Attic Ham Antenna

Don t worry if you lack the room to run the dipole in a straight line.

Attic ham antenna. But even if you can t put up an outdoor antenna you can still operate with antennas installed in an accessible attic space. Many hams including many of you reading this are limited by hoa or other outdoor antenna restrictions. Viewer request to try out an antenna for ham radio in the attic. Many of these same hams would have other excuses if it were not for the antenna it would be something else.

The ge 20431 futura outdoor indoor attic tv antenna is one of the best looking options on the market. Thanks david for the insulators first to comment below i ll send you an insulator in the mail. On hf wire beams can be run on the roof supports or the rafters these usually are good for one direction only but can be switched electrically for different coverage. Lots of amateurs in these situations are doing so successfully especially on hf.

The attic shortwave antenna wire this is the most importantaspect to improve. The kb9vbr 2 meter j pole antenna is 69 inches tall overall. The only concern with attic mounted antennas is the space available to you for mounting. The lack of an external antenna is really an excuse for not taking action.

Again stay away from metal and wires to maintain your pattern. The height of your antenna may be limited by your attic s apex and some signal attenuation may be expected from roof materials so an antenna that exhibits some gain may be desirable. It s a long way from the rabbit ear designs you might think of when picturing indoor antennas and much cooler looking than the metal contraptions often found outdoors. Using the cq antennas center insulators from ke5fen.

Bare copper antenna wire stapled directly on wood rafters causes loss of rf signal energy. For example you can install a wire dipole in almost any attic space. Yes in the attic. Bend the wires as much as necessary to make the dipole fit into the available space.

Many hams who live in covenant protected neighborhoods like to mount antennas in the attic to keep them out of sight. With time bare copper oxidizes the wood where the wire is tightly stapled to absorbs some of this oxidization and forms a loose yet lossy bond with the wire. Attics are great locations for indoor antennas. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used.

Need lots of room keep them away from metal objects like heaters and ducts wire antennas can be run near the peak of the roof inside the attic bent in odd shapes to match the space available. Attic antennas many types of antenna can be mounted in the attic if you don t have radiant barrier tech shield. The fact is most guys who talk about attic antenna limitations are not serious to operate.