Best option for indoor antenna to be used on second floor of a two story home and not to be mounted in attic? or are there any good options beyond the simple telescoping antenna which is going to be way too short...maybe not.
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Best option for indoor antenna second floor room?
- Thread starter humblegeo
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Indoor CB Antenna
I've never tried this one so I do not know how well it works. I suspect it won't work very well but you can certainly try -
https://www.rightchannelradios.com/products/firestik-indoor-cb-base-antenna
I've never tried this one so I do not know how well it works. I suspect it won't work very well but you can certainly try -
https://www.rightchannelradios.com/products/firestik-indoor-cb-base-antenna
Golay
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I'm not sure they make them anymore, but I used to have a Shakespeare big stick lying up the stairs in a house. It did all right. Maybe an Antron 99 propped up against the wall. Looking at the antenna that rbomba linked to, I think that would work fine too.
TheSpaceMann
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You can do an end fed half wave, or a full wave loop inside the house! You will need a 49:1 transformer for the EFHW, or a 4:1 balun for the loop! Plans are online. 
BTW, LNR Precision makes an 11 meter end fed half wave antenna.
BTW, LNR Precision makes an 11 meter end fed half wave antenna.
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What I did before I had a house and antennas on the roof was I got a simple VHF UHF 800 megahertz ground plane and mounted it on a broom handle that you can get at Home Depot. 10 feet of low-loss cable to the radio. You can stick the ground plane in a corner of the room and turn it and reposition it anytime you want. You can also mount it on a straight lamp. It's simple and inexpensive.
zeitgeist999
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zeitgeist999
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Your best option would be a magnetic loop antenna. Small, and efficient. You can build one easily for CB, or you can buy one that will cover the CB band, but pricey. All of the supplies you need can be found in the plumbing section of your favorite hardware store. Google "Magnetic Loop Transmitting Antenna" and go from there.
Sorry, