Awesome!  Great minds think alike!   :) 8)   

I just ordered a FT-450D from Gigaparts as a Christmas present to myself.  I sure considered an 857 but decided to go with the 450.  UPS sez it'll be here Tuesday.  When are you supposed to get the 857?

What antenna are you going to put on it?  I'm going to try a Chameleon to see how they work.  Good reviews from what I've seen.

Welcome aboard!  Lots of good info here!

Quote from: K8hid on November 26, 2013, 09:26:30 AM
What about your gutters as the antenna? I did that in the past in a restricted dorm setting. Used the the buildings water pipes as ground. You could lay 130 ft of wire on the ground around the house as a counterpoise.
Gary
K8HID

That's crossed my mind but I'm not sure how to go about it.  Would you feed the center conductor of the coax to the gutter?  And then where does the shield attach?  And how/where would you attach the counterpoise?   Sorry, I'm still new to this but I'm reading as fast as I can!

Quote from: gil on November 23, 2013, 03:00:28 PM
Check out http://thewireman.com, they have a great wire, #534, which is a 26ga copper clad steel. It is very hard to see and pretty strong..

Gil.

Oh yeah, Gil, that site's a keeper.  Bookmarked.

Thanks for the info, KK0G.  I'm gonna keep looking at my possibilities.  I've got a little time since saving for a new radio is a little slow going into the Holidays. 

BTW, I'm a born, bred and corn fed Iowa boy myself.  Born in Mason City, lived around the state and didn't leave until I graduated UI.  Don't miss the snow tho.

I've got a wood fence that runs from the garage that has some potential if I add some insulators to hold it.  There would have to be at least one 90 in it though.  So are we just talking a random length of end fed wire and then use a tuner to bring it to resonance?


Gil, thanks for the reference.  I'll be sure to check it out.

Quote from: KK0G on November 23, 2013, 02:29:37 PM
If I were in your shoes my priority would be to get the antenna mounted outside. As a general rule, even a crappy antenna mounted outside and clear of obstructions will be better than a great antenna mounted in the attic. A wire antenna made from 18 gauge speaker wire is very difficult to spot from even a short distance away, 28 gauge magnet wire is practically invisible.

That's gonna be tough but I'm all ears.  What about a wire along the gutters?  But I'm thinking that the gutter metal would be worse than the roofing material.  Running one higher along the roof is probably going to be too obvious to the HOA types.

I'm looking for some ideas for an attic antenna.  I currently only have an HT and a mobile rig.  I'm considering adding an all mode, all band HF rig for the house and as such will need to also add an antenna.
I know this will be somewhat of a compromise antenna but here are some of my constraints:

I have HOA restrictions so will need either a portable rig or, preferably, an attic application.
I have a 20x25 garage which is the only part of the house that doesn't have radiant barrier or other large metal systems such as HVAC components.
I intend to stay 100 watts or less for now.
Would prefer a single antenna to start so that I can at least play on numerous bands.  Maybe later I would consider a specialized application.

A couple products I'm considering are maybe a trapped dipole like the Diamond W8010.  I gets me a bunch of bands but at 63' it's going to have to bend around in the garage attic considerably.
Maybe a rotatable dipole like the Comet CHV-5X.  Again, it gets me a bunch of bands but there won't be a lot of room for rotation.
Or maybe a vertical like the Comet HVU-8.  At 8' tall it may not work but maybe something similar but shorter would.

Any discussion on the advantages/disadvantages would be appreciated.  I'm just looking for a good direction to continue my research.  Thanks!

I have the Tecsun PL-660 on my wish list.  It's a little more expensive though so maybe the 380 will fill the bill and still leave a little coin in my pocket.  Thanks for the review!

Welcome, TexasRadio!!  You're gonna love this site.  Texas is a pretty small state but what part do you hail from? 

I'd sure like to see us start working on a Radiopreppers Texas subnet.  Maybe we can consider that.  Don't know but maybe it's time to start a Texas Subforum?

Quote from: KF5RHI on November 05, 2013, 01:11:00 PM

Quote from: John Galt on November 05, 2013, 12:49:28 PM
At the moment, I only set up the 8900 in the truck when I'm heading out to the ranch.  I've got the stuff on order to use it at the house.  Once I get 10m capability at the house (Htown area), we'll give it a shot!

I made my 8900 backpack portable.  The 857D that I'm about to buy is going to be part of my digital station-in-a-box.

What do you use for an antenna?  Quad band or did you pick a single band for your backpack?

Quote from: Archangel320420 on November 02, 2013, 09:34:00 PM
When you can manage to work me, NN0AA, then you will have the biggest thrill amateur radio has to offer. Ask KK0G.

LOL.  I believe you!  At this point I can only hope to aspire to that level of achievement! 

That sounds great, though.  I need all the experience that I can get.  Once I get set up at the house or am out at the ranch, we will definitely need to give it a try.

Quote from: KF5RHI on November 02, 2013, 07:40:37 PM

Ever listen in on the W5DFW 10m repeater?  give me a shout sometime and we can give it a shot!

At the moment, I only set up the 8900 in the truck when I'm heading out to the ranch.  I've got the stuff on order to use it at the house.  Once I get 10m capability at the house (Htown area), we'll give it a shot!

As I wrote in my introductory post, I'm very new to ham and I'm on the steep end of the learning curve (or is that the deep end?).  So right now, I've got pretty limited knowledge and tools. 

Fast forward to last weekend I decided to go out to the ranch to do some chores, hunting, chillaxing etc.  I threw the Yaesu FT-8900 in the truck and off I went.  I hadn't heard much on 10 meter previously but it was pretty lively that weekend.  Anyhow, listening to 29.600, a CQ comes in pretty strong.  At that point, I have yet to use the PTT button.  Even back in the big city listening to 2m and 70cm with the HT, I haven't done anything but listen and learn. 

So I answer this station from my place outside BFE.  I actually talked to him briefly!  He never could pick up my call sign because my signal was weak.  I've got a Diamond CR-8900 on my truck and my mobile rig  only puts out 50 watts max.  Of course, I don't have internet or much else for that matter for comms out in the sticks so I had to wait to get back to town to look him up.   Enschede, Netherlands!!  By the German border.  5500 miles.  Holy crap!  This stuff works!   

Quote from: KF5RHI on October 22, 2013, 08:34:10 AM

Quote from: medic photog on October 21, 2013, 10:30:11 PM
Ive decided on a multi band Yaesu, either an 8900, an 857D, or an 897D.  I'm actually leaning more towards the 857 right now and with a couple photo jobs coming up in the next couple of weeks the cash flow will be fine for any of the three.

I've got the FT-8900R right now. 

That's what I have as well.  I'm curious as to the shortcomings of the 8900.   Other than it's FM only?

Thanks for all the great responses!

Gil, that's quite a coincidence!  I can see the meaning of my moniker is not lost on this crowd.

RadioRay, I went ahead and bought a Yaesu 8900 with the hopes that the 10 meter FM might provide the coverage I'm hoping for.  I still need to spend some time with it to see what it'll do.

Joe, understood on the power and looking at his site, I'm beginning to open up a little to QRP/CW.

Archangel, I've identified some local clubs and agree that's where I might find some great advice and maybe even an Elmer.