Ham Radio Attic Antenna Installation

There is no need to climb up ladders and possibly onto the roof with all the hazards for untrained people not used to climbing up ladders and handling them whilst up there.

Ham radio attic antenna installation.

I went to my friends house to check out his setup and get him up and running on some hf digital modes. Attic antennas many types of antenna can be mounted in the attic if you don t have radiant barrier tech shield. For anyone who does not like heights this is a great advantage. Remote rf switch control box in the shack chooses which antenna is operational in the attic.

If you live in a space restricted location or are under a hoa restriction you may be able to mount an antenna outside. Even if it is mostly used by ham radio operators to solve problems while transmitting the mfj 931 should also work for a receive only purpose. A lot of hams are struggling in an hoa with antennas o. It is normally very much easier to install a radio antenna in the attic or roof space than outside.

As with most antennas the more height the better for indoor operating however most hams recommend using low output power. Many hams have been successful operating indoor antennas with just a few watts output. Often amateur radio operators are looking for alternative locations to install their antennas. 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.

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. All radio antennas need a radio feeder to transfer the energy to and from the antenna. The mfj 931 could potentially be used a tuned counterpoise for your attic shortwave antenna. This calls for a little creativity.

Keep the antenna as high off the floor as possible. Once all the yagis were bolted in place on the mast i used my antenna analyzer to adjust their driven elements to provide the best match in the weak signal portions of each band. If the space allows consider mounting your antennas in the attic. You ll avoid rf bites as well as interference to vcrs tvs and so on.