Attic HF antenna ideas?

[Frizz]

I am looking into upgrading and getting my General Class License but when I
do I will forced to operate indoors due to antenna restrictions in my
neighborhood. I am looking for any and all indoor antenna ideas (they must
be indoors, ANY "unauthorized" additions to property are easily seen, and I
don't want to operate mobile). I really only have maybe 25-30 feet to play
around with. I realize that I might be limited on certain bands but I would
like to cover a good amount of the HF spectrum if that is possible. Any
ideas are welcome. Thanks!!!!

[Dennis Kaylor]

hey frizz
i dont know of any antenna that will work HF in such a small area but here is a
website that might help and also some other ideas
i would check your deed restrictions and see if your allowed a flag pole you can
easily hide an HF vertical inside a PVC flag pole
another thing is a dipole just above the roof line made of very thin wire or
run a loop of wire all the way around the perimeter of the roof line
here is a website with a bunch of antennas check out the steath antennas
http://www.ac6v.com/antprojects.htm

[Bill Turner]

_________________________________________________________

One antenna that worked well for me in a similar situation was a loop,
fed with open wire line and a tuner. I ran the loop around the inside
of the apartment, where the walls and ceiling meet. I used white wire
and thumbtacked it in place, and nobody ever noticed it unless I pointed
it out. I ran it around every room except the bathroom, drilling tiny
holes where necessary to get to the next room. It worked pretty well
I'd say, and covered 80-10 meters. I'd suggest not running lots of
power with this due to possible arcing, but 100 watts should be ok.

Bill, W7TI

[ANN7HOW]

I had what I thought was remarkable success with a trap antenna for 10/15/30/40
in a 25 foot townhouse attic 25 feet above earth (who knows where real ground
was?). Used a separate, loaded 20m antenna made of large tubing to get
bandwidth without requiring a tuner on 20. The traps are easy to design and
make from info in the AntennaBook. 73, Hal, W9UYA

[GIno]

Hi Frizz,

in same boat as you are with the hood, how about a portable dipole ?
http://www.qsl.net/w3ff

Easy to build, you can put it outside after dark and no one will ever see it !
When you are done, just put it away !
Best, no need to do in the attic or worry about RF if family is upstairs.

73 gino

[Bob Miller]

"Frizz" <kg4...@hotmail.spamsucks.leaveme.alone.com> wrote:

Are you in an apartment, townhome, house? Do you have an attic? Any yard space,
at all? Balcony? 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor availabilities? Hard to make
recommendations when no info on antenna site put forth.

Bob
k5qwg

[Frizz]

Thanks to all the others for the replies. I was actually thinking about a
dipole with traps. But anyways...

I live in a regular home. I have an attic (that's where the 25-30 feet
thing comes in) that is fairly good for putting antennas in as long as they
are not too long or too tall.

Thanks!

"Bob Miller" <bami...@texas.net> wrote in message
news:OEtjOx3ONQNznh2B=YEoUJzeAKA=@4ax.com...

[Mark Keith]

I've got a backup antenna in the attic that is a 40 meter dipole fed
with 300 ohm line to my tuner. It will tune 80-10, and maybe works ok
40-10. It is prone to local noise a bit though. The reason for that
length was that was what would fit. So I would just use the longest wire
you can stretch across the attic and center feed it. Could be a tuned
dipole fed with coax for a single band, or a trap dipole as one
mentioned, or just fed with ladder line and a tuner as I'm doing. You
might consider "stealth" dipoles strung in yard made from real thin
magnet wire. You can hardly see them, and the performance would be
fairly good. IE: you could run a coax across the yard and up the side of
a tree, and string magnet wire dipole legs out to other trees or
whatever as supports. Storms may break the wire, but no big deal, just
tie it in a knot, trim, and add a dab of solder and your back on the
air. There is some loss using that thin of wire, but on a full size
dipole, it won't hurt you too much for lower power levels. These could
be strung from the roofs also I guess. MK
--
http://web.wt.net/~nm5k

[news.vei.net]

I use my rain gutters. I no longer have the hots to spend big bucs on some
compact antenna! I have a wood frame 1.5 story house with plastic siding,
aluminum guttering and flashing. I think the entire roof/soffit perimeter
radiates. It is fed with 25' RG8 with ~8turns in a loop at the feedpoint (as
a choke else it doesn't tune stabally above 15). Tuner: MFJ949E. Another
important aspect: I ran ~100 feet of ground wire tucked under the bottom of
the siding against the foundation all around the house - centered at the
feedpoint, connected to shield and ground rod. Have worked the world on 20,
17, 15, 10. Tunes nice down to 80. Too chicken to try 160. No clue where it
naturally resonates. Not as good as former high and clear G5RV but will try
sweepstakes anyway.
-de WX8V now in Ky.

"Frizz" <kg4...@hotmail.spamsucks.leaveme.alone.com> wrote in message
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