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Author Topic: Station Building in a large attic space for HF/VHF  (Read 423 times)

K3VAT

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Station Building in a large attic space for HF/VHF
« on: March 14, 2022, 10:51:40 AM »

Hello,
I have a fairly large attic (15' x 25' = 375 sq') and wish to place a HF (15, 12, 10M) and a VHF (6, 2M) station.  Rigs are IC7300 and IC705 with KPA100 PA.  Antennas are HF dipole (with choke balun), 6M dipole (also with choke balun), and 4-el 2M yagi).  Hight of space is 5' at walls and 9' at apex.  Operating goals are mostly QRP and some ~50W max operation.  Coax is hardline (flex) for 2M and LMR400 for 6M and HF.  Power supplies are Astron Linears.  One computer will be in use for logging and digital modes.

Question 1: is it better to maximize the distance between the radio/computer and the antennas; or don't worry about if the radio is only ~8 feet from the antennas?

Question 2: how important is it to place ferrites on the power supply a-c cords (for the computer as well as the power supplies)?

Question 3: is there anything else that is important that I should be aware of that you would recommend?

TU es 73, Rich, K3VAT
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K5LXP

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Re: Station Building in a large attic space for HF/VHF
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2022, 11:19:56 AM »

The major variable here is the computer.  You could try an AM/shortwave radio nearby it to see how noisy it is.  I've had computers that could be heard with an antenna 50' away and ones you can't tell if they're on or off.  So the EMI/RFI mitigation you will have will depend on how much you need, driven by the computer.  In close quarters there's only so much that common mode measures can do, as you'll be picking up noise through the antenna itself.  A rain hat only does so much good when you're in a swimming pool.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
« Last Edit: March 14, 2022, 11:27:21 AM by K5LXP »
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K0UA

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Re: Station Building in a large attic space for HF/VHF
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2022, 12:06:30 PM »

As said above ^ and you might be able to fit in a 20 meter dipole also if you diagonal it and maybe fold the end of the wire back down. 20 meters is a good band to have and will last much longer at night.  6 meters can be useful from May to August during the E season.
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73  James K0UA
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