Hello Clark,
Well it sounds like you have real challenge erecting a dx antenna on
your property. If your Windom gives you some good local coverage out to say
500 or 1000 miles on 40 and 80, I would probably just leave in place for those
bands. For DX, at this part of the sunspot cycle, I will assume your major
interest would be 20 meters. Would it be possible to erect a small high 20
meter wire dipole, inverted vee, or say even one of the two element minature
yagis either on top of the street side of your house or perhaps in a tree on
the street side of your house ??? This might give you acceptable (but not
great) performance even if the antenna was only slightly above street level.
If the far side of the street continues to slope steeply upward this may not
work. If you are in a restricted area, even a stealth dipole out of very fine
wire at a good height should perform ok, although you may need to replace the
wire a few times a year due to wind, ice, or birds. I mentioned 20 meters
since even radiation at elevations of well over 15 degrees, and perhaps even
over 20 degrees is not always wasted even for DX, although most long haul DX
tends to come in at the lower angles.
On 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters your higher angles of radiation would be
even more likely to be useless. That is why I would concentrate on the highest
possible antenna for 20 meters now...get it working, then worry about higher
bands in a few years when the sunspot nos. climb. Many hams around the world
have erected small 2 and 3 element yagi's on roof tripods (just look in CQ and
QST) as low as about 5 feet above their roofs (but higher is better). I have
never erected a yagi that close above a roof, but if it is not looking into a
building or hill it would probably work. Before spending money on a beam or
rotator I would erect a temporary dipole or vee at that position and only if
that worked would I go to a yagi. I would not erect a yagi close to a metal
roof without doing some research.
If you cannot erect an antenna on your house or on the street side of
your house, and if the hill does not slope up too much on the other side of the
street, you could put a very good 20 meter mobile antenna on a car or truck
parked at street level. Then run coax through the bushes or burry it and hook
it to your mobile antenna. Perhaps you could even invent a quick disconnect so
if you forget and drive off it will automatically disconnect. The mobile
antenna should be as tall as possible and use a large ugly loading coil.....not
one of the sleek thin ones. On 20 meters and higher frequencies mobile
antennas can have very reasonable efficiencies. On 30, 40 and 80 meters a
mobile antenna will have greatly increased losses and much reduced bandwidth.
If you have a long coax run look up the losses. You may need to use something
like RG8, or even a better cable. I would probably either drag my rig up for a
test, or get a friend to try operating 20 meter mobile from there before you go
through the effort and expense in trying the mobile route. I have even heard
of hams putting extra long mobile antennas on cars in fixed locations....but be
sure to interlock it so the car cannot be driven with a long antenna (like hide
a steering wheel lock key) inside the mast section. If you have a boat or
trailer possibly a whip could be installed on it. The mobile whip idea would
NOT be my first choice....just an idea to think about if all else fails.
Unless you live very near saltwater or a saltwater marsh vertical antennas tend
to SIGNIFICANTLY underperform horizontal antennas at any reasonable height. If
you do use a mobile whip on a car at street level, look at the antenna patterns
in a handbook since it will be slightly directional and you want to park so you
have the most gain in your favorite direction.
I too live on a hill although not as steep as yours. The hill slopes
upward toward Europe. My yagi at 59 feet is about level with the street 300
feet north of me. The terrain on the other side of the street continues to
slope gently upward for a long distance. I am sure this significantly degrades
my signal toward Europe, however it is still possible for me to work Europe,
even with QRP.
Good Luck, Rick KL7CW
Palmer, Alaska KX1 # 798
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