That was a very caring and helpful message.  Thank you very much.  I'm going
to save that message and look into it further after my up coming whipple
surgery.  They are going to rip me from ear to anis and I will, if I survive
the surgery, be in the hospital for about 6 weeks.  Then I'm sure I'm going
to want an activity to keep me busy until I get some strength back.

Many people have a back yard swimming pool.  I have a pool back yard.  Most
of my yard, back and sides is covered with concrete.  The front yard is very
small.  I could put a vertical antenna in the side yard right outside of my
den and no one would be in danger of an RF burn.  However,  2 masts far
enough apart to support a dipole is just impractical.    Aristotle said
"pleasure is 90 percent anticipation and reflection"  and I suppose that is
what thinking about an antenna an an HF transever is all about.  So, I'll
just keep on reading messages here and thinking about what I really want to
do.  Actually, I think that if I could ever get Echolink working I could
meet all of my needs with my computer.  A big motivator for me to get an Hf
radio working and/or Echolink working is a roommate from college back in
1961 who is currently living in Lima Peru.  We exchange emails but he is a
real ham nut.  In fact, he won the world wide competition for both phone and
cw back in 1995.  I'll just keep plugging and eventually I'll get it right.
As for clubs in the area; The big one meets on the same night that I have
other binding commitments.  That makes it ruff.  Oh well;  thank you again
for your very caring and helpful message.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: why not


> Bob,
>
> If you can really go up  as high as you  want, why not use that height  to
> support a wire antenna?  A lot cheaper and less fuss than a vert or yagi.
> You've said a few times over the months that you don't know what you are
> doing and not even sure why you got your ticket,  why not  start simple
> and
> see if you like it.
>
> While higher is better, even a 25 or 30 foot mast in the back yard  could
> be
> a good  center support for an inverted v antenna.   That same mast, closer
> to the house or attached to the house could be the high end of a sloper
> antenna or  a sloping dipole.
>
> Cushcraft and others  sell verticals with counterpoise that require no
> radials.  But why waste the money.   Any local hams or ham clubs near you?
> Another ham  could look at your property and tell you  the  fastest and
> most
> cost effective way to get up and running based on your particular
> situation.
>
>  If you like it, expand.  There is a lot of stuff to do in this hobby,
> don't get discouraged.
>
> Good luck, Steve KW3A