Ground mounted verticle

[Spirittalk]

Another option for me would be a disguised ground mounted antron.

I don't have the option to put any height on the darn aerial. I realise as far as antennas go 'height is might '

But when I am restricted to very limited options, will the antron 99 mounted on the ground at least be able to produce some dx results if not stunning then ok results ?

It is a frustrating thing having planning permission restrictions and living in a grade 2 heritage centre village in the UK.

Some of these silly by laws go back over 100 years but they can 'nab' you with them all the same.

So has anybody used an Antron 99 at ground level verticle, and if so what results where obtained and how is it likely to perform for me.

I have the radio RANGER VR 900 and a 100 watt linear I can put in line also.

 

[sportygreg]

I use an Antron 99 but not at ground level.I think at ground level the angle of radiation would be blocked by structures and you would have a hard time getting out very far and reception would be poor.

 

[FL Native]

it will work just fine. a friend mine has his leaning up against a tree at ground level.

 

[Spirittalk]

With it being a freebie, its worth trying it verticle ground mounted as one option or as in my other post.

I have heard of people ground mounting hf aerials using flagpoles to disguise it.

My disguise will be to hide it in some earth, paint it to fit in with the building then run some wall crawling plants around it

Darn these housing associatiaons lol

 

[ken white]

With it being a freebie, its worth trying it verticle ground mounted as one option or as in my other post.

I have heard of people ground mounting hf aerials using flagpoles to disguise it.

My disguise will be to hide it in some earth, paint it to fit in with the building then run some wall crawling plants around it

Darn these housing associatiaons lol

I would make sure no one can come into contact with it. RF burns hurt...

 

[freecell]

i'm currently playing with a coaxial dipole vertical antenna at ground level and though it doesn't perform as well as it would if it were up in the air it does do a surprisingly good job from indoors.

starting with a 100' roll of rg8m i stripped the jacket and fashioned the coaxial dipole out of the end of the feedline with the braid pulled back over the jacket for the bottom half of the dipole and the foam insulated center conductor in the role of the other half of the dipole and included a coaxial choke just below the end of the bottom half of the dipole where the shield terminates. measured swr is below 1.4:1 across 200 channels. local coverage is quite good out to 10 miles in most directions (from down here in the valley up to the grades rising above the elevation here, base to mobile) and the other night i had a rather enjoyable qso with a station in salt lake city, about 470 some odd miles from here. while i didn't spend a whole lot of time wondering about the propagation mode responsible for that particular contact it does work.

in the next few days i'll move it outside at ground level and as time permits and i get a chance to use it i'll report on its performance. i will be raising it just high enough so that the choke clears the ground below by approximately 1/8th of a wavelength so that it performs in a fashion similar to the first antenna ever dubbed with the title, "5/8 wave antenna".

based on these results you should have no problem getting a ground level mounted vertical antenna to provide some better than average results. i wouldn't discount the idea.

 

[Seminoles]

With it being a freebie, its worth trying it verticle ground mounted as one option or as in my other post.

I have heard of people ground mounting hf aerials using flagpoles to disguise it.

My disguise will be to hide it in some earth, paint it to fit in with the building then run some wall crawling plants around it

Darn these housing associatiaons lol

Th FCC part 95 has or had a section on antennas can't be restricted by housing associations or local government. Can't seem to find it will look for it they might have taken it out but some one around her called them and the FCC sent the group an official letter head and they were allowed to put up a tower within reason.

 

[Spirittalk]

> I would make sure no one can come into contact with it. RF burns hurt...<

Only when the housing association people come around. I'll get them all to hold the aerial and put a kilowatt though it

Any other do's and don't about painting it ect ?

 

[freecell]

btw, the vertical is two arms lengths behind my chair here at the computer, the choke is about 6- 10 inches above the ground and all except for two and a half feet of the vertical element is angled down from the ceiling at approximately 45 degrees. power output is 4W carrier and 14 - 16W PEP AM, 16 - 20W PEP SSB. all contacts mentioned previously were in AM mode only.

