Ray, you are correct. Spot on.
And Ron hit me off reflector with another hot topic (no pun intended here):
XYL.
It's not just the neighbors who make trouble!
We did indeed opt for a 45 year old house with nearly 2 acres of land.
And yes, a lot of TLC was necessary with the house, especially at first.
That's why the topic XYL comes up again. The choice of the right one is
critical.
When I hooked up, I found one who loves the outdoors, loves camping, doesn't
like neighbors breathing down your neck, and her hobbies are gardening and
our dog. She believes a dog needs ample space to run.
That was pretty much a perfect fit.
A Good friend tried it with an XYL whose hobby was horses. Got the
mini-ranch, etc., but she was too much baggage. He ended up doing most of
his operations fixed mobile, while the lady was at some horse show! :-)
Of course the 2 acres was almost too good to be true. I knew there must be
a catch.
When I moved here to Oklahoma from Germany two years ago, I wondered why I
saw no beams anywhere.
Tornados.
Due to the high winds, I ended up going with a Spiderbeam on a push-up mast.
The solution was so light, it would go up and down easily.
And it was cost effective.
I feel like I know how to build reliable antennas that stay up.
I put up a 65 ft. vertical for the low bands, guyed at 4 levels.
In a storm, a tree fell down and hit it.
Broke like a toothpick.
So even the 2 acres with a lot of trees has disadvantages!
I think the bottom line is, you need to set priorities and know what you
want to do.
I understand if someone prefers a nice modern house. Go stealth!
You can have a lot of fun and work a lot of DX with a vertical, and the
flagpole is a great way to disguise it.
But, if you prefer to rag chew on 40 or 80 with the local yuks, the thin
copper wire, horizontal & 15 ft. high to the nearest tree will out-perform
it.
I'm a contester (at least I used to be).
One thing that has always worked well for me is, put up a bare minimum for
year-round work, and during contest season, erect 2 or 3 more antennas.
Prior to doing so, the neighbors were invited over for dinner and some wine.
After dinner (and more wine), I explained that contest season was coming and
I intended to put up some antennas for just 2 months. "Be down by
February".
There was never any objection.
And when I finally go to assisted living, it will be with a magnetic loop,
indoors of course.
73
Rick
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Ray Sills
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 5:57 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: [TenTec] Stealth Antennas and restricted QTHs
HI Gang:
This is a topic that periodically shows up. And, it's a reaction to
today's modes of housing. Many decades ago, you either lived in a
rental apartment, owned a house, or owned a farm. The landlord of an
apartment might or might not give permission for a ham antenna. In
the other situations rarely became an issue as to whether or not you
could install a tower or an antenna. You just did it. And, anyone
putting up a tower would site it so that if it ever fell down, it
would fall only on your own property.
But there is probably no new housing, individual home, town home,
condo, co-op, constructed these days by a developer that does not add
=permanent= CC&R wording to the deed.
If you want an "unrestricted" QTH, you have to buy an older home, in
a neighborhood that was developed many years ago. And with that,
comes the implied cost of maintenance, which you have to consider as
well. You have to pay someone to fix things, or do it yourself. And
an older home will likely need attention, soon, if not right away.
And, it's still an older home. You might like the farm idea, but
that usually puts you -way- out of town, and perhaps too far from the
big city to let you reasonably commute.
So, if you choose to buy a -new- home, it's almost a guarantee that
it will come with an HOA, and restrictions. Or, you'd have to find
an undeveloped lot, and arrange to find a contractor and builder to
make a place for you. And, oh yes, get a mortgage. It's a lot
easier to get a mortgage for a property from a large developer, than
it is when you go it alone.
In my case, I lived in an unrestricted suburban QTH for 4 decades,
but after retirement, chose to buy a condo near where my sons and
families live. I no longer wanted to have the burden of maintaining
a home, so I opted for a QTH where that is included with the HOA, and
accepted that I won't have a permanent antenna.
I do remember seeing QST ads for a "Flagpole" antenna, and that's a
great option for many communities, particularly if he HOA encourages
the display of Old Glory. Otherwise, stealth antennas or portable
antennas are the only realistic options. But with some creativity
and determination, an antenna solution can be found. It may not be
perfect, but it beats no antenna at all.
73 de Ray
K2ULR
FN20kg
Warrington, PA
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