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Stealth is a word we have used elsewhere in this web site and some may still wonder what to do and how to do it. We have included this article from a well-known amateur radio operator who has actively pursued the radio waves while keeping his presence unknown.

"Secrets" of a Successful Stealth Operator

I live in a neighborhood governed by a plethora of antenna restrictions and other homeowner covenants. Despite these obstacles to easy radio operations I have been very active in amateur radio.  I work in lots of contests, plenty of DX1, and all kinds of QRO2 and QRP3 fun.

FACTS VS. MYTH

Many amateur radio operators have the mistaken assumption that the only way you can ever work DX1, Contests, or WAS4 is with beam antennas, full-gallon5 linear amplifiers, and monster towers. No doubt, those things do give them the edge and I do not suggest that my antennas are more efficient or better in any way than a good tower and beam. But I have been a successful contester, QRP3 aficionado, DX1 hound, etc. All using simple wire antennas and a vertical. Plus! I get a particular kind of joy when I beat the big guns in a DX1 pile up.

WHY STEALTH?

In many cases it is your only way. In others it just helps keep the peace. Its funny how your neighbors are very peaceful, even supportive of your ham hobby; and then you put up your dream tower with that TH-7 super beam.  Wow! you work great DX1 and get the side benefit of its magnetic properties. That's right, your beam and tower will draw complaints from everyone within eyesight (and beyond). You will be accused of everything from TVI6 to sterility, even though you've been on vacation for two weeks and the power to the house was shut off. IF THEY CAN'T SEE IT THEY WON'T COMPLAIN. You'll have to try some of these stealth antennas to believe this, but it works.

ANALYSE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES

If you live in a neighborhood, town, or city with the same types of restrictions; look for your opportunities:

  • -Do you have an attic in your house, condo, apartment? If you can get in it at all you can use it to hang all kinds of antennas. I have found ample space for loops and dipoles in several area ham's homes.
  • -Do you have any trees?  Front or back yard trees provide opportunities for resonant dipoles and multi-band verticals. The more trees you have the easier it is to hide bigger antennas.
  • -Read your deed restrictions and covenants. Very few restrict flag poles or bird houses. You can hide multi-band verticals inside both flag poles and bird house poles (purple martins birdhouses have to be mounted pretty high). If you can mount the poles then you can also mount guy wires to keep your poles up. Inverted vee dipoles and slopers look a lot like guy wires!
  • -Use your house to hide a loop antenna under the eaves. Attach directly or with small standoffs all the way around your house and run feed line in thru a soffit vent. No way to get a loop here? Then hide dipoles under the eaves on different sides of the house. Get two dipoles up at 90 degrees apart and you can work most of the USA with ease.
  • -Do you have a wood backyard fence? A fence can hide a very low loop, dipole, or doublet. These antennas have a near vertical take off angle but will work great for stateside contacts of several hundred miles or more.

Use your imagination!

Every situation has its OPPORTUNITIES. You just have to look for them, and then ACT. I have seen antennas laid on the grass, metal fences loaded with a tuner, wire that outlines the shape of the house and painted to match. All of these are different approaches to a problem but had the same result. The ham that lived at that location was ON THE AIR, and making contacts!

©DAVID E HASSELL, SR, N5IW
USA
http://www.qsl.net/n5iw/ant.html

1 DX: Literally “Distance”. A code from the earliest days of radio meaning a far away signal.

2 QRO: High power, in some circles anything over 100 watts is considered to be high power.

3 QRP: Low power, generally QRP is 5 watts and less. Some operators use milliwatt transmitters while attempting to work long distances with the least amount of power.

4 WAS: The letters stand for Worked All States which is an award given out by many amateur radio organizations for working all 50 American states on a particular band or mode.

5 full-gallon: A legal-limit amplifier of 2000 watts. Note that amplifiers are sometimes referred to as kickers, amps, heaters, helpers, linears.

6 TVI: Television interference. Generally caused my mis-tuned radios, antennas mounted too low, excessive power, poor quality video and audio equipment.

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