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Welcome

Welcome to the website of licensed radio amateur G4ILO located in Cockermouth, NW England. If you don't know what amateur radio is, see my article What is amateur radio?

This is a picture of my radio room or 'shack'. My HF transceiver is an Elecraft K3 which is used on 80m - 6m. On VHF 144MHz I currently use an FT-817 transceiver.

I am not allowed to have outside antennas so I operate a stealth amateur radio station. My antennas are: a multiband dipole (80m, 40m, 20m, 10m, 6m), an MFJ magnetic loop (40m - 15m) and a Moxon beam (2m).

The computer is running KComm, the logging program I wrote for use with Elecraft radios, together with the digimodes program Fldigi.

Through this website I hope to share some of the fun and enjoyment I get out of amateur radio and pass on this experience to others. Please visit G4ILO's Blog, which provides a more spontaneous channel for me to describe what I have been doing or thinking in my hobby activities.

If you enjoyed the site, please tell me what you think by leaving a message in the Visitors Book. Thank you!

Pushing the envelope of stealth ham radio

It's tough being a ham. Unless you're fortunate enough to own acres of real estate, being able to have the antennas you dream of is often entirely dependent on the tolerance of your neighbours. And in today's world, it seems, people are becoming less tolerant of anything that deviates from 'normal'.

The problem isn't always solved by having the right to erect an antenna. Winning the planning application won't make the neighbours who didn't want your tower suddenly regard it as a thing of beauty. And sometimes the objections can start a lot nearer home, like your spouse or family.

There are a lot of negative attitudes in this hobby. People are quick to tell you something won't work, even if they have had no personal experience of what they are talking about. And many people will tell you that you will be condemned to a life of frustration if you can't put up 'decent' antennas. One amateur I was in QSO with, when told of my working conditions, said that he'd give up the hobby rather than put up with such limitations.

But although indoor, small or concealed antennas are unlikely to perform as well as a beam mounted high and in the clear, and though the need to use low power to avoid RFI won't help you break any pileups, there are benefits to 'going stealth', as well as disadvantages. There's no need to risk life and health climbing masts and carrying ladders. You can save money, too, as many of the most efficient stealth antennas are made of nothing more than wire, and if they are in the attic they won't need weatherproofing. I can also tell you that it's a lot more comfortable working on an attic antenna farm than one that's outside in the cold, the wind and the rain.

I bought our present house knowing full well that the scope for amateur radio antennas was restricted. The desire for outside aluminium could not be allowed to override more everyday considerations like convenience of location or budget. Despite these limitations I am still able to operate using many different modes on many different bands and get a lot of enjoyment from the hobby.

Rather than try to win contests or work every DXCC entity the challenge for me is to see what I can achieve with the situation I have. And I'm still finding new things to try. One of the aims of this website and my blog is to write about what I am doing and what I have achieved, so that others in the same situation can see what's possible.

If this site can inspire others in restricted situations to see what they can do, and convince them to ignore the naysayers who tell them to give up, then the effort of creating it will have been worthwhile.

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Copyright © 1998 - 2009 Julian, G4ILO. All rights reserved.