not, a couple of days ago, I heard static noise in my ceiling fan before the lightning strikes, I guess this means the lightning was close? I do indeed unplug all devices worth a penny or more in my home in this scenario, inc AC system also of course. I learned FL is the lightning capital of America, amongst other things that is LOL.
So going back to what I have learned, antenna, antenna, antenna,.. its the most important part of the system period. So much so, that running the Texas Star DX500 amp means nothing in respect to talking to my "locals". The barefoot Stryker 955 sounds as good with or without amp turned on with my locals. One needs an antenna to be able to discharge and dissapate that energy to get out. Nothing low to the ground is going to cut that cheese no matter how much wattage you push throught it. All it will be is a heater. lol

 

[wavrider]

Limey to an extent yes.

All that is needed for a decent DX antenna is 1/2 WL AGL
for 11 meter that is 18'
http://www.dx-antennas.com/Height versus take off angle.htm

Put you a dipole up as best you can between a couple of supports.
Even temporary so you can take it down if you want when not in use.
Run the dipole above the top of your roof between some supports tell the F'in HOA it is for lightning protection.

For a vertical hard to beat a fishing pole hidden in a tree
(A99, I2K )

Good DX phased wire antenna is an N4GG array
Google it and see what you think, I tried it and it surprised the hell out of me, not good for local comms.

I just got done talking to an OP in VA Beach, he was running an inverted L about 35' AGL working it against a ground rod, NO ground radials,he had a booming signal into N FL.
So yes ANTENNA is 95% of the station, put the best antenna you can get up with the restrictions your HOA has.
BUT do indeed put an antenna up and make some contacts and most of all have some fun.

 

[Mustang 131]

No matter how I try , the situation in unavoidable. I need a half decent antenna setup on my property, currently I use either a 11m dipole in attic ( HOA ) or the Wilson 1K magmount on my truck roof parked in the driveway.

I was thinking about renting one of those lifts, and getting a proper antenna put up in an tree near my home , but I want to be discreet about it. Meaning I dont my neighbours knowing my business.

My shortlist is the following, A99 strapped to oak tree, Dipole strapped to swinging trees out back , magmount on top of chimney , but lightning is terrible here in FL.

Buy a few acres of land next to more empty acres of land on a hill.
No neighbors make good neighbors.
Well it worked for me.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Check out the Ice Lightning arrestor - http://www.iceradioproducts.com/impulse1.html

 

[Robb]

Good luck with your HOA . . .

 

[tecnicoloco]

Isn't the A-99 antenna a lightning magnet ?

Where I live we very seldom have lightning storms an over 10 years ago I had an A-99 20 Ft over my single story home and a 4 element beam on a 40 Ft tower

Guess what ? the A-99 got hit by indirect lightning and blew and antenna tuner diodes and 2 capacitors

The main lightning hit about a block from my home in to a power pole,and also nothing happen to the antenna,just the electronics (antenna tuner) that I forgot to disconnect


My 2 Chimichangas

 

[sp5it]

Weird country you live in ....

 

[sp5it]

the A-99 got hit by indirect lightning and blew and antenna tuner diodes and 2 capacitors

I have A99 after direct hit, looks like palm tree.
Mike

 

[tecnicoloco]

Sonoran Desert by the Sea of Cortez inside The Baja California or Gulf of California

 

[nomadradio]

Lightning doesn't have to strike the antenna to cause mischief.

Think of that lightning bolt as a multi-gigawatt pulse of ultra-wideband RF energy.

Literally "DC to light" and beyond. The "light" from that lightning stroke extends up to X-ray wavelengths.

The tiny slice of the electromagnetic spectrum that your antenna responds to still contains a LOT of RF energy. The antenna sucks it in like any other RF energy. The pulse that comes down the coax can hammer any device connected to it, even if the stroke was a block away.

Think of it as a 500,000-Watt bowl box parked in your driveway. Doesn't have to key for very long to cause trouble.

Unhooking the coax is the only surge suppressor you can rely on.

73

 

[Meglotron]

sucks guy. i used to live at a place like that to. i read in another forum about putting a bird house in the back yard on top of back to back two by fours and he ran coax up inside in a chanel he cut then a wire cut a quarter wave long up inside the top 9 feet and some support lines coming down to the ground. it was like 30 feet high

 

[W2EKG]