I put up a semi-stealth multi-band vertical ham radio antenna in the front yard of an HOA restricted neighborhood. Why did I do it? How did I do it? Does it work? Do I go to HOA jail? Stay tuned!
“Uh, yes, thanks for this informative video. I’m on the HOA board, and have been tasked with informing you that you have seven days in which to remove the unsightly box at the base of the tree. According to section 14.6(c) of the HOA rules, ‘no objects may be affixed to any tree, except for approved, temporary holiday lights.’” Seriously, great job! HOAs are an evil upon the land, run by grade school hall monitors who know little, have no training, and just enjoy infringing upon our freedoms.
You could build one of those around the tree trunk benches to further hide the box. Make it in two 1/2 circle sections joined by hinges or something like that so you can easily open it for servicing.
The solution is to never buy a house in an HOA area to begin with. And watch out for CC&R's on the title too (basically same rules as an HOA, but without the formal HOA board)
@@gorak9000 - I totally agree, but easier said than done these days. Needing to be close to commute to your job and/or live in a good school district for your kids are two BIG considerations when buying a home. These areas are almost always controlled by the HOA. I remember when I was growing up in the 60's that every home had a TV antenna on the roof. Some where neatly installed and others were an eyesore having antennas with bent or missing elements, bent rusty masts and broken guy wires flapping in the wind. And that is exactly why the HOA steps in. I wish the HOA's would judge each individual on a neat, pleasant looking install as opposed to a 'one-size-fits-all rule'. 73!
Great idea for a stealth antenna and a video very well done! I liked the soft classy jazz music in the background...nice touch. It's no wonder you had so many hits on this video...lol! These days it seems that HOA antenna restrictions apply in nearly any city community worth living in. It is certainly an issue for me. Compromises must be made in our desperation to get on the air. I was able to run a nearly invisible 'MyAntennas' 53' End Fed Longwire along one side of my house and a 37' OCF Dipole in my tiny attic. Neither throw flames but at least one or the other seems to work fairly well enabling me to make contacts. HOA antenna restrictions are strong driver for the popularity of POTA (Parks on the Air) operations. 73!
I put an 18 foot fiberglass antenna mounted on a 12 foot galvanized pipe out the top of a 100 foot pine tree and lagged it into the heart of the tree to make the tree the ground. It was an awesome set up and worked like a champ until lightning struck it about a year later. It didn’t hurt the tree but it burned out circuit boards in things like heat pumps and microwaves in my house and the houses on either side of me. I had dropped the coax out of my window when the storm was approaching and it landed on my heat pump otherwise it might not have been as damaging as it turned out to be. My neighbors would find pieces of fiberglass around their yards for a long time. If I were not so old now I would like to try it again and use a real ground wire this time...
You should of had a ground rod at the tree to eliminate all the statics that attracted the lightning. Ground at the feed point and ground at the radio and never worry about lightning ⚡️ ever after
@@Mark300win You are correct about the ground but the man that I paid to put it up in the tree was a professional lineman who had installed dozens and he talked me out of the ground wire saying that tapping into the heart of the tree with lag bolts made the tree the ground. It sounded pretty convincing so we did it his way and when lightning hit the antenna it used the very heavy duty coax as the ground wire instead of the tree heck the tree was fine. I didn’t know the guy he was introduced to me over the radio so I never got to tell him that he needed to rethink his installation methods before somebody had some serious trouble or even get someone injured. It was fun while it lasted heck you had to walk quite a bit up the road to see it up there it was so high up. I would be taking to someone on the other side of the country and they would ask what kind of beams I was using and I would tell them a one element on the tall side. I always did love radio and I’ll get back in it again one day. Thank You Mohamad for your response and I wish good things for you
@@drumminsonlive9199 wow its awesome to have a beam-like performance from a single radiator antenna like that!! What was total length of the radiator? how far above the ground was the feed point? Did you have elevated counterpoise wires above ground or dangling from the feedpoint to the ground? Dis you have antenna tunner at the feedpoint too? I know so many questions but im so interested to copy your build and give it a try!
That’s a great setup, and my first thought was how did you get it up there, then I read that a pro did it. I wouldn’t get that high in a tree. Best of luck with returning to the hobby
When I was a young lad one of my electronic instructor said that when you put an antenna in near, on or in a tree you will lose signal on transmit due what they call RF leakage because the tree has moisture within allowing portion of the output signal to attenuate to ground.
