Getting into HAM in 2024?

[cyberham]

An elevated vertical using a telescoping vertical element is cheap and efficient. It can be adjusted in length to tune for HF ham bands. You need two tuned radials with the same length as the vertical element. So, for 20m, the vertical and radials need to each be about 16 feet long.

I use this one for remote operation and can install it in minutes. The parts are available on amazon. I just slide the telescoping element a little shorter for higher frequencies and fold back the radials to match.

 

[jayn_j]

I live in an apartment these days, and only get on the air to talk to old friends on 2M. I have had good luck using a 5/8 mobile whip in front of a window. I bought a 30" galvanized feed dish at Tractor Supply, and found that it makes a good ground plane for the mobile. No muss, fuss or visibility to the neighbors.

 

[Radioguy41]

10M has been wide open. Since the beginning of Nov I've made 142 contacts in 60 countries from as far east as Cyprus all the way west (as the sun moves) to Hawaii and as far south as Argentina and Chile and southwest into Oceania as far as Norfolk Island. I'm using an old Icom IC-735 (100 watts) coupled to a simple 20ft vertical.