Ray, I also live in a deed restricted community. I ran coax and DC power through the wall of my den. Once outside, I ran it underground to the back wall of the house. At the peak of the roof in the back, I mounted an SG-237 Smarttuner. I then took 300 feet of enameled wire and ran it around the perimeter of my roof. This created a 300 foot horizontal loop. It's around 2 WL long at 40 meters so the radiation pattern is not shooting straight up on 40 meters and above. It's a 1 story house so it's not very high up. The wire is pushed up under the shingles as much as possible. It's VERY hard to notice the antenna. I'm in Florida so a snowy roof is not going to happen. I'm not sure about rain since we are in the dry season here and I can't remember the last time in rained. I'll know better this spring/fall.
How does it work? I've worked France, Bulgaria, Italy, Estonia, Ascension Island among others with my K2 just on PSK31 so far (I know, I need to work on my rusty CW skills). About 20 different countries in the last month (I've only had it in operation since 2/13/06). I had a ragchew with F6FZG last Saturday like he was next door. I'm more than pleased with its operation and the fact that it's practically invisible. The Smarttuner keeps the antenna in tune automatically. There are certainly much better antennas, but this one works great considering the restrictions. YMMV I'm sure. Kevin N8IQ/4 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Raymond Albers Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 10:24 AM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] ridge vent as antenna? Has anyone had any experience loading an aluminum ridge vent as an antenna?? We just bought a second home, which is lovely (definition: my wife is thrilled with it!) but has restrictive covenants - no outside antennas. Grrr. I have mounted an ATU in the attic and attached a 1:1 balun directly to it, with about 25 ft of wire going out from each side - in other words, a non-resonant dipole - all inside the attic. It loads OK on all bands 80 thru 10 and I've made several decent contacts with it. What I don't like is that there is a lot of junk in the attic, like AC ductwork, tho most of it seems non-metallic. Mostly I don't like the aluminum ridge vent that runs the length of the attic - so I mounted the wire several feet below the ridge of the roof. Not sure how this affects the antenna, but it can't be very good. I am contemplating using the ridge vent as part of the antenna: I could position the ATU at one end of the attic, connect one side to the ridge vent and the other side to a stealth wire that I could run to a low tree or maybe the peak of the garage roof. Has anyone had any experience using ridge vents as antenna (or part of an antenna)? Effect of rain wetting the roof shingles? Comments?? 73 Ray K2HYD _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