@@Adrian-jk4kx Most Antennas are insulated but if the rain shorts the antenna and the SWR goes up you will lose signal. If SWR goes to high you might lose the finals if your transmitting side does not have shut down protection.
Yeah, I need to do something about the white tuner. My first thought was to paint it, but it is hard for me to paint a new $300 box:) I'm thinking I'm going to wrap it in a camo net and/or place some large potted plants around it.
If you are looking for a quieter on recieve and more efficient antenna option (balanced antenna), you might try a loop antenna with the AH4 tuner. I have done this antenna in both virtical and horizontal configurations. Horizontal loop give low take off angle and directional gain too. For stealth, you could mount the AH4 on the back side of a chimney or vent pipe on the top of the roof, run wire along roof peak (or just behind) and then back to the fence corners in back yard with remainder of loop running along top of backyard fence to produce a sloper configuration. I have experimeted with both 275 and 550 foot lengths with amazing results, but you can run much less wire and the AH4 will tune it just fine on 6M to 160M....yes the AH4 does work on 160M if you attach enough wire. Great video.
@@Mark300win My loop run across the back edge of my roof and then it goes to the back two corner of my backyard. It is horizontal but has a slight tilt to it. It works well and you can't see it from the front of my house.
@@Mark300win 1005/Freq in Mhz = length in feet.....you can feed it with coax and a 4:1 balun for it to be multibanded or better yet a remote autotuner at the feed point like an Icom AH4. I targeted 3.7 Mhz, so my length was about 271.6 feet (about 68 feet on a side for a square loop).
Congratulations on implementing this project to get a working stealth antenna. One thing I did wonder about was your coax loss. However, with typical RG8x spec. of 2.0dB per 100ft at 30MHz. Your 76(?)ft run on lower bands should be well under 2dB. So, I wouldn't worry too much.
I live in the ghetto. I didn't move into the ghetto. It moved in around me. Nothing I could do with an antenna would irritate my neighbors. They are content with section-8 properties, mud hole parking, multiple cars that don't run, tag-less damaged uninsured vehicles, yard trash, loud obnoxious music, maggot ridden garbage cans, domestic fights with lots of yelling, etc. etc. etc. ------- PARADISE FOR A HAM. NOBODY WOULD EVEN NOTICE.
I agree about camouflaging that antenna tuner box using sprinkler control box or labels. If by some chance a neighbor is receiving unwanted radio frequency interference from your station, he/she may start snooping around to see who the culprit is. You have every right to transmit under federal law, but neighbors have every right to make life difficult for you via the H.O.A. So it's always best to hide outside equipment and deny any involvement in ham radio or C.B. radio. By all means, never tell any surrounding neighbors that you are a Ham Radio Operator. The first moment they have any problems with their computers, TV , WIFI or other devices they will be banging on your door as the source of their problems even if you are not. The good news is that WIFI operates on entirely different frequencies than Ham Radio. Secondly, the cable TV signals pumped into most homes are at levels of nearly 60dB using shielded cables. Rarely if ever will any ham band transmission even slightly penetrate into TV cable even running signals at 1,500 watts.
I'm in a metropolitan housing authority building with an apartment balcony railing. I won my battle arguing my constitutional rights, and that operating Amateur/Ham/CB radio is a form of therapy for the condition at which I receive SSDI for, and that "interfering" with my radio hobby/art will cause undue stress with my aortic valve and quintuple bypass surgery and could lead to my death. And lastly, I argued, like another urban dweller that posted here, all the "ghetto culture" and their alcohol abuse and illegal drug use is more a lease violation than me keying down a hundred watts on the CB band in Lower Sideband!
Perhaps an alternative is a horizontal wire loop around the perimeter of the roof line, stapled to the bottom of or behind facia board. The RG8X can be snaked up the exterior side wall mostly out of sight, and painted to match the wall behind it. Then mount the tuner right before the coax enters the house. I'm looking at this option for a part-time "shack" at my daughter's place in Vegas. They can SWL while I'm not there, and I can tap into it when I am visiting. In your situation if nothing else it could make for a much quieter non-resonant receiving antenna for little extra cost. Have fun!
