Ham Radio Attic Antenna Installation

If the top of the antenna touches the walls or roof the performance may be affected slightly.

Ham radio attic antenna installation.

You will need a peak in your attic that is tall enough for the antenna to fit. Install a 9 1 unun at the antenna end of the coax. In order to really test it i decided to skip the step of a temporary outdoor deployment and just go ahead and put it in to it s final location. Don t worry if you lack the room to run the dipole in a straight line.

Remote rf switch control box in the shack chooses which antenna is operational in the attic. 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. For example you can install a wire dipole in almost any attic space. 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.

In the attic the antenna is not visible it is not exposed to weather and it can be installed without climbing onto your roof. Bend the wires as much as necessary to make the dipole fit into the available space. Some radio hams have an attic antenna as a backup to their main antenna on the roof. Again stay away from metal and wires to maintain your pattern.

Attics are great locations for indoor antennas. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used. The only concern with attic mounted antennas is the space available to you for mounting. Installation of a wire antenna in my small attic as previously mentioned i ve recently built my first wire antenna.

The kb9vbr 2 meter j pole antenna is 69 inches tall overall. The coax shield would then be properly terminated at both ends and stop being a rogue antenna. 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. Hide stuff in the closet one of the challenges you may encounter is getting the coaxial cable up into the attic.