Ham Radio Attic Antenna Safety

The house will act as a natural shield and as long as your attic mounted antenna system is independent to the rest of your antennas lightning won t be an issue.

Ham radio attic antenna safety. Many hams including many of you reading this are limited by hoa or other outdoor antenna restrictions. W9mbt ham member qrz page. 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. First is safety with less than 100 watts what do i need to know about health and fire hazard.

Lots of amateurs in these situations are doing so successfully especially on hf. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used. If you are mounting the antenna in your attic you d need about 7 10 feet of space between the antenna and the occupants in the house. The attic shortwave antenna wire this is the most importantaspect to improve.

Safety and rf exposure are important topics to consider. Yes there are high voltages at the ends of the antenna but there is very little current and it would have trouble creating a spark on all but the smallest gap. Distance gain and duty cycle are the three factors to consider when installing and safely operating an antenna system be it outdoors or in your attic. I ve read some of the hf 10m homebrew constructions and they seem do able for me but.

Safety of indoor antennas. Yes in the attic. Attic antennas can be significantly affected by attic wiring and hvac ducting. Also the height of attic antennas is usually lower than optimum.

That s a good one. If your attic was full of explosive gases you ll have an issue but how likely is that going to be. Before i take the leap particularly into hf i need to learn more about antennas in the house. Discussion in general technical questions and answers started by w9mbt feb 29 2012.

Have 2 story home with ample attic above for antenna or can put antenna against house and not extending above roof. It has been known since the early days of radio that rf energy can cause injuries by heating body tissue. Bare copper antenna wire stapled directly on wood rafters causes loss of rf signal energy. Thanks w9mbt feb 29 2012 3.

These heat related health hazards are called thermal effects. Again stay away from metal and wires to maintain your pattern. In extreme cases rf induced heating can cause blindness sterility and other serious health problems. Most amateur radio clubs in chicago area that hold training classes for new amateur radio operators.

A second advantage to mounting the antenna in the attic is that you will be protected from lightning strikes in the event of severe weather. But even if you can t put up an outdoor antenna you can still operate with antennas installed in an accessible attic space.