Best 2M Antenna for Apartment Patio

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JoninNYC

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May 21, 2017
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White Plains, NY
I live in an apartment building in the suburbs of NYC. I am looking for an easy antenna solution. Naturally, it needs to be low-profile. The patio has a metal rail, probably aluminum. Naturally the building would have something to say with a bog antenna mounted to it.
I am not one to build my own antenna.
With that said, I was thinking about a copper J-Pole. I notice there is a popular Ham selling these very inexpensively on Ebay.
I suppose I could just easily buy a gain antenna and use a mag mount to attach it to a pizza dish or some type of metal table. Or possibly the J-Pole referenced above on some portable stand or tripod type mount. I don't think I could get away with mounting it directly on the rail, so it be partially below the railing coming up from the floor.
BTW, most of the repeaters I use are in the NYC area 10 to 30 miles out.
Running a 75 watt radio.

Any suggestions?
 

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insanity213

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I've done pretty well with a mag mount stuck to the back side of an old satellite dish up in my garage rafters. The ed fong type jpole in a pvc pipe is pretty good too.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

N8IAA

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Fortunately, GA
I live in an apartment building in the suburbs of NYC. I am looking for an easy antenna solution. Naturally, it needs to be low-profile. The patio has a metal rail, probably aluminum. Naturally the building would have something to say with a bog antenna mounted to it.
I am not one to build my own antenna.
With that said, I was thinking about a copper J-Pole. I notice there is a popular Ham selling these very inexpensively on Ebay.
I suppose I could just easily buy a gain antenna and use a mag mount to attach it to a pizza dish or some type of metal table. Or possibly the J-Pole referenced above on some portable stand or tripod type mount. I don't think I could get away with mounting it directly on the rail, so it be partially below the railing coming up from the floor.
BTW, most of the repeaters I use are in the NYC area 10 to 30 miles out.
Running a 75 watt radio.

Any suggestions?
First, welcome.
Some questions come to mind> 1. Does the balcony face the direction you want to operate? 2. By the picture, what is in the way as far as elevation in the direction you wish to operate? 3. Why would you use 75 watts? I'm sure that amount of power would not make your neighbors happy:wink:
You need to talk to some hams in your area for help in what you want to do. Online help isn't always the best way to go. At least with local help, they will understand what problems you may have.
HTH,
Larry
 

JoninNYC

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May 21, 2017
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White Plains, NY
First, welcome.
Some questions come to mind> 1. Does the balcony face the direction you want to operate? 2. By the picture, what is in the way as far as elevation in the direction you wish to operate? 3. Why would you use 75 watts? I'm sure that amount of power would not make your neighbors happy:wink:
You need to talk to some hams in your area for help in what you want to do. Online help isn't always the best way to go. At least with local help, they will understand what problems you may have.
HTH,
Larry

Yes the balcony faces south, in the direction I want to hit mostly, although there are a few machines to my back (north).
Problem is I live at the bottom of a hill. the balcony faces the hill. I have trouble making the machines (although I can get in, but not DFQ) from my car on the street, with 50 watts and a 1/4 wave. On the 6th floor with 75 watts I would hope to have improvement
 
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That is FANTASTIC! I couldn't go that tall, but I can probably do a similar mount in a pot with fake vines.
I couldn't go that high either, that's why I used the ladder line. I then adjusted the ladder line to be as high as possible using a wooden broom as my pole. I zip tied the antenna to the broom and completed the rest of the steps.

Tip.. Buy the vines via Amazon. They are cheaper there then a craft store. (Amazon will literally give you 2 sections of vines for the price of 1 at the store.)
 

JoninNYC

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May 21, 2017
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18
Location
White Plains, NY
I couldn't go that high either, that's why I used the ladder line. I then adjusted the ladder line to be as high as possible using a wooden broom as my pole. I zip tied the antenna to the broom and completed the rest of the steps.

Tip.. Buy the vines via Amazon. They are cheaper there then a craft store. (Amazon will literally give you 2 sections of vines for the price of 1 at the store.)

Im confused. Whats a ladder line?
 

wyShack

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Campbell County, Wyoming
If 50 watts at street level hits the repeaters you use, just being six stories up will normally make a huge difference. If you are not using the balcony rail as a ground plane, I would keep my antenna 4 feet or more away to avoid 'coupling'. I would also suggest you keep the power down. At VHF 50 watts puts puts you (50 W PEP is only 12.5 W ) in the range of having to do a RF exposure analysis. More to the point, the rules do require using the minimum power needed ( 97.313). On FM, my experience has been if you can't make contact with about 40 watts, more won't help much. A higher antenna is much more effective at increasing your range.

73
 
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TheSpaceMann

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If you want to REALLY maximize your range from an apartment, either from a balcony or even indoors, just get a small portable beam! I use an ELK 2m/440 beam inside hotels when I travel, with excellent results. I simply bungee mount it to a chair using a broom stick or PVC as a mast, and I am able to hit repeaters at much greater distances than if I just used an omni directional antenna! :) Elk Antennas – Portable Log Periodic Antennas
 

mmckenna

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J-Poles are 1/2 wave, so they do not require a ground plane. Might be a good solution for you. Would make it easy to mount. Put a bucket full of stones/concrete with a pipe sticking up. Mount the J-pole to that.
I used a J-pole for many years when I first got my amateur license.

A beam antenna on a similar mounting arrangement would work well, too.

Bigger challenge will be getting the coaxial cable into the apartment.
 

mmckenna

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A 3 or 4 element Yagi will do pretty well. It'll give you a decent amount of gain, directional, but not a super narrow beam width. Manageable length, and the front to back ratio is low enough that it will still give you some decent performance off the back.
Anything much longer than that is going to be a handful on a balcony.
 

plughie

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Coastside, CA
Flower pot j-pole (good for 2m but not 70cm), Ed Fong base J-pole, Ed Fong roll-up J-pole. Skip the slim jim, which usually has the top shorted, creating a negative dB gain. Ed couples a second radiator above the driven element for additional gain.
 

AI6VX

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Ventura, CA
Flower pot j-pole (good for 2m but not 70cm), Ed Fong base J-pole, Ed Fong roll-up J-pole. Skip the slim jim, which usually has the top shorted, creating a negative dB gain. Ed couples a second radiator above the driven element for additional gain.
I thought Ed's antennas were also known as a Slim Jim ?
 
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