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Living in an apartment, I'm struggling to get good antennas set up, especially for HF. Worse yet, I'm not allowed external antennas (but am willing to try something low profile on the balcony), my apartment is built with stucco (with the "chicken wire" embedded in it), and my window frames are all aluminum. I have a balcony, but it's got a low (3') wall made of stucco inside and out (2 layers of mesh!) topped with a metal railing.

I tried a dual-hamstick dipole for 20M, but was placing it only 24" over the balcony floor, and this is below the edge of the wall. Tuning it was basically impossible, though I eventually could get 2:1 at one frequency. The balcony is about 4 feet deep and 10 feet long, and there is another floor above mine (so no roof access, and there's poured concrete above).

So how far away does metal have a significant impact on my antennas? I'm assuming it's design- and frequency-dependent, but I'm looking for resources that can help me figure out approximate clearances that are needed. Mostly I'd like to work at 20M, 10M, and 2M. (My balcony is way too small to think about 40M and lower.)

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  • $\begingroup$ You may wish to clarify your question: When you say you are not allowed external antennas, does that include that you need to be discreet on your balcony? $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Reid AG6YO ♦
    Jan 18 '15 at 5:00
  • $\begingroup$ Also, I don't have an answer but I can say that whatever clearance you need will be proportional to wavelength. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Reid AG6YO ♦
    Jan 18 '15 at 5:10
  • $\begingroup$ I've clarified a bit about the balcony. And while I do guess it will be proportional to the wavelength, I suspect it will also be distance^2 (if the metal is parallel?) or distance^3 (as in field strength). $\endgroup$
    – David KF4MDV
    Jan 18 '15 at 5:11
  • $\begingroup$ You might consider an antenna something like offered by Buddipole Antennas (buddipole.com). I have the buddstick antenna and I am very impressed with its operation. I operate QRP mostly on 20 but also some on 10. I plan to get the Buddipole antenna (Buddipole Deluxe) this coming summer for my various portable ops out at spots where my wife and I go on birding trips. A friend of mine operates his Buddipole Antenna of the back deck of his apartment and he has made many DX contacts with it. $\endgroup$
    – K7PEH
    Jan 19 '15 at 5:29
  • $\begingroup$ Design of apartment-based antennas may be something better relegated to a forum-type environment, like QRZ. There are a lot of individual factors that are mostly only manageable on each case and with a lot of use of an antenna tuner+SWR meter. I'm going to have fun dealing with the constrained antenna situation of an apartment shortly. $\endgroup$
    – user2943160
    Jul 12 '16 at 23:23
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It sounds like any antenna you can build in this situation is going to be a compromise.

Distances are going to be relative to wavelength, so an HF antenna will be more difficult than VHF or UHF. For the antenna to be really in the clear, two wavelengths is a good rule of thumb. You can probably get as close as a quarter wavelength and still make things work with some adjustments to the tuning.

You can use the metal parts of your structure as part of the antenna, if that makes things easier. For example, I bet a 2m whip on the corner of the balcony could work well enough, with the metal railing being the ground "plane". It's far from ideal of course.

HF is going to be tricky, no way around it.

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  • $\begingroup$ What dimensions and gaps would be required to turn his entire balcony opening: railing, walls and ceiling into a slot antenna? $\endgroup$
    – hotpaw2
    Jan 23 '15 at 6:57
  • $\begingroup$ @hotpaw2 that's such a broad question I don't even know how to begin answering it. $\endgroup$
    – Phil Frost - W8II
    Jan 23 '15 at 9:50
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The region around the antenna where metallic objects will have the most impact is within the "near field". This distance is directly proportional to wavelength, and varies depending on if the antenna is electrically short or long. The energy reflections in the near field will have a direct impact on the source, impacting the impedance seen and the loss experienced.

There is a good description of Near Field vs. Far Field here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_and_far_field

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