Apartment Antennas

MFJ has an antenna that is marketed towards apartment dwellers called the MFJ-1622. Barker and Williamson have a similar product called the AP-10B. Both of these products look good, but the price is mighty high. They run from $89 for the AP-10B to 99 for the MFJ-1622. The other problem is that, at least according to eham.net, the set up leaves a lot of be desired, and the performance can be lackluster. If we don’t have $100 to spend on an antenna, what are the other options? It seems to me that these antennas are made of three main components. 1. a whip 2. a loading coil and 3. a counterpoise. I am wondering if something could be made akin to a hamstick dipole. In case you are not aware, a hamstick is a whip antenna that is attached to a long loading coil that is usually used for mobile operation. The hamstick dipole is two dipoles connected with a metal plate that can be clamped to a support pole. Hamsticks have two main problems. First, they are narrowband antennas. In other words, they have to be retuned regularly to keep swr low and they require a counterpoise like a car body. The dipole configuration effectively doubles the available bandwidth and it solves the problem of the counterpoise. But this creates one more problem. Who wants a 20’ dipole in their apartment? Not to mention RF burns on family members who accidentally touch it. If you notice one thing about the advertised apartment antennas, then have a length of wire to take care of the counterpoise. Why not do the same with a single hamstick? Clamp it to a patio rail or sturdy piece of furniture, stick one end out of a window or on a patio and leave a curled up piece of insulated wire at the base for the counterpoise. One more thing, if you are in a really touchy complex and you try this, I would get some hobby paint and paint it black. Most HF activity is best at night and a black antenna would be much harder to see. Pass along any ideas that you might have. Links: MFJ-1622 http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1622 eHam Review http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2035 Cost $99.95 B&W AP-10B http://www.bwantennas.com/ama/ap10b.ama.htm eHam Review http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/667 Cost $89.00