I have to congratulate you in overcoming what seems to be a common issue, whether it be a XYL or planning restriction. Thinking a little more about your scenario, have you considered adding a couple more wires? I use mainly 40/20 and 17, so you could, in theory, add to your camouflage vertical scenario by using resonant lengths. A 40 ¼ wave folded over will give you 15 meters. Your ground plane is more than good enough to support this, so 3 wires could do the trick and perhaps reduce noise? I’m only thinking aloud so forgive me if you’ve already given this some thought and ruled it out. Most of all enjoy what you have and don’t give up. 73 de M0AZE Mike
Shacking Off I was think along the DX Commander lines without the pole. 40 meter with a little fold over (linear loading) works fine on mine. Take care stay safe 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@ShackingOff That's what the DX commander does. folded element for 40/15 works great. You could get those resonant on that tree. I'd also paint the antenna tuner so it's less noticeable. Setup looks good, wish I had trees like that. I'm running a dxcommander in the back corner of the yard with about 30 radials.
Fantastic solution. Could even paint the AH4 brown to blend in with tree. Or tell neighbors its part of burglar alarm system if they notice enough to ask....
If you want better 80 or even 160 performance. Consider adding a very thin (#20 or smaller) gauge wire to the end of the wire in the tree. Then run the extra wire horizontal across to another tree to form an inverted-L. With small gauge wire at 40 feet it will be invisible. I like copper clad steel for this use. Great concept for using what is at hand.
Nice job! My only suggestion to even better stealth that install is to spay paint the antenna tuner case brown to match the tree it's on. I was lucky enough to be able to put a Husler 6BTV with optional 12M, 17M and 60M add-ons in my back yard. You are luck to have nice tall trees to work from. Have you considered putting up a "horizontal loop" high up in the trees surrounding your house? A Loop is a VERY quiet antenna for receiving signals.
Nice job. I have what is fundamentally the same setup... different tuner - mine is an SGC, and instead of a vertical, my antenna is an inverted L. Great job & great video.
I'm just wondering how much is the tree actually damaging the performance 🤔 It's still semi conduct, and will couple in with the antenna, newer had a try, but my vertical trails playing with trees, I always try tl get as much away from the tree as possible, but really don't know the impact. Good work and nice done thanks for sharing the build log and keep up the great work 👍
@@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG I don't know if it's a thing either, just thought it would allow you to put more length in for the space. Kind of like loading. I'm not talking about a tight spiral, just a bit of a twist.
As another poster said, paint the tuner. Dark, flat camo paint is available at any outdoor store and is the best that I have used. (Cheapest place I've found is Wal-Mart). You can also paint the antennas in your backyard to match the surroundings. Mine are dark green. Obviously, don't use metallic paint.
Wonderful that you found a solution that serves for you. And if is much more than a compromise antenna. Wish you good contacts and always fun. Best, Matthias 👋 DL1NDG
Gosh this just confirms I married one of the best XYLs in the world. She has NEVER (even as my future XYL) objected to any antenna installation. Also when looking for our new home when work moved me I insisted on NO HOA housing.! It is funny thing though where HOA allows a pool but does not allow fencing they tend to overlook the fence because laws require them around a pool.
Good job! Buried radials are non-resonant so there's no need for them to be a quarterwave long. Any length will do. I find lots of short radials work well and planting more than 20 radials is probably pointless. You won't notice the difference.
Because the tree will essentially act as a reflective ground, what you've created is a vertical reverse NVIS antenna of sorts. There will be a huge null on the tree side of the antenna. Take a few signal strength measurements 360 degrees around the tree and you'll see what I'm talking about.
there is a that may get you found. I do not know how often do you go on the air, Bur manytimes RF gets into phone lines over the air TV and radio and some of your near neighbours may start to look for an antenna. That Why I never wanted a home with an HOA In my house I can do nething even a 100F tower with a 4 element cushcraft and a 80m addon.
Unfortunately, being so close to the tree trunk, most likely a majority of your losses are not due to your decent ground radial system as illustrated, but rather considerable RF absorption is probably occurring within the moisture of the tree itself. I do understand keeping the antenna as close to the tree as possible is an imperative due to the need for stealth, but in your situation I might be tempted to use thinner, less visible wire for the antenna, and try to slope the wire away from the tree trunk by locating your upper pull-up point a few feet out on a limb. Just thinking out loud…. Otherwise, very nice job on the antenna and an excellent video. Thomas -KK7JD-
Thanks Thomas! In this video, the top of the wire approximately 6ft from the trunk of the tree. You are correct about moving the wire further from the tree. I've tried a number of distances from 0 to 25ft. Performance was awful with the wire right up against the tree and improved as the wire was moved further from the trunk. Currently the wire is about 12ft from the trunk as a compromise. You have given me a good idea for a presentation. I should document moving the wire at different distances from the trunk show my results. -Norm KC9CSC
You could make yourself an RX antenna for the lower bands, a magloop or a horizontal wire close to the ground (I use this and I am amazed at how little noise I have on 80m...)
