Tips for the HOA Buster

The HOA Buster covers from 6-80 meters when connected to a downspout and gutters. For EmComm scenarios when downspouts or gutters are not available connect the HOA Buster to an optional 60-foot EmComm element for tuner free operations that is available by CLICKING HERE.

The power rating for the HOA Buster is 250 PEP SSB, 125 CW, or 25 watts for digital modes.

How the antenna works

The HOA Buster is a non-resonant antenna system that uses an inductor to provide balance for impedance. The capacitive side of the equation is then provided by your gutters, which act as your antenna element. Just as if the downspout were a wire, you will want to feed it from the end of the downspout. This gives the wave of your selected frequency a chance to form down the antenna element, which is your gutter.

Deployment Tips

At no point should the active element, which is the downspout/gutter/jumper wire be touching the ground. This is because the downspout/gutter is an active element. So, you also want to make sure your coaxial feedline does not run alongside your downspout/gutter. Conversely, it is ok if the downspouts go directly into a non-conductive pipe that is in the ground.

Continuity typically exists for most gutters. If you are unsure, then you may use a continuity meter to check continuity.

To test efficiency of one deployment vs another, please see this article: Digital WSPR Mode in 3 quick easy steps by Alpha Antenna

Here are some tips that have helped others: 1) Make sure the Jumper wire is fully deployed and not touching the ground at any point between the match and downspout. 2) Make sure paint was etched where the clip attaches. 3) Ensure the downspouts do not touch the ground. 4) Feed the gutters from a downspout that is not in the middle of the gutter run. This works best because the HOA Buster is an end fed system. 5) Ensure continuity exists on your gutters, which is most easily done with a continuity meter from on one downspout to the next.

FAQs with short answers

1. How directional is the gutter antenna? GUTTERS FORM A FAIRLY BULBOUS PATTERN, WHICH MAKES THEM MAINLY OMNI-DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS THAT FAVOR THE DIRECTION AWAY FROM THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE WHERE THEY ARE INSTALLED.

2. Is it useful or effective to connect the length of gutters on the two sides of the house with 10-gauge wire to link them together? THIS IS MOST OFTEN A GOOD THING, BUT ONLY AN ANTENNA ANALYZER AND A TEST USING WSPR WILL SHOW IF YOU MADE IMPROVEMENTS.

3. Would it make an improvement to connect a wire from the gutter, then run it out into the yard, whether it be level or sloped up where it’s terminated 25-30 feet away? In other words, is it helpful to extend the gutter with a length of wire? THIS IS MOST OFTEN A GOOD THING IF IT CAN BE DONE AT THE END OF THE GUTTER, AS THE HOA BUSTER USES THE DOWNSPOUTS AND GUTTERS AS THOUGH THEY WERE AN END FED ANTENNA.

4. Can the matching transformer be used to connect to a random wire to use as an antenna instead of a rain gutter? If not, do you have a device that would work well for this? EITHER A 34 OR 60 FEET WIRE CAN BE USED INSTEAD OF A GUTTER. REF. 34′ 10-40M end fed element & 60′ 10-80M end fed element

5. How can I enhance the HOA Buster to achieve maximum results for East & West DX? ATTACH THE HOA BUSTER TO GUTTERS THAT RUN NORTH AND SOUTH.

6. Does the HOA Buster require a RF 1:1 choke in the feed line? A CHOKE IS ONLY NEEDED IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING COMMON MODE CURRENT. YOU WILL KNOW IF YOU ARE, BECAUSE YOU MAY HEAR YOURSELF WHEN TRANSMITTING WITH YOUR HF RADIO THROUGH THE SPEAKERS ON YOUR COMPUTER, ETC. IF YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THESE ISSUES, THEN THERE ISN’T MUCH NEED FOR CONCERN.

7. Does the HOA Buster require an external tuner? THE HOA BUSTER DOES NOT NEED AN ANTENNA TUNER FROM 10 TO 80 METERS.

8. What effect will the water and leaves have on the system? WATER FROM GUTTERS OR LEAVES WILL NOT HAVE ANY NOTICABLE EFFECT.

9. I have approximately 100ft of horizontal rain gutter and four downspouts connected for maybe 180ft total length. Would this length present any problem on the 10-12-15 meters bands re: SWR? NO

10. My “yard” at my townhome is bricks and gravel with concrete underneath so the ground spike won’t be an option. Could I mount the Alpha Match somewhere on / near the house and run a wire on the bottom to act as the ground? YES

11. I currently have a coax channel that I was planning on using that runs from ground level to the attic along one of the downspouts (for about 20ft). Would keeping the antenna coax line cause an issue with RF interference when transmitting and need to be moved or do you think this wouldn’t be a problem? KEEP A MINIMUM OF 18 INCHES FOR SEPERATION BETWEEN THESE.

12. All of the downspouts are touching iron pipes that go into the foundation and are grounded. Could I replace the lower aluminum sections that are currently grounded with something like plastic / pvc or would I need to have the ends of the downspouts air-gapped? YES

13. Is it ok to shorten the jumper wire from the HOA Buster to the downspout. YES – THE LENGTH OF THE JUMPER WIRE HAS CAN BE SHORTENED TO 18 INCHES AND HAVE VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE.

