Need an experienced hams help on this one!

[King Mudduck]

After 2 years of work my home is finally done and i am ready to finish my radio room and put up a antenna.
This is my situation. I live in an area that is surrounded by mountains. when i say this i mean i can walk out the back door and in about 100 yards starts the incline of a 2000 ft mountain,out the front door and in about 300 yards there is a 1500 foot mountain,It is like this in every direction. Oh,and where my home sits i am 1400 ft above sea level.

Local talking is limited because of the surrounding hills and such so i'm trying to get some kind of antenna set up that will allow me do DX as well as i can. SSB communication on 11 and 10 meters is my primary concern as i dont do the the AM thing any more and will be taking the test for my ticket this spring.

Antenna locations are a little limited as i dont have the room to lay down a tall tower and cant afford a crank up tower.I also have homes all around me from right behind my home to right in front,all family and friends homes thank the lord! So what i have is a 25FT steel well water pipe that i was thinking about mounting some type of vertical antenna to. I could also run a wire antenna horizontal along the top of my house(home is at least 80ft long),i dont have not one tree close by so running it vertical is not an option....unless you have another idea on how to do it.

The question is what would be the best way to go? I have done much research on this in so far as the different antenna types and the construction of wire antennas and needed height for an antenna to work as it should but because of my location, i just dont know which would be the best way to go and i would rather not wast a lot of money trying to figure it out. I'm not looking to talk around the world but dont want to be limited to just the east cost either!

Thank you for any info you can provide me and most importanly,God bless!

 

[eagle1911]

For DX purposes height is not the most important concern. You could simply mount an A-99 or Imax-2000 (as examples) just a few feet above ground and do very well with DX. The reason for this is that DX communication is dependent on the propagation angle of the RF field that the antenna produces. My only concern would be with the surrounding hills/mountains, but you'd have to be in a pretty deep valley with fairly steep walls before there would be a problem. In my experience as long as there is a clear path between the antenna and the sky 20-70 degrees above the horizon in any direction you should be all set for DX. Your 25' pipe should be more than sufficient in most cases.. In the past I've used an A-99 at ground level (well, the end of the ground plane radials were about 6" above the ground) and worked DX on 10-17m with no problems.

 

[Moleculo]

A 1/4 wave ground plane sounds like it might work pretty good with your location in mind. Take a look at some of the radiation plots around on the internet and you will probably see that the radiation lobes might work out very well to get over some of those mountains for DX. That's also a cheap antenna or very easy to build.

 

[wavrider]

Dipole Antenna Radiation Patterns by WB4YJT

Height of dipole vs angle of radiation plots.

This should give an idea of what you may acomplish with the antenna at proper height.

 

[W5LZ]

Another option would be to plant that 25 foot pipe and use it as a mounting point for a vertical antenna, AND as an end support for one end of a dipole?
Don't get too wound up in take off angles. All signals, DX or not, arrive at dang near all angles at one time or another. I'll admit that being in a 'hole' (sort of) can be aggravating but it doesn't mean you can't hear all kinds of things, just too many factors can determine what's heard. Put up an antenna and find out. Then you have some basis for guessing at your -next- antenna.
- 'Doc

 

[cordova lucky 13]

Hey K M : one thing is for sure you wont know how it will work untill you do some basic testing in your area . Maybe talk to some radio operaters in your area to get some ideas , i often talk to the hills of Virgina when conditions are right & there getting out ! The only problem i,ve had around the hilly areas up here has been with the mineral rock Iron Ore [looks rusty red]which acts like a mass of steel . In that case the only place for the antenna was on top of the hill , you mite not have any minerals in your area butt a inital test of your radio would be a good start . All the best hope to hear you on the air soon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"LUCKY 13" Bob Cordova Mines ont. can.

 

[VA3ES]

Verticals are excellent for DX.
You say you're taking the test for the ham ticket in the Spring. You should consider a dipole for the lower bands. Do you have room for a dipole?
Towers can be got cheap (or relatively cheap) used.

And don't give up on AM. I run AM on 160, 75 and 40M, and it's a hoot. The AM guys are smart, funny and very, very knowledgeable.

 

[King Mudduck]

Thanks for the link and all the help guys!

I do have room to run a wire antenna and i have talk to a few friends who use them and they all seem to love them. I'm thinking that maybe i should put up a multi band wire and vertical antenna,this way i would have the best of both worlds. Yes no maybe?

Like i said.I dont want to talk around the world but i also dont want to spend this cash for radio equipment that will end up being used for nothing more than a paper weight. Got enough old CB radios for that!

 

[VA3ES]

I do have room to run a wire antenna and i have talk to a few friends who use them and they all seem to love them. I'm thinking that maybe i should put up a multi band wire and vertical antenna,this way i would have the best of both worlds. Yes no maybe?

Yes! Put up a half-wave dipole for 75M (about 130' feet long) fed with 450 ohm "ladder line". This will get you on 80, 40 and 20M. Put up a good multi-band vertical which will give you DX access on 20 through 10. The only problem I see is that without a tower you will be restricted in your local ground wave coverage on 11M, 10M, 6M , 2M, etc. This is important for local communications which you will want to do. I think a cheap used tower would still be the answer for you. Personally, I'd go for the tallest one you can get away with. This will be a good starting point. Later on, you may decide to add an HF beam.

 

[KE3W]

If you really don't have room to put up a full size dipole you might consider a G5RV "Maple Leaf Mini" (80 to 10 meters - under 300 watts) that is only 46 ft with a 300 Ohm matching section that is only 17 feet long. They say you don't need a tuner but because my puppy is so low to the ground - I needed one. The higher up you mount it - the better your SWRs will be...you can find them on EBay.

 

[6 Meters Rules]

Most Signal too Performance !

The Alpha Delta DXCC 10 -80 w/auto Tuner in most Radio's & Descent Signals Used mine for Almost 7 Years Now !