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11-16 of 16 messages
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Page 2 of 2
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RE: Options for short attic dipole
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by WB5NHL on October 26, 2001
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An update on my attic dipoles. First my attic is adjacent to my finished loft. The space is approximately 12 ft by 23 ft at floor level. The roof rafters slope from about 7 ft to 0 ft. I have access to the soffit by a little crawling. I currently have full size dipoles on 20, 17, 15,12, & 10m in this space. One coax/balun is used for the 20,15 & 10 dipoles. The 20m dipole has about 3 ft of drooping end wires. The other coax/balun has the 17 and 12m dipoles. This second coax/balun also has my "slinky" 40m dipole. This dipole is simply 2 slinky toys stretched to the far corners of the space. VSWR on the antennas is not always perfect (some are very good) but all antennas tune from my basement shack.
They seem to work....9K2ZZ (17m) and OD5NH (15m) on SSB with 5 watts
Coax feeds are routed to the corner of the attic and through an enlarged hole in the plastic soffit. This spot is very close to the building gutter downspot. I simply ran the coax behind the downspot held in place with cable ties. The coax runs down vertically and exits under my deck and then to the basement window. All in all almost invisible. And if anybody does say anything - the coax is for my satellite TV to the bedrooms of course.
Now for 80m invisible almost.....
I am going for a top loaded vertical. I am running a single small wire from the soffit to the ground along side the buidling. This is approximately 30 ft. The top loading is perimeter wire around the attic area. Modeling shows this "tophat" to actually be too much capacitance. As I complete this 80m antenna I'll repost results.
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RE: Options for short attic dipole
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by N1VLQ on October 29, 2001
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As I am also in a similar situation, I've been doing a little research on this topic and found what I think to be my best answer. W9INN makes a 42' tuned dipole that covers 10 thru 80, and has had nothing but 5 out of 5 scores on the reviews on this site. (Product reviews, HF Wire Antennas, W9INN) I spoke with W9INN on the phone, and he gave me some great suggestions on determining how to scope out my attic for the product. I am about to order one, unless fate changes my course. Anyways, it's another option to consider for the attic.
73
Bruce, N1VLQ
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RE: Options for short attic dipole
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by WB5NHL on January 3, 2002
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I have completed several web pages that provide information on my attic antennas. I have also included a diagram of my short 80 meter vertical that uses the townhouse to hold up the capacitive tophat!!!! The pages can be found at my web site http://www.oldcyberdude.com I am interested in any comments and feedback.
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RE: Options for short attic dipole
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by N6AJR on August 21, 2002
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Put up some dipoles (solder one side to the center of the coax and the other to the shield, run down and connect to a tuner)(300watts?? cheap one for stock rig) make the 2 wires the same length as long as you can and you can even tack them along the side and down the edge. try to get 15 or 20 feet on each side, and use the tuner to bring it in on probably 10-40 with that size and length. coax, wire, easy to build cheep and they work, get a manual tuner for starts. ask a ham buddy or two if they have an old mfj laying around... try a loop fed with twinlead and on the bal wire input on the tuner and a wire wrapped around the whole inside to the single wire input. These are all viable antennas and one will work better on one band , the other on a different band. Wire is cheep, so is coax, and tuners can be had on ebay for less than $50. have fun tom N6AJR
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RE: Options for short attic dipole
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by KB0XA on November 5, 2006
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For all of you who think Slinky Antennas are hard to find,check out Slinkyantennas on e-bay!
Some people have made remarks on the web re: the conductivity of the steel wire Slinkies are made from and the fact that they rust over time out in the weather.
Well,they're not right about that anymore either!These guys have Slinky Dipoles and SWL antennas made with Black Oxide coated Slinkies;
Solid Brass Slinkies; Green,Blue and Red Powder Coated Slinkies; and even 14 Karat Gold Plated Solid Brass Slinkies!
These are extremely inexpensive, AND THE AUCTIONS STATE THAT THEY ARE ALL MADE BY RETIRED SENIOR CITIZEN HAMS! Thes eare not not just junky kits like those sold by antennasRus either.
I bought one of those for $29.95 plus $7.50 for the instructions and $7.50 for shipping and all I got was two loose toy Slinkies, some weed-eater twine, a short piece of coax and three little pieces of plastic all twisted up inside a Tyvek postal envelope. They advertised Ready To Go Slinky Dipole! That's a lotta' BULL! Slinkyantennas.com has a photo of what this kit is like on their website.
I gave them my kit and bought one of their Brass ones after getting ripped off by the people who scammed me into buying it from them.
Check out their e-bay store at http://stores.ebay.com/slinkyantennas
73's and don't forget to
Listen to Paul Harvey for THE REST OF THE STORY
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