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.