Hi Mike;

They are excellent tips.

Susan and I are in a townhouse so, I'll keep them in mind.

73 De Anthony W2AJV
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ECHOLINK NODE NUMBER: 74389

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Duke, K5XU" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 8:57 AM
Subject: My Limited Experience with a Counterpoize


>I lived in apartments for many years, but managed to stay on hf with
> whatever amount of wire I could get out a window to a tree.
>
> Howard is correct about a counterpoise.
>
> I had one for 40, 30, and 20 meters. You can connect them all to the 
> ground
> terminal of your tuner. I found that I didn't need to remove any of them
> from the circuit at any time.
>
> Just as with a dipole or 1/4 wave vertical, the 40 meter counterpoise will
> tune 15 meters reasonably, and the 30 meter wire will do the same for 10
> meters.
>
> The length isn't too critical. I used cheap speaker wire from Wally World,
> which I pulled apart and cut into approximate 1/4 wave lengths for the 3
> bands.
>
> The lengths were approximately 33, 23, and 16 feet.
>
> My end fed wire was about 100 feet.
>
> With these counterpoise wires connected, everything tuned much better, 
> even
> 80 meters. I never tried to wrap an 80 meter counterpoise around the
> apartment.
>
> With the wire length I was using, I couldn't tune 30 meters at all without 
> a
> counterpoise.
>
> I also made one for 10 and 15 meters, but found I didn't really need them
> with the other 3 connected.
>
> When I first started working with them, I would toss the 40 meter wire out
> the window late at night in order to have more of it stretched out. I got
> tired of having to reel the thing in and out every time I wanted to 
> operate,
> and just ran it around the baseboard of my bedroom. I found that running 
> it
> that way didn't make a significant difference in the way the antenna tuned
> vs tossing it out the window.
>
> You do have to remember to not grab the wires while transmitting. Even at 
> 5
> watts they will get your attention!
>
> The counterpoise is a much more economical form of hocus pocus than the
> "artificial ground" boxes.
>
> Mike Duke, K5XU
> American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs
>
>