Attic Wire Antenna

Poor insulation of the attic shortwave antenna wire.

Attic wire antenna.

For example you can install a wire dipole in almost any attic space. With time bare copper oxidizes the wood where the wire is tightly stapled to absorbs some of this oxidization and forms a. 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. This is the most important aspect to improve.

Again stay away from metal and wires to maintain your pattern. Bare copper antenna wire stapled directly on wood rafters causes loss of rf signal energy. It did need a separate small gauge multi wire control cable to be run to the attic. Don t worry if you lack the room to run the dipole in a straight line.

The first problem to solve. Bend the wires as much as necessary to make the dipole fit into the available space. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used. This antenna has all the reception power of an outdoor antenna but features a curved metal frame of reflectors that are designed for fitting easily into smaller attic spaces.

Although the switch isn t rated for 70cm operation the manual says it will work on that band with a bit of acceptable loss. The ge 33692 attic mount hd antenna is a notable example of an antenna specially designed for placement in the attic. An ameritron 5 port remote rf antenna switch i had on hand was put into service.