HF From an Apartment. The Project is Underway

With finances being tight as mentioned previously, I decided to begin with the full wave 20m loop antenna which fits OK across my balcony with a bit of a dogleg in one side.

For this antenna, I chose to hang some speaker wire on removable hooks (the ones with the stretchy adhesive). I had ordered some coaxial cable from a local supplier as postage from others was excessive. That was my first mistake. I'd been down this road previously. I should have known better. The roll of coax arrived and it was rubbish. The braid was at best 5% coverage- entirely unsuited to amateur radio! A few days later the HV-600 antenna arrived so I unpacked it and set it up temporarily for tuning purposes in the middle of my balcony with a 20m counterpoise running inside.

This morning I returned the coaxial cable and purchased some better quality cable. I also obtained a three section aluminium pool pole to allow me to place the HV-600 outside of the window and retract it when not in use. So now I will have two HF antennas.

I tuned and tested both antennas today and was happy with the results. I also attempted to make contact with Lyn VK4SWE but there were some issues with my setup of the 706 which really seems to have poor mic gain compared to the 706MKIIG  that I am used to. After giving up on making contact with Lyn I made some adjustments to mic gain and compression until I was getting appropriate ALC and power output.

Poor Quality Coax Stalls My 20m Antenna Project

I was keen to use my limited budget to get a full wave 20m loop up on the balcony of my apartment using some speaker wire and removable hooks. I looked online and as keen as I was to get some high quality coax from DX Engineering and other online sources, the delivery costs were too high. I decided to order from a local supplier. I ordered only 10 m due to my limited budget. What arrived was a 100 metre roll- win right!? Wrong! The coax was useless and poor quality with just 5% braid coverage it would be an instant TVI generator, entirely unsuited to HF amateur radio from my apartment.

Every Girl Loves a Project

While many may perceive my hobby to be the domain of men, particularly older men, the truth is quite different and it seems every girl loves a good ham radio project.

Dianna Eng 

Katie Allen Software Support Specialist and Podcast CoHost of 100 Watts and a Wire

Monique and Justin

Women in Ham Radio around the world

So it is that I began a ham radio project in a much more modest way than I am used to, since my move to a small apartment from acreage. I decided my next project should be a 20 m HF loop antenna for my balcony. The 20m band is one I have stayed away from a great deal in the past preferring the challenges of other HF bands. Without the big antennas I used to have, the reliability of the 20 metre band for HF communications across the globe, now seems very attractive as did the small space required for a useful antenna. Today I begin on that antenna and will post an update.

The Quest for Budget, Apartment Based HF

Having had such success with my 2 meter antenna and having participated in my first net,  I was now keen to see what I could do on HF from my apartment but my budget is extremely limited and I have no tools and no soldering iron so I needed a ready made commercial solution. I have two suitable antennas in storage in QLD several thousand kilometres away but can't afford the airfare just yet.

I figured I could get myself a cheap soldering iron and make a quick 20m loop out of speaker wire and be on the air on the 20 meter band pretty soon, so that will be one of the first things I do. A 20m loop will fit nicely on my balcony and not be obtrusive. But I really like working 80m CW for local rag chew and practice so ultimately I need an 80m antenna. I can't afford all the materials to make a small mag loop and I have no means to do construction anyway- no tools etc.

I have a Outbacker stealth again in storage in QLD. Besides I really must keep saving and pay back those friends who helped me with cash when I moved to Sydney first.

So eventually I will return to get my Barrett 2019 antenna or my Barrett 910 and use that but I will also investigate the HVT-600 antenna which is on special at the moment from VK4-ICE. I know it will be low efficiency and will require a counterpoise, but it may be ok for local CW contacts. I could also make the Lake Eyre special and counterpoise if I had means to cut PVC pipe, just a cheap hacksaw would do.

I will keep looking at options while I try to save as much as I can.

The Rewards of Ham Radio from an Apartment

My Kenwood D700 was working really well on 2m APRS but I could not hit any repeaters on 2m and I could not see any settings that were wrong. I had bought this radio from the USA years ago and it had only ever been used for APSR. In desperation I did a hard reset, setting the radio back to factory defaults. Bingo! Success!

I tuned around and found a net on 147.250 and at the appropriate time called in. I told all on the net that I had recently moved to Sydney and was testing a home made antenna. Several of the ops on the net checked on reverse and found that I was reaching them simplex (without the repeater) the best distance 200 k to the north.

The Challenges of Ham Radio from an Apartment

I moved from my own large property, where I could have practically any size antennas I wanted, to a one bedroom apartment in the Sydney suburb of Wentworth Point, where I am restricted due to both the size of my place and by restrictions of the building management.

Nonetheless, my two suitcases brought from my regional home contained two radios, and some laptops as I intended to in some way get back into this hobby. Compared to the huge amount of gear I had in my previous shack and now in storage, this was a meager startup- made even more meager when I realised I had left power chords, microphones and antennas in storage. Unfortunately the massive changes that had happened in my life had left me penniless, but at least employed, so there is at present no option to return to my storage locker, as I can't afford the flight let alone the return journey with small rental truck required to carry my stuff.

So it is that today I am listening to the ARNSW and WIA news on the B receiver of my Kenwood TM-D700 on 147.000 MHz while the A side of the radio does ASPRS duties. With the few dollars I had a few weeks ago I purchased some used coaxial cable at the trash and treasure event at Dural along with a short length of 450 ohm ladder line. From these and a few pieces of pvc pipe, I made a Slim Jim 2 meter antenna. I originally planned to clamp it to the window but changed my mind and now it stands on the patio, held in place by some clamps as "tripod" legs. When I can afford some more PVC fittings, I will make a better base for it to stand on.

The Kenwood lacks a microphone, but I have arranged for one to be shipped to me. Hopefully it will get here soon. I do have a Baofeng GT3-TP with which I can just barely hit the Dural repeater from my balcony.

My next steps are over a period of time and in roughly this order-

1. Finish the base for the Slim Jim
2. Get the microphone for my D700
3. Build a 3/4 wave 20m loop for my balcony as per http://www.hamuniverse.com/kl7jrstealth20meterloop.htmlhttp://www.hamuniverse.com/kl7jrstealth20meterloop.html
4. Obtain a Codan 9350 antenna which will be perfect for balcony, just angled out of window. I have a great counterpoise available.
5. Adapt the whip for 160m band
6. Make a dual loop copper 80m mag loop
7. Bring my vintage equipment to Sydney so I can work 80m AM

Beginning this Blog - Waiting on My Callsign

This will be the beginning of a new ham radio blog.

My name is Kimberly Olsen and I have been involved with radio, sound engineering and tech pursuits almost all of my life. I only became a licensed amateur in 2008. I hold an Advanced Amateur Operators Certificate of Proficiency.

I moved from Queensland in November but only got around to setting up one of my radios just now in February. A great deal of my equipment including vintage radios is in storage in QLD. How much of it I will be able to bring here I do not know. I moved from acreage to a one bedroom apartment. I maintain an address in Queensland so for now I will hold my QLD call sign but I have applied for a new VK2 call, VK2KMI. I am also waiting to see if my application to ALARA will be approved.

My massive shack is now reduced to this, but I have plans.