 

[Seminoles]

i'm currently playing with a coaxial dipole vertical antenna at ground level and though it doesn't perform as well as it would if it were up in the air it does do a surprisingly good job from indoors.

starting with a 100' roll of rg8m i stripped the jacket and fashioned the coaxial dipole out of the end of the feedline with the braid pulled back over the jacket for the bottom half of the dipole and the foam insulated center conductor in the role of the other half of the dipole and included a coaxial choke just below the end of the bottom half of the dipole where the shield terminates. measured swr is below 1.4:1 across 200 channels. local coverage is quite good out to 10 miles in most directions (from down here in the valley up to the grades rising above the elevation here, base to mobile) and the other night i had a rather enjoyable qso with a station in salt lake city, about 470 some odd miles from here. while i didn't spend a whole lot of time wondering about the propagation mode responsible for that particular contact it does work.

in the next few days i'll move it outside at ground level and as time permits and i get a chance to use it i'll report on its performance. i will be raising it just high enough so that the choke clears the ground below by approximately 1/8th of a wavelength so that it performs in a fashion similar to the first antenna ever dubbed with the title, "5/8 wave antenna".

based on these results you should have no problem getting a ground level mounted vertical antenna to provide some better than average results. i wouldn't discount the idea.

Is that a half wave dipole two 1/4 wave elements I was thinking of a full wave dipole two 1/2 wave elements made out of c o p p e r rod for top and tube for bottom and put a small flag on top

 

[freecell]

cannot be fed directly with 50 ohm coax.

 

[Spirittalk]

Thank you all for the replies.

As said it is frustrating as when I was a youngster I didnt know how well off I was.

My fols let me have a silver rod on top of a 12 foot poll on top of the roof.

I used to get out brilliantly.

Now some 20 years on and living in another QTH (dang growing up lol ) I am very restricted.

I want to try all I can with the antron 99 first.

I have put a dipole up but it was only 14 feet high one end restrictions again and performance is poor to the lowest end.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

With it being a freebie, its worth trying it verticle ground mounted as one option or as in my other post.

I have heard of people ground mounting hf aerials using flagpoles to disguise it.

My disguise will be to hide it in some earth, paint it to fit in with the building then run some wall crawling plants around it

Darn these housing associatiaons lol

Th FCC part 95 has or had a section on antennas can't be restricted by housing associations or local government. Can't seem to find it will look for it they might have taken it out but some one around her called them and the FCC sent the group an official letter head and they were allowed to put up a tower within reason.

FCC Part 95 I believe deals with CB and no such provisition was made. There was and is a provisition for that concerning ham radio operators whose regulations fall under FCC part 97. Given the fact that Spirittalk is in the United Kingdom makes it all a moot point however.

Here it is PRB-1


BTW Spirittalk,the ground mounted A99 should work surprisingly well for DX especially if you can bury a few radials under it.I have a ham buddy that uses an old Cushcraft verticle for 10,15 and 20m and it is just mounted on a pipe with the feedpoint about 18 inches above the ground. It's not a pileup buster but he works plenty of stations with it.

 

[231]

i'm currently playing with a coaxial dipole vertical antenna at ground level and though it doesn't perform as well as it would if it were up in the air it does do a surprisingly good job from indoors.

I have one of these I've been using for awhile at my office/shop. For what it is, it works pretty well IMO. Cheap to build, and reasonably broad banded. I also used some RG8x that I had laying around. I have mine as a sloper now, but can easily mount it any way I want...including low. Not a bad option to consider.

 

[Spirittalk]

You guys have given me confidence that I may at last be able to work a little DX with it.

Being a tight wad as well, don't want to spend anymore money than I have at the moment.

I went to the expense of putting up a double bazooka only to have the Housing association scream blue murder.

It is only 14 feet off the ground now and hardly gives out a signal !!!!

I am not interested in busting pile up's, as I have to be realistic about what I can erect antenna wise at my QTH

I will be just will be happy to work a bit of DX