Alpha Delta DX Ultra Question

[Rt4957]

I just got one of these for my JRC 535,have yet to put it up.

Question is,,Will this antenna be OK in an Attic with a Wood.Brick Shingle style roof?
I just don`t have the Bravado that I once had to get up to the second story of the house.It`s pretty high up,about 18 feet

I`ve got plenty of space,,and Bought plenty of Coax,,But will I still get good performance from it being inside?
I want to listen to the Air Force GHFS,Overwater Aircraft Center flights,San Francisco Radio,and Hopefully New York.Really would like to get some overseas stuff too if possible.
I`m located in Chatsworth Calif,a few mountains close by,but I`ve had Good performance with my old antenna,,just hoping this one will open up more Loggoings and distance,and get better performance.

Will it be OK?
Thanks for Any Help
Rt4957

 

[wyomingmedic]

It is really hard to say. It depends on what EXACTLY in in your attic. A problem here (it gets uber cold here though) is foil backed insulation. It is a serious attenuator.

Shingles themselves can be very bad as well. Some actually have a small amount of metallic flake for coloring or composition and it can act like a metal shield over your antenna.

The other big problems are noise related. Being that much closer to HVAC and electrical connections can really make it difficult to hear.

What I would recommend it to put the antenna in the attic as you want and try it for awhile. No real loss. You already have the antenna. Just a few hours worth of work. If it works, then great. If not, pull it down and try again.

WM

 

[KI4VBR]

I have a discone in my attic and I might as well disconnect the coax on my radio.....there is so much RF noise up there it is amazing. I think most of it is coming from poor cable tv connections and CAT5 cables carrying 100 mb LAN traffic. These two alone are enough to rain on my party.

Vince

 

[LtDoc]

There really isn't any way to accurately predict how well that, or any antenna, will work in -your- attic without trying it. There are just too many possible complications. The difference may not be much at all, but no indoor antenna is going to work as well as the same antenna outdoors.
I hope it's an improvement, good luck.
- 'Doc

 

[ka3jjz]

According to the Universal website, it's total length is 80 foot. Undoubtedly that's going to involve a lot of bending and twisting in an attic. As was stated before, it's very hard to judge how an antenna is going to behave in an attic, so trying it is certainly an option. But outside is far and away better.

You might be better off by putting a conical loop in the attic, feeding it with a 9:1 transformer and coax down to the radio. There's a diagram of such a beast in the shortwave swl antenna yahoo group (In the files section, look for 'In the attic antennas'). If I had a good sized attic, I'd give that some serious consideration. You will be able, in a good size attic, to put more than 80 foot in there, and the loop plus the transformer might net you some noise reduction as well, depending on the environment. And that would be a whole lot cheaper than the Alpha Delta...

best regards..Mike

 

[sKiZo]

Inverted L

Just got one myself, and am hoping for good things. I'm currently running dual slinkies - those do a decent enough job, but ... more, More, MORE!

My biggest concern was the size. My lot isn't really wide enough to accomodate 80 feet of wire and still keep the coax length down. Emailed Alpha Delta and asked if I could set it up in an "L" shaped inverted V and they said no problem. I was concerned about losing omni reception, and was told as long as I don't make the angle of the legs any narrower, I should be fine. Kewl!

So, my final setup should look like this. Tripod on top of the garage with a mounting height for the center connector at approx 18 feet. One side of the antenna running E/W terminated 6 foot high at a wood post. Plenty of head clearance in my established walkways. Other end of the antenna tied off to a tree directly south of the tripod.

Worth mentioning also - AD says the angle of the V isn't all that critical as the antenna is also built to work as a sloper. Main thing is to NOT try mounting it more than 20 foot at the center for shortwave reception. You need a certain amount of ground coupling for it to work right. Strangely enough, the exact opposite is true if you use the DX Ultra as a transmitter - there you need a minimum of 35 feet height, and ground coupling is verboten. Huh. Kinda sounds like you lose some ears thata way? Maybe why they recommend adding a vertical element as a "tophat" when setting up for xmit ... Not a worry for me right now as I'm (currently) just looking at SW receive, but nice to know if I decide to have some two way fun later on.