Thanks Mike, and everyone else for your suggestions.  I will let you know what 
I end up with.  I have a roll up J pole at the moment.  I just have to get 
something to hang it on until I come up with a permanent antenna.  

Thanks again!

Nora / KB1OHB

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:07:28 -0500, Mike Duke, K5XU 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>If you are fortunate enough to have a private balcony that is on at least
>the second floor, you have several options. Most of them can easily be
>brought out and taken back inside as needed if that helps keep the condo
>police busybodies happy.
>
>MFJ makes a duel band ground plane. It's a quarter wave for 2 meters, and
>loads to a 5/8 wave on 440. You need about 3 feet of vertical space, and
>nearly that much horizontal space to mount it so that the radials don't
>touch anything.
>
>A J pole is also good. There are some designs for duel band models, some
>made from wire, others from tubing. One duel band design was in a recent
>QST. Actually, it showed how to make it as a "roll-up" travel antenna, as
>well as how to stuff it into a stick of PVC pipe. I think it was either
>March or April QST from this year.
>
>A J Pole uses no radials, and is fed at the bottom. Thus, it can simply hang
>from a small hook in a balcony ceiling, or even inside, preferably near a
>window.
>
>Comet, Diamond, and perhaps others also make small duel band verticals 
which
>are as short as somewhere around 5 feet. These short ones are essentially
>mobile antennas with ground radials beneath them. Some may also require a
>short metal mast for mounting. In such cases, as well as for the Cushcraft
>Ringo series of antennas, the metal pole becomes part of the antenna tuning
>system, and the antenna doesn't work well without it.
>
>If you're really bold, and you don't have a lot of people or pet traffic on
>your balcony, MFJ makes a "portable" duel band beam. I think the boom 
length
>is 4 feet.. It's 3 elements on 2 meters, and 5 or 6 on 440.
>
>I used the 2 meter only version of this antenna on a balcony for several
>years. The main thing it did was to allow me to get as much of my signal
>away from the building as was possible with the antenna being 2 feet outside
>my door. I could rotate the antenna through a range of 180 degrees, thus
>enhancing my coverage in 3 directions.
>
>I've also known people who installed a glass mount mobile antenna on a
>window. These antennas work well on 440, and okay, but not necessarily
>fabulous on 2 meters.
>
>Hope this helps.
>
>
>
>
>Mike Duke, K5XU
>American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs