Go for it!

I have done this a number of times. I have mounted the rotor inside a small tripod at ground level directly under the eaves and attached a collar ( a piece of pipe with I.D. slightly wider than the mast) to the edge of the eave, and pushed the mast up through it. For a light yagi, I have used 10-foot steel TV mast sections fed through the collar. If you do this, make sure the sections are pinned together in some way to prevent twisting - the notch on the mast will not be strong enough to stop the sections from turning.

After you put your mast through the collar, the antenna goes on it. Then you add as much more mast as you wish from the bottom; and you place floating guy rings every 10 feet or so.

This strikes me as more durable than a big, heavy rotor on top of a push-up mast. In any case, when I did it it worked fine and held up through many Michigan thunderstorms.

In point of fact, nobody makes the FCC any money. All license fees, forfeitures, and the like go directly to the Treasury ( the general fund). The FCC gets whatever Congress decides to appropriate to them.

Where the money goes is lobbying Congress, and most important of all, PACs. A race for a House seat costs at the very least $2 million. That means that a Representative has to raise $20,000 each week! In a competitive urban district, the amount can be many times that. And since the SCOTUS has decided that campaign contributions are free speech and cannot be limited, it is wide open for the big boys to invest billions to foster businesses worth many billions. The bottom line is still just that: money matters.

It is AMAZING that the ARRL, with budgets of a few hundred thousand dollars and no PAC, does as well as it does. We are up against some EXTREMELY big opponents. Far more powerful than RF exposure rules or gub'mint regulations. OSISI.

I agree!

I started with hamsticks and had fun. Now I use a Bugcatcher, but I keep the hamsticks in reserve.... A hamstick will be cheap, efficient enough to make contacts on 40, and will allow you to see how much you really like mobile HF. Hamsticks for 20, 17, etc will not cost that much more, can easily be stored in a Highlander, and will give you capabilities on bands where they are more efficient.

As G8YMW says, bonding is very important, and K0BG should be your bible.

And in the spirit of K0BG: drill, baby, drill. A Hamstick properly chassis mounted will outperform ANYTHING on a truck lip or mag mount. And don't be silly about resale value: when the time comes, you take off the ball mount, put in a round-head bolt of the right size, paint as desired, and fuggedaboutit!

I LOVE HF mobile - and i hope you have fun, too.

73,
Bill

IMHO:

I cannot imagine buying used equipment, unseen, from someone I do not know.

It seems to me that both the dishonesty of sellers and the unreasonable expectations of buyers play a part in these disasters.

Barnum was right.

Yep. I did this for a friend many years ago. The feeder went up the chimney, and the dipole ran to adjacent chimneys. Nearly invisible, and it worked reasonably well. It would be better to have no other conductors in the chimney, but if this is not possible keep them as far away as you can.

I agree emphatically. As a newcomer to HF, you want to get something that works reliably and will not impede your learning with breakdowns. Old rigs are a wonderful pursuit when you have more experience, but not now. You want to GET ON THE AIR, STAY ON THE AIR, and learn how to operate  and enjoy the characteristics of each hf band and mode.

You may be able to get a gently used reliable rig from a reliable local source or a trusted ham dealer. These rigs will also be more salable than an older rig if and when you want to move up.

Another thought: the most important thing of all is a good antenna, preferably one that will let you try out more than one band. A tuned-feeder dipole, with a good "antenna tuner," is ideal. Properly erected, it will work well on all bands from the fundamental up.... Even if it is 75% the length of a half-wave on the lowest frequency you wish to use, it will work pretty well. Next choice would be a fan dipole.

Welcome to HF!

If you need to stay on the balcony, consider the MFJ magloop. Or maybe a folded dipole hung on the balcony above yours.

Off the balcony, the jackpole is a good idea. Two of them make a dipole. So do two 17-foot telescoping whips.

Sounds cool. A bit shorter will give you a lower angle of radiation and better DX on 17 and above, as you know. And if it is no hassle for you to walk out when you change bands, you can work out some sort of base loading arrangement to supplement your matching device on 80 and 160.

If I were to do this I would have an autotuner at the base, maybe the MFJ 1500 watt model, at the base; and have the option of going out to the antenna or not, depending on weather and my mood.

In doing that, you may be taking a BIG chance....

Exactly. So how much risk do you wish to tolerate? I would ask the VC to refer you to a competent local real estate attorney, who can give you a reasonable estimate of what your chances are. Then you can make an informed decision, balancing possible risks with whatever other factors are important to you.

Good luck!

NO NO NO NO NO! The real estate agent is NOT an attorney, cannot give legal advice, and is most interested in making a sale. She has already misled you about the nature of the encumbrances upon the property at the time you signed the contract.
The charitable assessment is that EVERYONE screwed up.
Yes. Perhaps a lawyer can get you out of this predicament.

YES YES YES! A real estate lawyer.

Get a lawyer, specifically a real estate lawyer familiar with your area, before doing ANYTHING. The real estate agent is NOT your advocate - her job is to make a sale. GET A LAWYER before making any commitment. No one else can answer your question reliably. And even if the answer to your question as stated is positive, only a lawyer can advise you as to the feasibility of any action against the city. Your perception that the law is on your side may simply not matter.

Without qualified legal counsel you are a lamb among the wolves. The real estate agent is NOT your advocate. GET A LAWYER before doing anything else.

GL es 73,
Bill WA8FOZ

Yes! The alternative would be a fan dipole, which could be much less stealthy and harder to put up in trees.

Contact Steve Melachrinos, W3HF, who has a callsign look-up data base. Steve does this as a volunteer service, so it will be good to be patient.

Good luck and 73,
Bill WA8FOZ

Some good advice already here. It would help if we knew a bit more about your physical situation: how much room do you have, trees, etc.

All other things equal, the SCG tuner and as much wire as you can get up, center fed if possible, might be your most efficient choice. Maybe the least visible too. And likely the most height above ground - high is good. For the lower HF MARS activity, you really need some SIZE - the small antennas will be very inefficient at 4 MHz. Plus you have a great tuner for use after you move. My default would be a dipole, with fine wire - the Wireman and others sell 25 gauge insulated stranded copper-clad wire - great stuff, strong and hard to see. Make it at least 44 feet on each side, get the feedpoint as high as possible, feed with 300-ohm line, bend the wires around as necessary.

The Scorpion is a fine mobile antenna, but for it to work well as a stationary antenna, it would need a lot of radials. Buddipole and Super antenna are cute but tiny, and would be much less efficient than to Scorpion, and very inefficient below 20 meters. The Traveler is cool but not for below 20 meters. I will say nothing about the Chameleon.

Sounds like an interestimg project.

.
 Some years ago at the Dayton Hamvention, some fellow(not WA4D), for reasons only known to himself, wore a name tag with this guy's name and callsign. Bad things happened to him.