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advice on antenna

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tammy1959

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at the moment i have a mag mount on radiater only picking near me/ i have cre 8900 rig
 

KK4JUG

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You're already at a huge disadvantage because the area you can receive from is limited by the building, A glass-mount antenna might help. They're not the best but you may have to settle for less than ideal in your situation, There are some that look very much like the old glass-mount cell phone antennae and maybe you could paint it to match the surroundings.
 

mmckenna

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I agree, you're limited in what you are going to be able to do. There are probably a few tricks you could try by making either a wire dipole and hanging it out the window, or trying an end-fed type wire antenna.
 

bharvey2

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An antenna up close to the building is likely going to be a big disadvantage. I suspect another that you have is a poor ground plane. Maybe you can get a vertical dipole outside of you window - About 102" long antenna and a 102" counterpoise hanging down. In a high rise environment you'd need to make absolutely sure that you don't loose it outside the window. If you've got enough height inside your flat you may be able to fabricate and mount the entire antenna inside.
 

tammy1959

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what do you think of the SHARMAN'S SUPERLANCE LOFT ANTENNA i can hide this outside i live on 13th floor which is 150ft i mite get better range
 

bharvey2

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I think you may run in to trouble with this antenna. At 11 meters or at least US of A CB frequencies, a quarter wave antenna should be about 108" long. This specs for this antenna state that it is only 91.5cm or about 36" long. I see no mention of loading coils to physically shorten the antenna and the requirement to have a specific length of cable suggests that the feed cable is acting as part of the antenna. This could create a bit of havoc in your apartment in the form of interference with TVs radios and such. In the US, the 4 watt maximum wouldn't pose much of a health risk but less exposure is always better. (Think cumulative exposure)
Also, the antenna's proximity to the building may still be a problem especially if there are any metal building components such as metal studs or lathe.

You might trying doing an internet search of coaxial dipoles or magnetic loop antennas. They can be a bit more involved (especially the magnetic loop) but at low power, you'll have some greater design latitude.
 

mmckenna

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what do you think of the SHARMAN'S SUPERLANCE LOFT ANTENNA i can hide this outside i live on 13th floor which is 150ft i mite get better range

Getting anything outside the building will help, but don't expect miracles. As BHarvey said, physically short antennas are poor performers, so don't expect much from that.

Also, keep in mind that simply hanging it out the window or somehow attaching it to the side of the building is going to be problematic. The antenna will need to have some spacing away from the structure or it's going to further hamper performance.

You may want to take a look at some of the amateur radio pages where they talk about "low profile" antennas. The CB radio band is just slightly below the 10 meter amateur band. There are amateur radio operators in apartments or neighborhoods that have limitations on outdoor antennas that are able to successfully work the 10 meter band. You may not be able to buy what you need pre-made, but you may be able to take a page from the amateur radio operators and build your own.
 

tammy1959

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got a Sirio Signal Keeper works but not very good signal thinking of getting a pr-amp signal booster. can you recommend one
 
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