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 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