The Wolf River Coil For Apartment Hams (SB Platinum 1000)

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As I settle back into normal life, I've been working on getting back on the air.
I purchased the SB Platinum 1000 TIA Mega from Wolf river coils over at www.wolfriverc....
After the initial setup, things seem to be working fine, and I can say the antenna is a solid choice for those hams who have limited space for a large antenna.
After cutting up the radials that shipped with the antenna into something manageable on my deck, it has turned into a great apartment living setup.
A few Chokes will help take down some of the noise you may experience with a vertical in an apartment. I picked up 2 of the Palomar Engineers JC-1-1500 over at www.hamradio.c....
Shout out to Shane, K5QBF over at This Side of the Radio / @k5qbf
for recommending a way to get the radials on the deck.
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[@Truckinman2000]

Try using a 4x7 roll of aluminum window screen with a jumper wire from the tripod to the screen. I tried this with a pota activation and it worked great.

[@KN4MDE]

Thank you for your service. Look forward to seeing more videos. The "magic carpet" might be a great idea for your deck.

[@kd5aj]

Thank you for your service!!! We appreciate you!!

[@walteredwards544]

Glad you've returned safe and thank you for your sacrifice. Radials are artificial energy fields that amplify and reflect the energy of your antenna. A counterpoise is the other leg of your antenna (an Inverted V turned on its side or better yet, an L shaped antenna.) That's why counterpoises work better elevated and radials are designed to lay on the ground. As for your WRC, I have taken 3 small PVC pipes and cut them to a length of 12 inches and coiled my radials around them and then I'd leave about 12 to 18 inches of wire at each end. Adjust for the bands you operate on but they have a much smaller footprint than the normal radials. Thank you for this video and enjoy your time back home

[@ModernHam]

Thanks for the explanation! I may look into the PVC pipes for the future.

[@GunsandRadios]

Thanks for your service. Glad your back

[@ModernHam]

Thank you for your support!

[@kellydiver]

I’m a social worker - and a ham. One of the things I do is help Girl Scouts get their ARRL Radio merit badge. Maybe offer to teach her children about how hams serve their communities in emergencies?

[@nathaliebatiste8842]

I would like to pick your brain on how to bring ham radio to young people. The hobby is going to die if we don’t get young people involved.

[@kellydiver]

@@nathaliebatiste8842 I know the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both have merit badges. The Girl Scouts merit badge requirements are quite tedious - Ria from Ria’s Ham Shack KZbin is currently working on a video series to help Girl Scouts and GS leaders work on obtaining that badge. Maybe hams can call their local Scout groups and volunteer to help? Schools are always looking for speakers on a variety of STEM subjects, so maybe hams can volunteer with their local schools? Ham clubs, ARES/RACES groups, etc, might also be able to help students acquire their volunteer hours by helping out with Field Days, local training exercises, etc. Good old fashioned mentoring could help, too.

[@danmarkiewicz3697]

Welcome home and thank you for your service!

[@ModernHam]

Thank you for your support, (and some camera fund)!

[@yeahitsk]

Great to see you back posting, dude. Your videos were very helpful to me when I was starting out.

[@JoeW7BWA]

Welcome home and happy to see you are safe. Thanks for your service. I appreciated this video and to hear chokes got you on the air. I have a commercial storefront with S-9 noise everywhere. Tried a QRM Eliminator and it helped some. I need to do more 73. Joe - W7BWA

[@ModernHam]

It's a struggle, but we find a way. Thank you for your support.

[@joshuamendez7695]

Missed your videos, friend. Glad you're back. Sorry to hear about the NIMBY neighbors. I use a similar setup in my apartment; luckily my noise floor is not that bad. Anyway, really appreciate your content! 73

[@ModernHam]

Glad to see you are still here! I'll work with what I have.

[@josegregoriogonzalez874]

Thanks for keeping your cool with your neighbors…we are a little bit weird and Nerds 😅

[@MikeN2MAK]

Welcome back and thanks for sharing this too. There's so many compromises in ham radio that we ultimately just need to f- around and find out what works and what doesn't.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah, sometimes that's what it takes!

[@W6IWN_Radio]

Welcome home Billy, great to see you back! I've been using my gutter with a 9:1 Unun for an HOA antenna.

[@ModernHam]

Nice! No metal gutters here ;(

[@radioman3229]

I do POTA with the WRC... I use a faraday cloth, it seems to have same results as the wire radials and the window screen. The faraday cloth folds up into a very small and lightweight ... portable size... I can just stuff into my back pack.... POTA ON!

[@ModernHam]

I've heard of people using this. I'll have to give it a try!

[@KC5TGTRadiosNMore]

Glad your back! If you have the free time take your equipment outdoors and enjoy “Parks on the Air”. If you do… make some videos of your field experiences and the parks you visit. I think you’ll enjoy it more than you realize. And if the weather is terrible you can always setup your antenna then operate your rig from the comfort of your vehicle. Many hams use the wolf river coil for portable ops. 73

[@ModernHam]

Thanks! I'll have to get out there and make some videos! I'm sure the noise floor will be a lot lower out there.

[@davidgettman4695]

Superb video!

