Low Profile Amateur Radio: Operating a Ham Station from Almost Anywhere

By Al Brogdon

More and more ham radio operators are faced with installing equipment and antennas amid a flurry of modern day limitations. The need to operate a low profile Amateur Radio station may be imposed by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872599744
• ISBN13: 9780872599741
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Amer Radio Relay League
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Reveiw by a new ham.

As a new ham (I ordered this just before taking my general exam earlier this year) that lives in a development that won;t allow visible antenna I fount this book very helpful. It had a lot of good ideas in it, a few of which I was able to use fairly easily. I think it serves as a good starting place, and it sent me down different paths of inquiry wanting more information.

Informative and entertaining book on being stealth

This is a delicious book by Al Brogdon, W1AB, with ideas, suggestions and great stories about how to operate your radio in those locations with restrictions -- like apartment complexes, condos and many residential areas. I am myself a new ham (less than a year) and I live in an apartment with tight rules; so I had _everything_ to learn from this book. Before I bought it, I was somewhat discouraged and clueless about how to start. After I read it, I realized that I could, and should, go ahead and have my ham station. This is an enjoyable and easy-to-read text, with 162 pages. And it is well divided in 20 chapters and 9 appendixes, with many photographs and diagrams; it is practical, straightforward and, most important, written in a very entertaining language, with many stories, anecdotes and personal (and funny) situations. It covers: * Seven favorite systems and solutions * Feed lines for HF antennas * Low profile HF antennas * A killer antenna, nearly invisible antennas and disguised antennas * Indoor antennas * Antenna Tuners * Screwdriver Antennas, Loop Antennas * HF Operating Tips * Low Profile VHF/UHF Antennas * Deep-cover Antenna Station... * Going Mobile as an alternative Another reviewer said that the Appendixes are reprinted articles. But I did not have access to the QST or ARRL Magazines before, and I never had read those articles before. So, the book was 100% new to me, and I was interested in every bit from cover to cover. Thanks to ideas and suggestions that I read in this book, I installed my own variation: an apartment station with (conveniently placed) vertical antennas in the balcony, without bothering anyone. I don't operate when there is an important game on TV, because I don't risk producing TVI. I respect power limits and operate responsibly. OK, this is not a powerful station since I don't have a beam tower or a long wire. But it is enough for enjoying radio, HF, some occasional DX (even in this solar minimum) -- while also having peace with the XYL (wife). Above all, this is a very positive book, that shows that it is possible to be creative in restricted spaces, and have a lot of fun. Thanks, W1AB, for the incentive.