Antenna for base in apartment

[WRCP828]

Any suggestions what works well in limited space areas?  Using mag mount now.

 

Thanks.

 

Pete

[Elkhunter521]

Most magnetic antennas require a ground plane. The size is frequency dependent. Minimum size is about 1/4 wave length in diameter. 6 1/2 inches for GMRS.

 

I've used a cookie sheet with moderate results. Mount at a window in the direction you need to transmit.

 

Good luck.

[Ian]

Also using a mag-mount on a cookie sheet right now to scan the simplex channels.

[jimndfw]

I don't know how good this is, however you might want to check this indoor antenna out.

[berkinet]

If you are indoors, and you cannot get access to a roof, the circumstances pretty much dictate you will not have good omni-directional radiation. So, you might as well look for an antenna with a radiation pattern that fits your mounting options. In a window, a 180º antenna will work well, on a balcony you might find something with up to a 270º pattern.  Also, unless you have a balcony, or outside wall mounting option, be careful about the power you use. Under 5 watts would be best, you don't want to fry your brain with 50 watts into a 9 db gain omni (with at least 1/2 the power being radiated inside tour house/apartment).

[Jones]

In the past, I have used NMO mount type mobile antennas with great luck mounted in the middle of a 14 inch pizza pan.  You can buy cheap pizza pans at those Dollar type stores.  Get the thing outside if you can, and if you just want to make it temporary, use some kind of C clamp, or vice-grip pliers to clamp it to a railing or gutter, or suspend it from an awning with strings as if it were a hanging planter.  NMO antennas on a pizza pan give much better results than a mag-mount.

[haneysa]

Can you run coax out of the basement?Getting an antenna out of the building (and as high as possible) is going to make a great improvement.an Ed Fong ladder line J-Pole could be attached to the side of a building (making it very deaf for 180 degrees). 

[WRAF213]

I second the recommendation for an outdoor antenna. It doesn't have to be big. Losing 5dB in gain by using a simple one-foot dipole instead of a ten-foot collinear is easily made up for by the 20dB improvement of clearing the roofline and gaining separation from noise sources. On UHF, clearing the roofline makes a *BIG* difference in simplex range, and a good improvement in repeater range.

[WRCP828]

All excellent advice.  For the time will stick with a mag mount on cookie sheet close to window running 5 watts.

[WRAX891]

Do you have a balcony? I’m in an apartment, but have a balcony. I just ran LMR400 (several) and put my antennas out there, lol. I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than pernission.

 

Landlord did ask what they were and I explained amateur radio and GMRS. (I used angle telling her it’d still work if power and all else lost, which would as I have backup power.) She thought it was neat and even asked if I could setup some wireless bridges on rooftop (two buildings here) for their IP cameras. Easy peasy! Hoping to get brownie points and maybe sweet talk her into letting me set my antennas up there, lol. I’d put them in center roof, where can’t be seen from ground, so nobody could see, else might be seen as “tenant favoritism”.

 

Even though, my landlord loves me, anyway. Mainly because I’m a veteran and she loves all veterans.

 

I’m not complaining. :-)

[WRCP828]

No balcony.

 

Nice story!

[Downs]

Do you have a balcony? I’m in an apartment, but have a balcony. I just ran LMR400 (several) and put my antennas out there, lol. I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than pernission.

 

Landlord did ask what they were and I explained amateur radio and GMRS. (I used angle telling her it’d still work if power and all else lost, which would as I have backup power.) She thought it was neat and even asked if I could setup some wireless bridges on rooftop (two buildings here) for their IP cameras. Easy peasy! Hoping to get brownie points and maybe sweet talk her into letting me set my antennas up there, lol. I’d put them in center roof, where can’t be seen from ground, so nobody could see, else might be seen as “tenant favoritism”.

 

Even though, my landlord loves me, anyway. Mainly because I’m a veteran and she loves all veterans.

 

I’m not complaining. :-)

 

When I lived in California one of my buddies lived in an Apartment but had access to a balcony on the top floor.  He rigged up some EMT (electrical conduit) tubing which he attached to the railing using large hose clamps and attached a Roll up J-pole to it with some zipties.  Worked pretty well we could communicate easily and lived around 20 miles apart.  The rules in his apartment complex forbade such things but he figured it was cheap and easy to take down if needed.  No one ever noticed it though the whole time he lived there.  

[coryb27]

DB-404 in the attic of my 2 story condo, simplex base to base 25 miles and repeaters 45 miles.

 

http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/uhfbase2.jpg

 

Fed with 1/2 hardline

 

http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/hole.jpg

 

Into a custom wall plate with N female bulkheads. I have a UHF, VHF and Scanner antenna up there.

 

http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/wallplate.jpg

 

http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/scanner.jpg

 

 

http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/vhf.jpg

[BoxCar]

I just bought a J Pole.

 

Description Unit price Qty Amount 462 MHz Land Mobile (GMRS) J-Pole Antenna - SO-239  $25.00 USD 1 $25.00 USD Subtotal $25.00 USD Shipping and handling $7.95 USD Total $32.95 USD Payment $32.95 USD

[kidphc]

Corey

 

I am still a bit new to the radio world. Those attic mounted antenna attract lightning? If it does how does the lightning grounding work?

[coryb27]

Corey

 

I am still a bit new to the radio world. Those attic mounted antenna attract lightning? If it does how does the lightning grounding work?

 

No lightning to worry about but induced voltage from lightning is. Grounding is still an important part of any antenna system. Because I am in a condo I used a #4 wire attached to a cold water pipe and grounded the shield on all of my hardlines with bonding kits. Since the UHF and VHF antennas are folded dipoles any static buildup is shunted to ground. The scanner antenna has an add on suppressor for stray voltage. 

 

The performance of the antennas for the most part is great. I regularly talk 40 miles simplex on VHF and work repeaters 50 miles away with little trouble. The results are a little less on UHF, simplex is good for 25 miles and repeaters about 45. UHF can be funny during the winter if we get snow build up on the roof, it cuts simplex distance in half but little change on repeaters. I spared no expense when picking and installing my antennas as the antenna is the single biggest factor in the performance of any radio system.

 

The antennas are as follows and in order of the photos.

 

UHF = https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/commscope-db404-b-4267 = Covers 450-470 MHz 5dB

SCANNER= https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mp-antenna-08-ant-0863-7002 = Covers 25-1300 MHz

VHF = https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/telewave-ant150d3-4446 = Covers 138-174 MHz 6dB

[kidphc]

Just had a power outage and lost all my long winded response. Here is the short.

 

Thank you Corey for taking the time to answer the questions for me.