Wow! That's fantastic the setups you've tried. I wished I would have thought of "Loading the Handrail". I used the handrail as a Counterpoise and wire woven between the 2 x 6 boards that made up the floor of my third floor deck. I had a Hamstick or simular antenna mounted to the handrail. I wasn't the strongest signal, but I ran an 80 meter Net for a little over a year that way with no problem.
loading rain gutter , balcony fence are great idea. I suppose most of balcony fence are not electrically connected structure of building. I used to live in two story apartment, wooden structure, had 26 AWG white wire thumb tag to celling, used MFJ antenna manual tuner along with MFJ artificial ground. Artificial ground worked great in my situation. because I did not have very good ground, I connected artificial ground to AC power ground, and not using TV cable line. I also operated VHF as well as HF, I even made CW contact with Cuba, many contacts western half of USA from Utah.
Good stuff. I once operated 10m 12 floors up (180ft asl) with 2 ft horizontal pole with 10m dipole, ends horizontal pulled back to apartment at the ends, metal frame windows acted as reflector and so did the steel framed building, front to back was superb, nothing heard behind me! In that direction every thing was possible on 5 watts (1999 sunspot cycle). I notice your neighbour has a balcony, have a word, or tell him you have seen rats climbing up the drain pipe and on his balcony, and your high frequency oscillator apparatus will keep them away Ha!
Sure, you can tune a gutter. Two things, though: first, you're going to have some spots with hefty voltage. Not dangerous at the G90's wattage, but potentially enough to give somebody a surprise. Not a big deal for the main part of the gutter, but if the downspouts are metal and connected... One option is to 'tweak' the gutter, adding an insulator to disconnect the downspouts. And while you're at it, the metal-on-metal gutter connections are not always that great and benefit from a wire link. Second, SWR is not the only thing that matters. You can, after all, get a perfect 1:1 SWR with a dummy load. Radiation resistance on TX and SNR on RX are quite a bit more important than SWR. Obviously, the proof is in the contacts, and gutter antennas really can work. Especially since the tuner in the G90 has such a wide range.
Suggestion: I noticed that in the video, on either side of the Apartment Building there is a Downspout. As an experiment, You might try an equidistant, inverted Vee feed from the Balcony to the base of the two downspouts to create a Rain Gutter Loop. Assuming it wouldn't disturb any neighbours.
Not into ham but 40 years ago I spent a lot of time working with low band commercial gear and CB. Yeah, SWR was what you were aiming for, but ERP (effective radiated power) is what throws the signal away from the antenna and into the air. As someone else pointed out, you can get a perfect SWR on a dummy load, but it doesn't go far.
For us that have no balcony. Would you happen to have an answer? I can not put up any antenna outside. Presently my antennae are indoors like my Mag Loop
Not sure about 180m being a thing, I bet that will be a very lonely place... I think that the coil-and-gutter combo for 160m is potentially far more useful. I'd rather tune the goat with a "loaded curry" for a good bunny chow, and use the gutter for a rag-chew on top band. The G90 is a great little radio, that tuner will tune a rusty spring and a wet noodle. Amazing little thing. But all jokes aside, I'm not 100% sure about the full effects of the coil in this scenario (apart from the added capacitance), perhaps it will also help to keep the voltage down to a manageable level and thus protect the radio. I would love to use an antenna analyser and perhaps a voltage meter on this setup to answer these questions. Ham radio is a fascinating hobby after all! :-D 73, Jan (M7HNK)
I'm pretty new to radio. My radio is Quansheng UV-K5. I live in an apartment too. How can I use the gutter drain as an antena? Do I need a big coil or something?
DON'T BE FOOLED! It's nice that you can keep your radio "happy" with good SWR AT THE RADIO. But what is the RF power AT THE ANTENNA compared to the output at the radio? In other words, how much RF is actually getting in the air versus swallowed by your radio's tuner and antenna system??? Almost nobody actually shows this with their "magic" antennas. K7RAW-The Antenna Whisperer
Wow! That's fantastic the setups you've tried. I wished I would have thought of "Loading the Handrail". I used the handrail as a Counterpoise and wire woven between the 2 x 6 boards that made up the floor of my third floor deck. I had a Hamstick or simular antenna mounted to the handrail. I wasn't the strongest signal, but I ran an 80 meter Net for a little over a year that way with no problem.
Works great as a counterpoise too if you managed to do 80m on a Hamstick 👏
loading rain gutter , balcony fence are great idea. I suppose most of balcony fence are not electrically connected structure of building. I used to live in two story apartment, wooden structure, had 26 AWG white wire thumb tag to celling, used MFJ antenna manual tuner along with MFJ artificial ground. Artificial ground worked great in my situation. because I did not have very good ground, I connected artificial ground to AC power ground, and not using TV cable line. I also operated VHF as well as HF, I even made CW contact with Cuba, many contacts western half of USA from Utah.
