cdesigns Posted October 1, 2016 Report Posted October 1, 2016 Damn HOA's and their rules , they don't allow Ham radio/GMRS antennas outside our homes, so I had to put mine in a tree close to my garage. Simple 1/4 wave Ground Plane antenna on a telescopic aluminum pool cleaning pole, painted camo and holded down with strong zip ties. The antenna is about 20'-24' from the ground connected to my Vertex Standard VX-2500 I'm using about 40' of LMR195 coax cable, with a SWR of 1.12 I plan to put a repeater for my area and the antenna will be installed on the pine trees behind my house with a repeater enclosed in "dog" house type of enclosure, I don't want to run hundreds of feet of coax to my home, I prefer just run AC power all the way to the pine trees and put the repeater at the base of one of them. I need to put AC power there anyhow so I will be killing 2 birds with one stone ;-) Logan5 1 Quote
dberg Posted October 1, 2016 Report Posted October 1, 2016 That looks really nice and stealth. Yes HOA can be a little strict Quote
cdesigns Posted October 1, 2016 Author Report Posted October 1, 2016 I see what you did there! I'm fertilizing the tree a lot so it gets higher and higher that way little by little I can raise the antenna lol. Quote
Logan5 Posted October 1, 2016 Report Posted October 1, 2016 I had my repeater in a large tree for about a year. Mine was around 45 feet. worked very nice, but was a lot of worry, with wind here. so I finally got a tower. Also HOA, but voluntary. I actually enjoyed deploying an antenna in a tree, I enjoyed planning it, learning from mistakes and fabricating tree safe brackets and such. Was a blast! Quote
WQYC236 Posted October 2, 2016 Report Posted October 2, 2016 That's a neat tree installation. I'm playing metal games myself trying to figure how to safely get to the top of a 100 ft tree that sits on a 10 foot hill about 50 ft from my house. I'd like to put a 16.5' antenna attached to a ten foot pole in the top of that tree. My neighbor has a bucket truck but may not be able to get in or operate out of my uneven back yard. Another option is to buy the climbing gear and try it on my own. I think I also may need to build a small platform about twenty feet from the top of the tree in case I decide to mount a repeater up there. The antenna is 11.5 db and should give me some reasonable range at that altitude. cdesigns 1 Quote
cdesigns Posted October 2, 2016 Author Report Posted October 2, 2016 That's a neat tree installation. I'm playing metal games myself trying to figure how to safely get to the top of a 100 ft tree that sits on a 10 foot hill about 50 ft from my house. I'd like to put a 16.5' antenna attached to a ten foot pole in the top of that tree. My neighbor has a bucket truck but may not be able to get in or operate out of my uneven back yard. Another option is to buy the climbing gear and try it on my own. I think I also may need to build a small platform about twenty feet from the top of the tree in case I decide to mount a repeater up there. The antenna is 11.5 db and should give me some reasonable range at that altitude. What antenna are you using? I have a 1/4 wave ground plane i believe they are 0db I need the best I can find at a low price lol. Quote
WQYC236 Posted October 2, 2016 Report Posted October 2, 2016 What antenna are you using? I have a 1/4 wave ground plane i believe they are 0db I need the best I can find at a low price lol. It's a Comet GP-9NCA. (rated at 11.9 dbi) http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/comet-gp-9nca-1088.html Quote
cdesigns Posted October 2, 2016 Author Report Posted October 2, 2016 It's a Comet GP-9NCA. (rated at 11.9 dbi) http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/comet-gp-9nca-1088.html Hmm I have a Solarcom A99 Cb Antenna is about 17.7" I wonder if I can cut it to match GMRS frequencies lol. Yours seems to be 16.6' Quote
WQYC236 Posted October 2, 2016 Report Posted October 2, 2016 Hmm I have a Solarcom A99 Cb Antenna is about 17.7" I wonder if I can cut it to match GMRS frequencies lol. Yours seems to be 16.6'Mine is MURS/GMRS, VHF/UHF so it has some inline induction built into the design. Antennas are so inexpensive these days that personally I would just buy one. But If you do build of modify your own actually do the math and cut the antenna and ground planes to the exact frequency you need. IMHO Quote
rfmedic Posted October 3, 2016 Report Posted October 3, 2016 You won't get an a-99 to tune on UHF, way too much work for the minimal efficiency compared to a gain antenna designed for 460-470mhz. Quote
cdesigns Posted October 3, 2016 Author Report Posted October 3, 2016 You won't get an a-99 to tune on UHF, way too much work for the minimal efficiency compared to a gain antenna designed for 460-470mhz. Yeah, I just saw online how the antenna is built and has a coil by the connector, I will just buy one for commercial radios instead. the A99 is great for CB's my farthest communication was 1283miles a few years back with a 5 watt Cobra CB, antenna was mounted 10 miles from the coat and around 20f above sea level, the contact was from Puerto Rico to Mexico........ Here in Florida the farthest I have gone is about 283 miles on 5 watts talking to North Georgia. You can't beat a CB radio when the conditions are right. Quote
wcpotter Posted October 3, 2016 Report Posted October 3, 2016 Funny how the HOA doesn't allow antennas, but they are ok with the ugly sat dish next door to you. lol Quote
Logan5 Posted October 3, 2016 Report Posted October 3, 2016 They are not happy with the sat dish either, but there is not much they can do about it. Access to the common air waves applies to Ham radio also but access to Satellite communications is more accepted and easier to get away with inside the HOA system. I am curious though, is this stealth installation to keep HOA unaware of the antenna or did the HOA agree to the stealth installation? Quote
cdesigns Posted October 3, 2016 Author Report Posted October 3, 2016 They are not happy with the sat dish either, but there is not much they can do about it. Access to the common air waves applies to Ham radio also but access to Satellite communications is more accepted and easier to get away with inside the HOA system. I am curious though, is this stealth installation to keep HOA unaware of the antenna or did the HOA agree to the stealth installation? Is to keep the HOA unaware of the antenna, but if they say something I will point out many TV antennas I have seen in the neighborhood that are in plain sight, with mast of 15', also keeps my wife happy. lol Satellite dish and TV antennas can be installed in your property but not visible from the streets lol, it only worked the first month after the houses were sold. Logan5 1 Quote
Durake Posted October 4, 2016 Report Posted October 4, 2016 I was talking to some operators on the Dallas County REACT System and they said there is a form on the ARRL website that you can put in your callsign and it will print up a paper to give to your HOA stating the laws regarding antennas, they said something about a legislator passing something that allows Ham and GMRS Operators to keep their antennas up, because when the Public Safety Systems goes down? Who do ya call! Lol. I've tried looking and have only found more details regarding the passing of it. Maybe someone can find it? If I hear them on today Ill ask for more info. Otherwise I've heard them talking about using a push up pole and put it up at night, although I'd get tired of doing it every single night.. cdesigns 1 Quote
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