[@deansheldon4023]

Thanks for this video. I am in a 2nd floor condo with just a small balcony. I usually just left the radials hang down over the edge of the balcony to the guys little courtyard below me and he didn’t care. However, he has moved out and we have new neighbors down stairs now and I really don’t want to infringe on their new home with my orange wires dangling down on their afternoon bbq. This deployment of the radials looks like it might work well for me. Thanks KO4EGK Don 73

[@Darrell_Coquillette]

First, Thank you for service our great country. Way back when I lived in a townhouse, I had a setup like that inside my living room. I made a ton of contacts with not much of an antenna. Experimenting with different antenna configurations at some point will lead you to the best preforming antenna for your situation. 73 de N9JOD

[@ModernHam]

We gotta do what we gotta do. Many people will be surprised by what performance they may get.

[@Aussat]

Well done too you for getting it sorted as much as possible. I live in what we call a bedsit here in ZL which is you basically have just a bedroom so I really have no place for an antenna... But right outside my door to outside is a tin roof above so I have an Atas 120a mobile antenna that I tune up, I have the same noise level as you did. S9 so I only use FT8 as a rule. I do however go ro parks when I get the time and I have the Wolf River Coil, great antena, also use a Moxon for 10 - 12 meters and dipole for the rest. Will subscribe to your channel!

[@andrewhamop6665]

Wow, your coil is still all new and shiny! I've had mine outside for I think two or three years at this point. Hasn't been inside for more than a couple weeks. I've had it fall over, get completely covered in snow, get ran over by a snowmobile, and through all of that it still works just like the day I bought it, minus some weirdness with the 40 m portion of the coil getting kind of loose. I lost the little Teflon locking screw like I think the second day I owned it, which is exactly what I need in this situation. I suspect you'll have absolutely no issues with the build quality, especially considering you got the Platinum version. 73 de W8IJC

[@ModernHam]

I'm glad to hear it has some good durability.

[@AndyH--M7FNM]

welcome back and thanks for a great video

[@ModernHam]

Thank you!

[@jamesmcnichol3908]

I watch your video about wolf river coil. Suggest you look K8MRD about radials. He has modified the radials and also look up magic carpet also Faraday cloth as substituted. He also has a you tube channel "You tube Ham". Good luck N3LBY Jim.

[@GG-vx7gi]

Glad your back. Not in an apartment, but looking at WRC for semi permanent base antenna mounted to a privacy fence post. Your set up gave me several good ideas. Just venturing into HF, so seems like a good starter antenna for the money.

[@timevans239]

Great video. Keep them coming. I have a few antennas and the one i Keep working with is the super antenna. Yes there's a lot of great antennas but i like the simplicity of the antenna just like the wolf river coil. I like you Keep trying to improve on its concept. Keep the videos coming. Like your honesty not many people now days care for integrity.

[@elduderino4557]

Really glad you’re back. Only just seen that you’re making videos again. Enjoy them a lot. I’ve found that it’s satisfying having limitations and working to get round them in order to have some fun with radio. I’ve learned the most this way. I’m still limited to 10 watts on a foundation licence in UK and it’s taught me a lot about different things I can do to improve distance and quality of contacts. MW7WDP

[@lf7961]

I know all about neighbors who are paranoid about a wire strung antenna yet have no problem with holding a cell phone next to their skull for hours each day.

[@vanapplegate]

Welcome back.

[@ModernHam]

Thank you!

[@stewpot3971]

Deleted my previous comment as the replies had nothing to add to your dilemma. Great to see you making videos again!

[@ModernHam]

Don't remember seeing it, but thanks! I'm glad to be back.

[@MyTube4Utoo]

Thanks for the video.

[@K5QBF]

Great video and welcome back on the air!

[@ModernHam]

Thank you!

[@anniezomaya151]

Once again, the dog steals the show.

[@Andrew-yx7sf]

Try and by a roll of window screen. Place the legs onto the screen unrolled of course.

[@mantassernius8976]

Nice you back! I use magnetic loop! Feel real ham now :-)

[@ModernHam]

Yeah! Glad to be back!. Congratulation! I hope it works well!

[@Mike-2422]

Why don't you get the wolf river otophone dipole setup. It's a dipole no radials.

[@KE8ODY-WV-Ares-Ham-Dad-3O4]

Could that Mega Take It Along (Mega TIA) be used in a deck 39 feet high at above 3000 ft above seal level would this work well for HF?

[@paulaubuchon2336]

Take look at WB9VBR you tube video on aluminum screen 3ft x 7ft as a counter poise instead of radials...worked for me at my HOA... PAUL K1YOU

[@seanfoley7097]

I'm in an attic apartment I ran a halfwave dipole for 10 meters at 20 watts I'm able to hit Eastern Europe from southern New England. I just bought and received the sota special. There is no information online about tuning the coil in other words where approximately does the collar need to go on the coil for each band and for each band how far do you extend the whip I emailed the company and I'm waiting on a reply KC1TNA

[@lyledal]

WB!

[@JACK-wh6jl]

ZCLNT APARTMENT & OTHER AREA S OF PROBLEMS. WOLF USAGE”RIGHT NOW LETS GO” IT IS A COOL. ANT ; I have 4 in phase array status & the 4 are like a direct beam !!!!!!!