Loft attic antennas for restricted spaces.
Long wire antenna attic.
The most economical and highly recommended measure is to insulate the bare antenna wire.
Another local uses an hf loop antenna tacked up around the circumference of the ceiling of a second floor bedroom.
Green is the 15m long wire bicone antenna mounted in the loft yellow is a 40m long doublet fed with 450 ohm ladder line and an auto atu at the base blue is the 40m long ladder line fed doublet strapped as a tee and fed against 16 ground radials.
This was installed at a previous qth i will be the first or millionth remember i m from fl to affirm that the antenna is the determining factor for success when it comes to one s station set up.
The most important is the physical size of the antenna used then its radiation pattern.
The infamous attic dipole.
Instead staple a closed tie wrap forming a loop at each stapling point.
Mac af4ps fp 51 note.
Zigzagging a bunch of wire in the attic will pick up distant radio signals poorly but electromagnetic interference emi from household electronics very well.
The ge 20431 futura outdoor indoor attic tv antenna is one of the best looking options on the market.
Let s imagine a hf antenna resonant on the 20 meters band.
The 1 2l dipole radiator driven element is 10 m long or so.
Run the wire through the loops and let it hang slightly away from the wooden rafters.
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.
It was a lot of work but i ve gotten a lot better at things and i d say overall.
The equivalent long wire is twice as long.
With his antenna matching unit providing an acceptable match he s on the air making contacts.
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.
Dipole and long wire antennas can also be used with mobile outdoor style auto tuners feeding them in an attic space.