Ham Attic Antenna Safety

First is safety with less than 100 watts what do i need to know about health and fire hazard.

Ham attic antenna safety.

The fact is most guys who talk about attic antenna limitations are not serious to operate. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used. You will need a peak in your attic that is tall enough for the antenna to fit. Have 2 story home with ample attic above for antenna or can put antenna against house and not extending above roof.

The world is divided into operators and observers. If the top of the antenna touches the walls or roof the performance may be affected slightly. Lots of amateurs in these situations are doing so successfully especially on hf. The kb9vbr 2 meter j pole antenna is 69 inches tall overall.

Yes in the attic. Many of these same hams would have other excuses if it were not for the antenna it would be something else. Before i take the leap particularly into hf i need to learn more about antennas in the house. Bare copper antenna wire stapled directly on wood rafters causes loss of rf signal energy.

The lack of an external antenna is really an excuse for not taking action. I ve read some of the hf 10m homebrew constructions and they seem do able for me but. But even if you can t put up an outdoor antenna you can still operate with antennas installed in an accessible attic space. Many hams including many of you reading this are limited by hoa or other outdoor antenna restrictions.

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. With time bare copper oxidizes the wood where the wire is tightly stapled to absorbs some of this oxidization and forms a loose yet lossy bond with the wire.