A Nice Suburb But Not For Hams

Posted on Sunday, March 10th, 2013 at 6:22 pm in

View from the gate

View from the gate

I live in a slightly older suburb in Johannesburg. I bought this property because the streets and houses are surrounded by trees and we are adjacent to a river where families walk their dogs in the afternoon. When you enter my property from the street you are greeted by green lush trees and shrubs.

Oh, I forgot to mention one small unimportant detail: Being next to the river also means my property is at the lowest point in Johannesburg. No matter in which direction you start moving, the only way out, is UP. This is especially true for ham radio signals.

That little dot in the middle of the photo is not a spot on your screen. It is the balun on my new antenna, a BFTD (balanced terminated folded dipole). I read about it on the Buxcomm website and tried it out. Seems ok, but more about it later.

Sigh. Any clever suggestions, anyone?

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