Larry .
I have experience with a similar situation. I'm also in a HOA restricted development. I put up an antenna in the attic here when I first started operating from this QTH. Basically a 17 meter doublet with 300 ohm ladderline feeder that I can load on all bands from 10 to 40 with the internal tuner in my K2 and an Elecraft balun. My shingles are the more normal asphalt type, but the exterior sheathing of the house has an aluminum coating on one side which no doubt attenuates the RF some. And of course the antenna picks up more powerline noise and noise from household electronics than would an outside antenna. I've made a few hundred contacts on it on 40, 30, 20 and 17 using the 10 watts CW from my K2. Haven't really tried on 15, 12 and 10 due to the current sunspot situation. So it will work. That said, this year I got a Buddipole and set it up when I operate on a temporary basis on the patio. I most normally use it in a vertical arrangement with a single counterpoise wire and an extra length shock-cord whip assembly. This will run circles around the attic dipole, especially for DX. At least 2 S units better. And it is fairly low profile, so that you might be able to get away with it as far as your neighbors are concerned. Within 10 minutes yesterday I worked the XF4DL DXpedition on 20 and 17 with the Buddipole and 10W from Colorado. The day before I worked them on 40. The attic dipole has been effective mostly for stateside contacts. Another antenna I have that could be a possibility for you is a set of base-fed verticals running up one side of the house. You can feed them all with one feedline. The proximity of the house and the other radiators will detune them, but a couple of hours with an antenna analyzer will sort everything out. I have the 40 and 80 meter elements running over the rooftop in an inverted L arrangement. By inserting some base loading, I can use the 80 meter element on 160. All this is VERY stealth - use the AWG 26 stealth black insulated copperweld wire and paint it to match your house. Lay a few radials out on the ground and around your foundation. The performance of this arrangement here is about midway between the attic dipole and the outside Buddipole Vertical. The key is to be open-minded and experiment - you will find something that works. The attic dipole is a good place to begin and will always be a good secondary antenna even if you find something you like better later on. 73 . Craig AC0DS _______________________________________________ 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