How to safely store a laptop in my attic for streaming?

I want to move my antenna and laptop into my attic for an improved signal.

I live in New England, so the attic gets hot and cold. Any good ideas on how to keep the laptop from freezing or over heating?

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dimab said:

I want to move my antenna and laptop into my attic for an improved signal.



I live in New England, so the attic gets hot and cold. Any good ideas on how to keep the laptop from freezing or over heating?

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Why do you want to put your laptop up there? If you are using a USB receiver, consider getting a USB extension cord and keep tour computer in a temperature controlled environment.


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The laptop will not weather high temps. This is why the processors are cooled with an internal fan.

I would just run an antenna cable down to where the laptop is now and connect the scanner to that.

Length of USB cable is very limited. It's a hit or miss. I have a 9 ft USB and it works on one of my laptops and not the others. You will need a POWERED USB hub in the attic having the SDR Connected to it and then the 9ft(for example) from the USB Powered HUB to your laptop.

kayn1n32008 said:

Why do you want to put your laptop up there? If you are using a USB receiver, consider getting a USB extension cord and keep tour computer in a temperature controlled environment.


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Click to expand...

I'm not using a USB rtl-sdr.

My antenna run is too long as it sits, adding to why I want it moved higher and closer

dimab said:

I'm not using a USB rtl-sdr.

My antenna run is too long as it sits, adding to why I want it moved higher and closer

Click to expand...

All you want to do is run a stream? Get yourself a Raspbery Pi ($35). They run cool and should be quite tolerant of temperature changes.

Let's see, a feed requires an antenna, coax cable, radio or scanner, audio cable, computer, and ethernet connection. So you will need your radio in this same environment. You could try a longer audio cable to a computer in a better environment.

I think that I would try plopping a RPi on top of a scanner in the attic with a wifi dongle to the router. I have two pi's running feeds currently without one ounce of trouble. They can be challenging to set up and to get good audio but there are others here who will help out.

You could try USB Over Ethernet Hub.