Good grief, what's with everyone living in HOA s? Genuinely curious as I have never lived in one and don't even personally know anyone that lives in one... ?
In some areas, it's impossible to find new (or new-ish) houses that don't have HOAs, and even the ones without HOAs tend to have CC&R's on the title, which is the same rules as an HOA, but no official HOA (like quite literally the exact same rules - clearly copy/pasted from the same place). I don't get why this country boasts about freedom, when you can't even take a dump anymore without getting HOA approval. I managed to find a place with no HOA and no CC&R's, and a clear sky view (important as I do satellite stuff not HAM radio). I put up as many dishes as I want, and I can do whatever I want in my yard. I mean I try to keep it looking nice from the front, and it looks nice to me in the back, but I think 5 satellite dishes in a row isn't "nice looking" to most people. One house over from me is the boundary where the HOA starts / ends, and if you didn't know it, you'd never know there was a difference looking at the houses or the yards. HOAs are mostly just a crock of crap, and should be disbanded. The best way is to just refuse to buy a house in an HOA area. Most people seem to be aware of what HOAs are really about these days. If everyone lowered the demand on HOA houses by not buying them, more HOAs wouldn't exist anymore.
Regarding your question about Home Owners Associations....I'm a Ham and I've lived in several. In brief, HOAs are a two-sided coin. They exist to keep your property value and the neighborhood homes up and valuable, in a clean, well-kept decent and organized group. When you sell your home, you will get top dollar. The downside is the fact that there are (contracts) you sign to keep your home and property looking good and well-kept, according to the rules. Each HOA has different rules, and each association has more lax or more strict rule enforcement, depending on the HOA homeowner board, made up of residents and neighbors living in your association. Some rules include what type and color of roof you may put on your home. What color scheme you may paint your home. Landscaping designs which have to pass approval from the architectural and landscape committee's. When you are allowed to put out and take in your garbage cans. What type of vehicles and how many vehicles you may have parked on your property. Rules about keeping or raising livestock, crops or plants, not approved. General look of your property, how well it is maintained and how it either fits into or does not fit into the general look of the neighborhood. One of the biggest rules is that of having visible antennas on your home or on your property. Since we live in an age of "cable TV" the old TV roof top antennas of the past are not permitted. Some small satellite dishes are permitted, but must be mounted low or out of sight if possible. Because of the antenna rules in most HOA developments, Ham Radio Operators, especially those working HF bands, do not mix well in any HOA neighborhood. HOA board members regularly patrol the look of everyone's property and if you are violating rules, you are quickly sent a letter to stop. HOA can legally fine you or put liens on your property, and even kick you out of your home. This is a contract you sign up for, just as your neighbors also agree to keep their properties up for your sake to ensure the value of your home. If you are a maverick, or a Ham, a HOA neighborhood is not for you. The only option is to put up stealthy, clandestine antennas that nobody can see. Or, put up portable temporary antennas at night and work the HF bands, or satellite bands during darkness, knowing that you must take down these antennas before dawn so neighbors won't see them. I've had to go to court over these issues. I've been centured by the HOA. I've also had neighbors complain of RFI (radio frequency interference) problems as their clock radios, stereos and computers made strange sounds at night when I was transmitting on certain frequencies. I solved the problem by ceasing operation on HF and concentrating on VHF and UHF bands and working satellites, using stealth night operation and hidden antennas. Bottom line is that Ham Radio HF operation is very difficult when living in a HOA. Most hams scoff and look down on HOA homes, but most of them can't afford a nice home in an HOA, so they criticize. HOA works well as long as everyone living in the neighborhood agrees to maintain a certain look and level of neatness and organization for themselves and their neighbors. Usually HOA exist in developments where new homes are built. If you don't fit into this idea or you need to live in a "do-as-you-please" type of neighborhood, then it is better to find and live in that kind of place. The problem comes when the two different approaches try to mix. They don't mix, and most lifelong, serious Ham Radio Operators know this, which is why they find properties where they can put up their antennas, towers etc. and operate away from neighbors who will not complain about the look of their home or property, or any RFI interference. The Hams who have lots of money live on large properties, with their tall towers, filled with stacked Yagi-beams on many different frequencies. Their "radio shack" may have half a million dollar$ worth of equipment in it, and they talk around the world their entire lives. For the rest of us who have budgets to live within and neighbors to deal with, we have to be creative and clever if we want to enjoy Ham Radio within our means. Good luck ! -73
My default position is that HOA's are evil. But, if you live in a neighborhood where there isn't one, there is no telling what kind of neighbors you might have the displeasure of having. Luckily I don't live in Florida anymore, HOA's there are insane. It's now a transplant, permanent vacationer, "I'm the king/queen of the world" nightmare. Anyway, at our last house, one neighbor set herself on fire during a very loud domestic argument with her baby daddy. Luckily our Leland Cypress tree screen grew fast and didn't have to witness the insanity... Just hear it. Our new home was built in a nice quite, well taken care of (but not a "manufactured paradise" ... Looking at you again Florida) neighborhood. Nice people around us and a stable property values.
