Base Got the Landlords ok for a vertical

[bigred222]

So I got the ok from the Landlord to put up an antenna. A vertical... Better than nothing. Any "base" antenna will be better than the center loaded trucker antenna that I have slapped on my A/C unit. .

Now the million dollar question is... Since I live in a multifamily home and I am not on the top floor. 2nd but not 3rd. I'm thinking about going with a Gainmaster given a local recommendation on the antenna, and it's abilities to keep from tearing up the neighborhood when you put a little power into it.

However . I see this antenna being rated for a maximum of 500w I would love to have an antenna with similar qualities, but able to handle something say an SB-220 would throw into it. For a setup on AM which I know is never easy to keep out of computer speakers and the like. I think my best option would be to utilize a rig like an FT-101 driving the SB-220 to do whatever it'll do wired for 110VAC if that's over a Kw out I'm a happy camper .
-Red

 

[w9cll]

Are you going to use this on 11 meters? Do you have access to the roof? Do you really want to be running an SB-220 in a multi family complex? Might not be the best for neighborly love.

 

[357magnum]

I wish you the best in your endeavor , but like w9cll said .

 

[sp5it]

Oh.... those over powered chickenbanders... cause so much trouble and bad publicity for radio amateurs.

 

[dave457]

Gainmaster with a 2 pill amp would work great

 

[Shockwave]

Just out of curiosity I'd like to ask people who are having any interference issues today, what equipment is your radio messing up? It's not going to be the cell phone or HDMI TV everyone uses today unless you start connecting surround sound up with long wires.

About the only things I've found to be somewhat problematic today are cheap baby monitors, PC speakers, motion sensing lights and speakers with long wires that are not properly RF bypassed. The one thing they all have in common is the problem is always the device receiving the interference and it makes no difference at all how clean the transmitting signal is.

I've also found that if your audio is coming through one of these devices at 1kw, it's almost guaranteed to still be there at 200 watts but not quite as loud. Having said that, these RFI problems are far less severe when you can prevent your coax from becoming part of the antenna radiator. No other antenna on the market can come close to the Gain Masters ability to decouple itself from the coax and mast.

Sirio now makes a 1/2 wave version of the Gain Master that does not appear to have the power limiting capacitor inside of it like the 5/8 wave version needs to match impedance.

 

[SuperDave]

From what I just saw the 1/2 and 5/8 wave are both 500 continuous and 1000 short time (wattage).

 

[w9cll]

Regardless of what has been said I still think its unadvisable to run a lot of power in this type of setup. Even as a ham I wouldn't do it.

 

[sunbulls]

Remember, the first time one of your neighbors complains to the landlord of interference not only will you be taking down that antenna, but possibly evicted when your contract is up. To protect that given privilege, even running barefoot, I would mostly listen during the day and transmit while everybody else is in bed.

 

[Shockwave]

Matt, you probably already know Mike (225) is in the same living situation as you. With a not so clean Eagle 525 and the antenna mounted on the apartment balcony, he's able to get away with over 500 watts with no problem. That would have been impossible years ago.

To be a good neighbor, just ask the other tenants in the building if they hear you interfering with them right off the bat. Be prepared to install some RF chokes when required. People tend to get pist when they can't figure out where it's coming from, how to stop it and it goes on and on. Get to them before they get mad and you'll have a chance.

 

[Shockwave]

From what I just saw the 1/2 and 5/8 wave are both 500 continuous and 1000 short time (wattage).

I have a feeling the 1/2 wave version is only rated at 500 watts due to the orange coax and connector inside. These will heat with power over time and at some point could melt. The good news is the two weakest links in the 5/8 wave version are the capacitor and the coaxial tuning stub. Both of which are not present in the 1/2 wave version. The benefit here is the antenna can handle higher PEP power as long as the sustained carrier is not too much. It doesn't arc over all at once like the cap in the 5/8 wave does the second you hit a peak over the power rating.

 

[tuner]

This is just my 2 cents . Get it all set up the way you want , and run it at 4 watts for a few days or a week . If nothing is said ? Then slowly increase the power . If nothing happens , you're off to the races

 

[TheRATT]

Running my AT-6666 if the antenna is above and in close proximity to a WiFi router, it shuts it down.

 

[hotrod]

i would get the gaim master 5/8 then just run a type accepted cb 980 ,959,29,ectfor a while see what happens. i dont think the gainmaster will handle the power of a sb220 on am.. ssb maybe but i wouldnt try