Ham Radio Attic Antenna Safety

But even if you can t put up an outdoor antenna you can still operate with antennas installed in an accessible attic space.

Ham radio attic antenna safety.

Also the height of attic antennas is usually lower than optimum. W9mbt ham member qrz page. The attic shortwave antenna wire this is the most importantaspect to improve. Attic antennas can be significantly affected by attic wiring and hvac ducting.

Thanks w9mbt feb 29 2012 3. 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. That s a good one. On vhf a beam antenna can work well in the attic even a rotator can be used.

Before i take the leap particularly into hf i need to learn more about antennas in the house. Distance gain and duty cycle are the three factors to consider when installing and safely operating an antenna system be it outdoors or in your attic. Many hams including many of you reading this are limited by hoa or other outdoor antenna restrictions. Have 2 story home with ample attic above for antenna or can put antenna against house and not extending above roof.

Safety of indoor antennas. This is great for the amateur radio operator that is providing net control activities during a skywarn severe weather activation. Bare copper antenna wire stapled directly on wood rafters causes loss of rf signal energy. It has been known since the early days of radio that rf energy can cause injuries by heating body tissue.

A second advantage to mounting the antenna in the attic is that you will be protected from lightning strikes in the event of severe weather. Lots of amateurs in these situations are doing so successfully especially on hf. These heat related health hazards are called thermal effects. I ve read some of the hf 10m homebrew constructions and they seem do able for me but.

Again stay away from metal and wires to maintain your pattern. If your attic was full of explosive gases you ll have an issue but how likely is that going to be. If you are mounting the antenna in your attic you d need about 7 10 feet of space between the antenna and the occupants in the house. Safety and rf exposure are important topics to consider.

The house will act as a natural shield and as long as your attic mounted antenna system is independent to the rest of your antennas lightning won t be an issue. Discussion in general technical questions and answers started by w9mbt feb 29 2012. 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. In extreme cases rf induced heating can cause blindness sterility and other serious health problems.

First is safety with less than 100 watts what do i need to know about health and fire hazard. Other than the safety rfi issues discussed here the other important point to remember is that an attic antenna particularly for hf is not in the clear like an outside antenna.