I no longer live in the condo anymore, but I wanted to leave this section here for those of us unable to have towers or external antennas.

Like myself, alot of hams live under restrictions and/or covenants with landlords, associations, and zoning laws.  This limits on what we can do with our hobby.   Some hams throw in the towel and only hope to work a local repeater.  Well, I am here to say that plenty of contacts are possible, even DX!  I am not saying you are going to get the kind of contacts you would with a beam on a 100 foot tower, but you can still enjoy ham radio and have some fun in the process of getting your station on the air.

PLEASE NOTE:  That I am not responsible for any consequences from the recommendations on this page.  What I did worked for me, it may not work for you.   Also, I am not responsible for recommendations from articles, links, or information from others that I post on my site as well.  There, I said it. (whew).

What I did to get on the air

I live in a condo, so for me, I had to make due with what I had.  Fortunately, my condo association approved an antenna installation to the chimney.  But to avoid the hassle of installation, grounding, (and the money), I decided to install an antenna in my attic instead.  My budget was really tight.  So I was limited to my attic space and money.  What to do?

I have to admit, I had to wait about a year to get the radio, the tuner, and and the hardware to get KC8HYI on the HF bands due to money constraints.  I had to save up for the radio, fix it, then get my dad over to help me get coax from the attic to the basement.  All said and done, I finally got the radio fixed and the appropriate station accessories.  My dad came over and we installed the coax.  Now for the antenna!

My $10 Antenna

I went to Lowe's, a local home improvement shop, and bought 100 feet of 14 gauge insalated single conductor housing wire.  This was $6.00.  I had an older 10 meter dipole that I did not use anymore, so I clipped the antenna wire off of it and used the center support and insulators.  I measured out the wire to resonate on 40 meters.   Attached and soldered the wire to the center support and leads.  Now was the time to install it.

I bought some TV cable standoffs and some wire straps.  About $4.  Got up into the attic, and installed the TV cable standoffs into the beams.  Once that was done, I folded the dipole until it fit (with some pruning to get it there.)  I used the wire straps to attach the antenna to the TV cable standoffs.

Using the remaining wire, I later installed the 10 meter portion to the same center support and had a couple of old egg insulators and attached them to the beams as well.   Below is a diagram of the finished antenna:

QRP is the way to go!

Nothing makes me more excited than getting a 599 on 5 to 10 watts.  If I push anything over 20 watts, especially on 10 meters, I cause RFI.  I remember hitting my key on 10 meters and the answering machine went off when using 30 watts!  I have not had any complaints yet, but I intend to prevent them from occuring.  Keeping the power low will help you prevent problems with your spouse and the neighbors.   Besides, increasing your power from 10 watts to 100 watts will only cause your S5 signal to go just below an S7!  That is only about 10 dB difference!!!  And the human ear can only detect about a 10% change anyway.  So I recommend QRP verses QRO.   Plus, getting a 599 using 5 watts into an attic dipole will be the ultimate compliment!

CW instead of SSB

I know that this is a touchy subject to many, but using CW will also help you get contacts instead of SSB.  Let's face it, QRP and SSB does not work as effectively as QRP and CW.  This is a fact of nature.  The human ear can detect a single tone out of QRM better than the multitudes of tones and harmonics produced by the human voice.   I am not saying that SSB QRP does not work, just that you may find yourself not making alot of contacts.

Also, using SSB can cause some interference more than CW will.  You can get away with slight thumping sounds in audio speakers.  But with SSB, you hear someone's voice, and they may hear your call sign.  It is friction city when they see that you are the only ham on their street when they see your tags that match what the keep hearing in their audio equipment!

So using CW will yield you many contacts.  Plus, there is a certain enjoyment with CW than with voice.  Anyone can speak into a microphone.  But it takes some skill to use a key!

Conclusion

I have found much satisfaction with my station and what I had to work with to get me on the air.  My elmer says it best:  Anyone can turn on a 1500 watt amplifier using a 100 foot tower to make a DX contact anytime of the day.  It is then a question of operating an appliance and spending some cash.  Whereas it takes skill and knowledge to do the best you can with what you have to use, plus it is more enjoyable.  At least that is what I think.

Let me know what you did to get it to work and I will post it.

Good Luck and 73!