RAIN GUTTER ANTENNA

[VE3FMC]

Gerald, after looking at yout QTH on QRZ, it looks like you have a small back yard.  How about a ground mounted vertical or a ground mounted screwdriver?

The above statement is the best suggestion so far in this thread.

Why mess with an outdoor tuner for the gutters when you can buy a Hustler 4BTV cheaper than you can buy the tuner?

Put 24 radials down and you are good to go and your feet will never leave the ground. You can add 12 and 17 meters to the 4BTV to give you 10,12,15,17,20 & 40 meter coverage.

For the price, $124.95 plus shipping you have a new antenna. Or look around for a used one. But I would just buy the new one for $125, R&L Electronics has it at that price. I had a beam shipped to IN for $22 via UPS from R&L so the shipping would not be much more to ship that 4BTV to Chicago.

If you have a wood fence around your back yard you can always run a wire along it. I know a guy who has his G5RV running along the top of his 7 foot wooden fence. He works DX on CW and JT65 and other digital modes with 100 watts or less.

There are better alternatives than loading up those rain gutters.

[KC7YE]

Give it a go.

Katashi Nose KH6IJ did, if I remember correctly. Was in QST 40 / 45 years ago.

[N0SA]

My suggestion would be to do some research on the web. There are many articles and web pages devoted to small and stealth antennas. I have found that the more research and effort that I put into an antenna project, the better it performs. Plus I get the added advantage of learning about different antennas and how they work. You actually have many options that you could install, and many at very little cost. Do the research, make a decision, install something and have fun.
Larry
n0sa

[N6AJR]

my first antenna was a fan dipole laying flat on the roof, not the best, but it made contacts.