HOA VHF

[W1JOP]

i am HOA, I would like to have greater VHF coverage, right now I am using a slim jim hung from the ceiling, I cant mount antennas outside, on Amazon I am finding ground plan kits that can be used with mobile antennas, do these actually work? and would this set up make for a decent HOA base antenna?

I have a comment high gain 2/440 antenna, if i put a ground plain on that should i get good performance?

John

 

[mmckenna]

i am HOA, I would like to have greater VHF coverage, right now I am using a slim jim hung from the ceiling, I cant mount antennas outside, on Amazon I am finding ground plan kits that can be used with mobile antennas, do these actually work? and would this set up make for a decent HOA base antenna?

I have a comment high gain 2/440 antenna, if i put a ground plain on that should i get good performance?

John

The ground plane kits work if set up correctly.

A slim jim is a type of half wave antenna and will have essentially 0dB gain. Most you'll get out of a reasonably sized mobile antenna is around 3dB gain. Usually the bigger issue with indoor antennas is the building materials. A bit more antenna gain might get you a bit farther, but don't expect a huge change in coverage.

As for the HOA requirements, is it -no- external antennas of any kind, or would a well hidden antenna on the back side of the home be an option? A thin mobile whip out of sight on the exterior of the home is going to work better than something inside.

 

[K6GBW]

Do you have a crawl space? If so a small base antenna might fit. How about a balcony or patio? Base antennas can be camouflaged with plastic shrubbery limbs. I’ve also see Ed Fong dual band antennas painted to match and hung up on balconies. You can also suspend one from a cathedral ceiling to get it up higher and to minimize the effect of chick wire under the exterior stucco.

There’s always a way!

 

[prcguy]

You may not notice any difference between an Ed Fong antenna and a mobile antenna on a ground plane unless the mobile antenna is BIG. A typical 2m ham antenna is about 1/2 wavelength at best but there are some larger ones with a little more gain. I have a roughly 7ft tall 2m mobile antenna that's two half waves in phase providing close to 3dBd gain. Anything less than that is probably not worth pursuing unless you can get the antenna outside and in the clear.

Is this a house or condo type building? If its a house you are allowed a TV antenna or satellite dish up to about 1m across on the roof. You can install an antenna that looks like a TV antenna or satellite dish but have it tuned for 2m. If your in a condo you usually have a balcony or side yard that is associated with your unit and the same antenna rules would apply to those areas. There are plans out there to make some saw cuts on a DirecTV type dish and tune it specifically for 2m and your HOA would never know any different.

Here is some basic wording on what your rights are with antennas within an HOA.

"HOAs cannot restrict the installation, maintenance, or use of antennas (including satellite dishes and TV antennas) for receiving video programming or certain fixed wireless signals, unless there's a safety or historic preservation concern, or if a common antenna is available."

 

[EAFrizzle]

Too bad all you HOA guys are scared of plumbing...

 

[sloop]

Notice what pcguy quoted says "receiving antennas", they can and do prohibit transmitting antennas and most have restrictions on type, size, location, etc. of receiving antennas. That being said, if you have access to an attic and the roof does not have a metal backing you could locate a vhf antenna there. I have an Arrow 144/440 j-pole antenna mounted to a stud in the attic and I can 'hit' a repeater 75 miles away with full quieting (and full scale S meter reading) running 65 watts. I have also worked stations 65 miles away on 146.52 simplex. I live on flat land with an elevation of about 280 meters. A lot will depend on your location and the repeaters location.

 

[W1JOP]

Notice what pcguy quoted says "receiving antennas", they can and do prohibit transmitting antennas and most have restrictions on type, size, location, etc. of receiving antennas. That being said, if you have access to an attic and the roof does not have a metal backing you could locate a vhf antenna there. I have an Arrow 144/440 j-pole antenna mounted to a stud in the attic and I can 'hit' a repeater 75 miles away with full quieting (and full scale S meter reading) running 65 watts. I have also worked stations 65 miles away on 146.52 simplex. I live on flat land with an elevation of about 280 meters. A lot will depend on your location and the repeaters location.

https://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/OSJ146440.pdf

never really looked at Arrow before, but I actually think this antenna might be the answer for 2/440 HOA issues

 

[prcguy]

https://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/OSJ146440.pdf

never really looked at Arrow before, but I actually think this antenna might be the answer for 2/440 HOA issues

An attic can certainly work if its clear of metal but there are much better antennas than the Arrow J-pole thing. A simple home made 2m dipole with extra elements for 440 will outperform it and that's only 3ft tall. A Comet GP-3 is about the same length and will work better.

 

[K6GBW]

I only put the Ed Fong antenna on there because you can paint it to match your balcony colors and then hang it near a pillar and hide it. The different ways to put up a V/U antenna are limited only by imagination. Now, when we start playing with HF...well, that's next level creative crazy!

 

[dkcorlfla]

Maybe a stealth flagpole antenna? I have a 5 foot flagpole kit mounted to the roof eve that looks really nice. I look at it from time to time and think that thing sure could be made into an antenna. It has an adjustable mounting bracket that can go vertical, is 1 inch diameter tubing (same as 3/4 PVC) . Could make for a fun DIY project. Put it up as a flagpole, let everybody get used to it while you work on the antenna replacement then sneak out in the middle on the night to swap it out ;-)

 

[Bologna_sammiges4me]

Apartments suck so bad for a dedicated cb,er/ham operator like me and it's been an ongoing experiment lasting 3 years with antennas trying to get the most signal I can away from this building with only antennas I built within the limitations a d it sucks

 

[Bologna_sammiges4me]

I only put the Ed Fong antenna on there because you can paint it to match your balcony colors and then hang it near a pillar and hide it. The different ways to put up a V/U antenna are limited only by imagination. Now, when we start playing with HF...well, that's next level creative crazy!

Are ED Fong antennas really worth having ? I tried to build my own like he does and it does work but it looks like crap.
Anyhoo I hear nothing but good things about ED Fongs

 

[K6GBW]

At the end of the day, an Ed Fong antenna is just a J-Pole inside a PVC tube, and it works like any other J-Pole. I used one when I lived in A rented condo. I actually put a small eyebolt on the top end cap and I suspended it from the ceiling of a top floor bedroom. I actually worked pretty well and got me buy until we finally bought out house. I had the DBJ-1 which is a dual band antenna. At that time I was using an Alinco DJ-580T hand held (this is thirty years ago) and it worked really well. It got me through the 1994 earthquake. Now I have a dual band antenna mounted on the backside of my house with a dual band base radio. I still only run low power for repeaters.

 

[G7RUX]

There’s quite a bit that can be done to make a sensible antenna which looks like something else. I have constructed VHF/UHF antennas disguised as a lightning conductor that worked very well for exactly this purpose. If the element is thin, stiff coated steel wire then its difficult to see from the ground.