STRATA LIVING - ANTENNA SUGGESTIONS

 Hello and Welcome Back.. Back when I was living in the Blue Mountains, the world was my oyster in regards to Scanner Antenna placement. 

I had a 3 stage pole that I bolted to the existing TV antenna pole and it worked extremely well. Funny enough, having the pole extended into its full 3 sections didn't work as well as only having 2 sections setup and using the roof as a groundplane.  

The other antenna's were on the metal deck roof and also worked very. I was able to hear V8 Supercars comms at Eastern Creek from Valley Heights.. Not Bad

But sadly, with our greedy landlord who kept jacking the price up $50 each 6 months, it was time to move..

And so, here I am on the Mid North Coast, Love the weather here. Only 5-7 mins to the beach depending on traffic but there was one thing I hadn't factored in when I moved... 

Its a strata villa, meaning you can't have antenna's everywhere without someone complaining.. 

The villa that I live in is governed by Strata, meaning you have to ask everyone in the complex via Strata if you want to do anything.. Its a pain in the arse, but here we are.

So, how do I still enjoy my hobby without my villa looking like a Nato base without alerting the neighbours. 

 

1. TV Antenna

Although directional, its a great start to see whats out there.. Here on the Mid North Coast, the antenna setup is via 2 sets of antenna's. A vertical VHF and a horizontal UHF. Can you guess what antenna is transmitting right next door to the TV antenna broadcast?

If you said PSN, (Public Safety Network) you would be right, and a heap of other goodies..  

 

2. Roof Cavity

The roof cavity is where I have my main antenna. Its a 'Bandspanner' type antenna that sits on a Hi-Mount Camera tripod with the coax following the TV antenna coax. I have disconnected one of the 6 TV antenna sockets and run the scanner coax into one of the TV connector sockets. Nice & Neat.

It works very well. The only small downfall is the roof cavity is lined with silver foil type insulation but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. 

 

3. Deck Frame

This was a surprise. I was looking to expand on my pickup range and noticed that my back deck is metal, including the roof, gate and fencing. Using just a center peace of the coax I connected one side to a screw in the deck and the other to a BNC connector.

I was very surprised the range I was getting especially on Air-band and Shortwave. I still can hit all PSN sites except for 1 but even with the rooftop antenna, it only gets 2 bar signals.

On Shortwave, my Malahit DSP2 comes alive picking up around the world, I might try and do a video to show how good a metal patio deck antenna is. 

edit - just noticed that the framework of the deck is connected to the guttering, so its probably using the guttering as an antenna as well :) 

 

4. Gutter / Fence 

The other way for a inconspicuous antenna is using the metal gutter frame. There's a guy on Youtube that connects his radio up to almost anything metal to use as an antenna, and most times, it transmits and receives some distance away.. Food for thought.

Other options are using the metal outdoor railing if you live in a unit or mounting a antenna near a window ledge. 

So just because you are restricted to Strata or a living in a Unit, most times, if its metal, you can still enjoy scanning as a hobby, you just have to get creative.

One now is, I don't freak out now when there's a thunderstorm. I was always worried that the large antenna on a fairly high metal pole would get struck by lighting as it had already struck a tree in the front yard..

Happy Days...  

 

#strataliving

#scannerantenna

#nswradio&communications