Arf hams,
I am looking to improve the transmit and receive performance on 2m.  Currently I have a ladder line j-pole hanging from curtains which gets me to few nearby repeaters (less than 10 miles) in my county. I can hear repeaters up to 30 miles away and have had a few rag chews on one 20 miles away under some conditions.  My elevation is 950ft but I'm on a down slope on the edge of a valley. There is another 100ft of terrain above me on this slope.
My house is on a slopped lot and I'm near the bottom.  

Question:  Would there be a noticeable benefit to investing in an outdoor antenna for 2m that doesn't have a significant height increase (vs current indoor antenna) and is at the end a 220ft run of LMR-400? The antenna would be surrounded by trees on two sides   10ft in elevation higher than the existing antenna and outside. Due to the angle from the street and the position of my neighbors no one is likely to see it as it is a backed by ever green trees from those look angles.

Note: I live in an HOA so being stealthy is important. I am able to hide some HF antennas in trees or  put up a temporary vertical behind my house without nasty letters
Another note:  My attic is lined with foil reflective insulation, so an attic antenna is not an option.

Yikes indeed! On the upside if I was to proceed it would run water and a power line in the same trench for my chickens.  I've been able to hide laying hens for 10 years.  Would hate a worthless antenna project to finally get me outed!

I’d be tempted to get a regular dual band vertical, paint it brown or green, and back it up in the trees.

I’ll bet no one ever notices it.

One of my kids commented that I should no go overboard and make it look like a 'tree' cell tower or it would stand out

How close are the Evergreen trees to the house and how tall are they? Hanging a copper tubing 2M slim jim in one would look like a long wind chimes.

I have 3 of these antennas for different bands or can DIY.  https://www.jpole-antenna.com/?s=slim+jim =KB9VBR Antennas

J-Poles are about equivalent to a 3/8 wave whip.
Can you get an antenna up on a chimney or mast? A ~5' vertical such as the Diamond X-50 will make a big difference in performance over what you have.
Never mind, didn't see the part about the HOA Nazis.
Getting anything up outside the house will be a big help, though.

I think you would benefit greatly with moving it outside.

Hide it in a piece of pvc pipe, and attach to an existing vent sticking out of the roof.

You can make or buy a slim Jim antenna made from 450 ohm window line and haul it up into a tall tree and nobody would ever see it.

This is the indoor antenna I have today.   I'm going to use it to try various positions around my yard before mounting up the faux tree.  It doesn't strike me as an antenna that would tolerate moisture for long.

Wire whip at an eave?   Very thin almost not visible from property line.

Why not build a copper j-pole and paint it to blend in?

If you buy a j-pole from Ed Fong it will include some info with a specific Home Depot part number for a pipe to place the thing inside. I vaguely recall it saying to avoid “standard” PVC for some reason.


Found it:

Lowe’s (stock # 23990)  or Home Depot (SKU #282-477)

Get a Comet GP-1. Same size as a J-Pole, better performance, hide it in a PVC tube without de-tuning it.

Yes....   read the posts in that thread...

You can purchase one tuned for use inside a piece of pipe, or tune one yourself. I have one from Ed Fong, and it works fantastic. It works as well as a Tram 1477.

Ventenna is out of business. I found out about this time last year when I finally got around to going to order one.