Good stuff. I once operated 10m 12 floors up (180ft asl) with 2 ft horizontal pole with 10m dipole, ends
horizontal pulled back to apartment at the ends, metal frame windows acted as reflector and so did the steel framed building, front to back was superb, nothing heard behind me! In that direction every thing was possible on 5 watts (1999 sunspot cycle).
I notice your neighbour has a balcony, have a word, or tell him you have seen rats climbing up the drain pipe and on his balcony, and your high frequency oscillator apparatus will keep them away Ha!
Sure, you can tune a gutter. Two things, though: first, you're going to have some spots with hefty voltage. Not dangerous at the G90's wattage, but potentially enough to give somebody a surprise. Not a big deal for the main part of the gutter, but if the downspouts are metal and connected... One option is to 'tweak' the gutter, adding an insulator to disconnect the downspouts. And while you're at it, the metal-on-metal gutter connections are not always that great and benefit from a wire link.
Second, SWR is not the only thing that matters. You can, after all, get a perfect 1:1 SWR with a dummy load. Radiation resistance on TX and SNR on RX are quite a bit more important than SWR.
Obviously, the proof is in the contacts, and gutter antennas really can work. Especially since the tuner in the G90 has such a wide range.
Suggestion: I noticed that in the video, on either side of the Apartment Building there is a Downspout. As an experiment, You might try an equidistant, inverted Vee feed from the Balcony to the base of the two downspouts to create a Rain Gutter Loop. Assuming it wouldn't disturb any neighbours.
I love your ingenuity, I hope to work you on the air, 73 George
Thank you George, 73
Not into ham but 40 years ago I spent a lot of time working with low band commercial gear and CB. Yeah, SWR was what you were aiming for, but ERP (effective radiated power) is what throws the signal away from the antenna and into the air. As someone else pointed out, you can get a perfect SWR on a dummy load, but it doesn't go far.
For us that have no balcony. Would you happen to have an answer? I can not put up any antenna outside. Presently my antennae are indoors like my Mag Loop
I may make a future video on how to tune up an aluminium window frame 🤔
the loading coil on the iron gate isn't fair becuse that G90 can tune a dead goat for 180m.
🤣 True story
Not sure about 180m being a thing, I bet that will be a very lonely place... I think that the coil-and-gutter combo for 160m is potentially far more useful. I'd rather tune the goat with a "loaded curry" for a good bunny chow, and use the gutter for a rag-chew on top band. The G90 is a great little radio, that tuner will tune a rusty spring and a wet noodle. Amazing little thing. But all jokes aside, I'm not 100% sure about the full effects of the coil in this scenario (apart from the added capacitance), perhaps it will also help to keep the voltage down to a manageable level and thus protect the radio. I would love to use an antenna analyser and perhaps a voltage meter on this setup to answer these questions. Ham radio is a fascinating hobby after all! :-D 73, Jan (M7HNK)
Can you get 70cm and 2m with that table top antenna?
It does 2m, it also does 6m, but not 70cm as far as I know
I'm pretty new to radio. My radio is Quansheng UV-K5. I live in an apartment too. How can I use the gutter drain as an antena? Do I need a big coil or something?
Goeie video, Johan! Geniet jou G90, hoop om jou in my logs te sit op 'n stadium. 73, Jan M7HNK
Ek sal uit luister vir jou Jan, 73
You can disguise a sat dish as a slot antenna.
Baie goed gedoen Johan. Hou so aan. Johann Brummer VK4AHR
Dankie Johann, ons maak maar 'n plan met wat ons het 😁
Het jy Peanut?
@@vort3xZA
Thanks 👍
You should try QO-100 satellite as another option. You can reach roughly half of the planet 24/24h.
Thank you for the information, I will definitely check it out
godt job 73 from Danmark
Your heading should say outdoor antenna for apartments with a balcony
Very nice!
Thank you! Cheers!
nice ideas!!! 73
Many thanks!
DON'T BE FOOLED! It's nice that you can keep your radio "happy" with good SWR AT THE RADIO. But what is the RF power AT THE ANTENNA compared to the output at the radio? In other words, how much RF is actually getting in the air versus swallowed by your radio's tuner and antenna system??? Almost nobody actually shows this with their "magic" antennas. K7RAW-The Antenna Whisperer
A 1.1:1 VSWR doesn't mean the antenna is any good. It just means you have an impedance around 50 Ohms.