I wish I had a tall tree in my yardI may some day install. The flagpole antenna and sod over the radials but they are pricey. We recently had a hostile takeover of the HOA. The previous board had no issues with my GAP Titan DX in the backyard. But now I have taken it down and don’t want to start a war with alpha hotels.
LOL, I hope not! All the neighborhood dogs are free to pee on my lawn:) Since there are many radials to share the return currents and they are in parallel with ground, each radial is going to carry very little RF current. However, I did fail to mention that I can see the antenna from the window of my shack. I would cease transmission if any creature comes near the vertical to prevent RF burns.
Since I put the antenna tuner on the tree, I have painted it. It took me a while before I could stomach painting a brand new ATU. But after a few months, I forgot about how much I spent and went ahead and painted it:)
no need to dig a trench just put a slit in the lawn with the edge of a garden spade lay the radials in the slits in the lawn you can even add a ground rod near the tuner bobs your uncle job done
Put a bucket or a empty can over the tuner .. the ""horn "" ain't as water tight as you would like Well bro ... Rule 1 radials is 1/4 of the Frequncey's You only need 1 pr band .. mor is not nessesery Better More Changes impedans .. more I used 4 pr band in 4 resonating difrent lenghts So you got most bandwith pr band Greetings From DENMARK 🇩 🇰 🇩🇰 🖖
I put my radials down in late winter. Before I laid them, I cut the grass very sort and held them down with al lot of lawn staples. In a few months, the grass grew right over them and pulled them down to the dirt. After a year, I had to go digging around to find them.
Why would any ham want to.live under the thumb of an HOA? As a former mortgage officer our company refused applications for mortgages on HOA developments. It was good policy for us
Awesome job Shack! I have a question...can I do the same set up with a HUSTLER 5-BTV antenna? Would it work? Please give me some advice fellow hammies!
No, not really. Although, the radial system would be similar. I would go to the DXEngineering website and check out the HUSTLER 5-BTV manual they have. That's the most authoritative reference to that antenna. There are also a lot better RU-vid videos on this subject than mine. 73, your fellow hammies Norm KC9CSC
Yes, the grass completely covered the radials pulled them into the soil. I haven't hit any radials in the year and a half that they have been on the ground. I can't even see them unless I get on my hands and knees and dig around a bit between the blades of grass.
Good stuff but noway no how will i live where im told what i can put up in my own property. Hope to see ya on the air, wgen we moved from city to country i told wife 1 got to have over 2 acres 2 my own radio room 3 elevation everything else was up to her life is good
Interesting video sir. Considering a similar wire, so your video came at a great time, but I’m not worried about HoA restrictions. Do you think a vertical wire with raised radials, fed higher up the pine tree, might work as well as yours? 73 de KN4HGI Alan
I haven't experimented with that configuration yet. There used to be a great AH-4 Yahoo Group and I recall people on that forum having good success with raised radials. As a added bonus, you would probably require a lot fewer raised radials. If you have the room, people have also had good success with large horizontal and vertical loops using the AH-4. Lots of good info on the web. I want to experiment with that next. -Norm KC9CSC.
7:10 - That is not dielectric grease. Dielectric grease is a silicon INSULATING grease used to protect electrical connections without lowering the resistance between them. You've used the correct grease, just referred to it as dielectric grease by mistake. Using a dielectric grease will create capacitive and resistive impedance on your radials messing with your match. You must use electrically conductive greases for antenna connections. 👍