14. What impact does using gutters on a single-story home have on performance? ANSWER: A one story home with gutters will provide enhanced coverage for regional communications with somewhat reduced coverage for DX. DX will, however, still be very doable into the gray line. You may use an HT to determine the noise floor that your solar system produces. Just make sure the HT is tuned to the HF frequencies and plugged into a wall outlet with a wall work. This way you’ll be able to hear if there’s any dirty power from your solar system into your house as electrical system. Fortunately, even if that is the case, there is a static drain at the antenna to help some of this.

15. May I use a longer ground rod or add radials? ALTHOUGH A LONGER (MORE EFFICIENT) GROUND ROD MAY MORE EASILY ATTRACT LIGHNING, YOU MAY USE AN ANTENNA ANALYZER WHEN DEPLOYING THE HOA BUSTER WITH A DIFFERENT GROUND ROD AND/OR RADIALS. THIS IS BECAUSE NOBODY CAN TELL YOU HOW LONG THE GROUND ROD OR RADIALS SHOULD BE, AS YOUR GUTTER AND GROUND CONDITIONS ARE UNIQUE TO YOUR HOME. BUT THE BASIC PRINCIPLE IS TO JUST START ADDING MORE COUNTERPOISE TILL YOUR ANTENNA ANALYZER SHOWS THE BEST READINGS ON WHATEVER BANDS YOU ARE OPTIMIZING THE HOA BUSTER FOR.

16. Since I do not have gutters, how should I go about installing the EmComm element? PHYSICALLY, THE EMCOMM ELEMENT SHOULD BE INSTALLED AS EITHER A SLOPED OR FLAT-TOP ANTENNA. FOR EXAMPLE: A) THE EMCOMM ELEMENT CAN BE INSTALLED ALONG THE TOP OF A FENCE, B) SLOPED FROM WHERE THE MATCH HAS BEEN PLACED INTO THE GROUND UP TO AN EVE ON YOUR HOME, C) BETWEEN PVC VENT PIPES ON A ROOF, OR D) ANY OTHER COMBINATION THAT DOES NOT ALLOW THE ELEMENT TO BEND AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE UNLESS THAT 90 DEGREE BEND IS CURVED AND NOT AT A RIGHT ANGLE.

17. What should I do if I am experiencing common mode current?

Use something similar to a Sperry GFI6302 to ensure that your outlet does not have either an ‘Open Ground’, ‘Open Neutral’, ‘Open Hot’, ‘Hot/Ground Reversed’, or ‘Hot/Neutral Reversed’.
Ensure your homes ground isn’t touching the guttering system.
Make sure no wiring on the active antenna (gutter) goes to ground to ground. This includes making sure the ground spout isn’t touching the ground.
Ensure that the ground lug on your equipment isn’t going to the outlet, but instead is a short & large gauge wire that goes to an RF ground, not the AC ground.
The next thing is to put 12 to 16 turns of coax (8 or so inches in diameter) at the halfway point between the antenna and your equipment. This can be secured with Zip Ties. Here is where you would also use additional counterpoise to help dissipate the RF.

What to look out for

Note that a metal roof on its own would not work to enable a frequency’s wave to form. In other words, there must be more length than width for a wave to form. Ideally, you do not want to have a configuration that feeds your gutters from the center. But if that’s what you have to work with, then any antenna is better than no antenna. Again, if you can feed your gutter from one end, that would be most ideal. As the wave of the signal will form as it travels down the gutter.

There are a couple of things about your house that can detract from the performance, most of which have a solution to improve performance. Specifically, if your siding is stucco with chicken wire under it, then performance may suffer. This occurs because stucco siding will have an absorption rate for the RF, which is what lowers efficiency for receive and transmit. This is also true if the siding or roof is aluminum. As well as if the insulation under your siding/roof has aluminum/foil on it. Some operators are happy with their results even when these variables exist. Others have improved their performance by placing the wire at a greater angle from the metal surface (chicken wire, aluminum siding, etc.) to solve the issue. If this does not provide a satisfactory improvement, then our 34′ 10-40M end fed element or our 60-foot 10-80M end fed element can be placed along the top of a wooden fence or even wrapped around a tree. You would just need to attach that element to the HOA Buster’s jumper wire attachment point. The HOA Buster’s match can be mounted in many different ways to accommodate your wire element. a) The mount can be placed on a short mast, b) The mount can stay on the ground with the wire sloped upward to any support, c) The 4 screws and ‘back plate’ on the mount can be removed then the remaining piece mounted on a wood post with screws.

HOA Buster Installation Options

There is a screw holding a small ring/terminal connector onto the jumper wire at the clip. You could take the clip off and use a sheet metal screw from your gutter to secure the wire. NOTE – Pull the jumper wire out to full length so that it does not touch the ground.

That’s a Huge Antenna!

Your gutter is a huge antenna! Just attach the HOA Buster to your downspout, and you will see an acceptable SWR on HF. What could be easier than that?

Last Words about the HOA Buster

If your gutter is a continuous ‘loop’ around your house or has a soffit, you can still use it for your HOA Buster. We still recommend that you feed it at the bottom of the downspout.