What changed
HOA, apartment and stealth antennas — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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Antenna restrictions are the most common reason people stop before they start. Every option below
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has put stations on the air from apartments, condos and deed-restricted neighbourhoods.
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## Know the rules that apply to you
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- **PRB-1** is the FCC's limited-preemption policy requiring *state and local governments* to
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reasonably accommodate amateur antennas. It does not override private deed restrictions or HOA
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covenants.
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- **Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD)** protects TV, satellite and some fixed wireless
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antennas — it does **not** cover transmitting amateur antennas.
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- Read your actual CC&Rs rather than the rumour. Many restrict "visible" or "permanent" structures,
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which leaves temporary and invisible options open.
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- Many disputes are resolved by asking politely, showing the board a photo of what you propose, and
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offering to remove it on request. Confrontation rarely wins.
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## Invisible outdoor options
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- **Thin wire.** #26 to #30 enamelled or bare wire disappears at 20 feet, especially against trees
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or eaves. It will carry 100 W easily.
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- **Flagpole verticals** — a commercial or home-built vertical inside a fibreglass flagpole.
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- **Wire in the gutter, fence line or attic rafters** — poor, but real contacts.
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- **An [end-fed](/wiki/station/antennas/end-fed-and-loops) sloping to a tree**, put up at sunset and
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down before morning.
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- **A telescoping fibreglass mast** deployed only when operating; nothing permanent exists.
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## Indoors
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- **Attic dipole or loop.** Watch out for foil-backed insulation and radiant barrier, which will
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block almost everything, and for the wiring you are now inductively coupled to.
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- **Magnetic loop** on a balcony or in a spare room — narrow-band, tunable, and genuinely effective
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on 20 m and up.
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- **Screwdriver or mobile whip on a balcony rail** with a counterpoise. Ugly numbers, real
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contacts.
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- Keep power modest indoors. RF exposure limits matter much more when the antenna is a few feet
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from people; run the FCC exposure evaluation for your station.
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## Ways around the problem entirely
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- **[Portable operating](/wiki/operating/parks-and-summits).** A park activation with a 20-foot
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wire beats any compromise antenna at home, and it is the single best answer for most restricted
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operators.
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- **Remote operating.** Put the station at a friend's, a club site, or use a commercial remote
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service; control it over the internet. Legal, and increasingly common.
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- **VHF/UHF and satellites.** A small yagi from a balcony works
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[satellites](/wiki/operating/satellites) and [repeaters](/wiki/operating/repeaters), and looks
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like a TV antenna.
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- **Low-power digital modes.** [FT8](/wiki/operating/digital-modes/ft8) and WSPR will get out on
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antennas that no voice contact would survive.
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- **Your club's station.** Many clubs have one, and it is usually underused.
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## What not to do
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Do not run high power into a compromise antenna in a shared building. You will interfere with your
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neighbors' electronics, generate complaints that are much harder to survive than the antenna
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question, and expose people to RF unnecessarily. Start at 10–25 W and see how far it gets you — on
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the digital modes, usually surprisingly far.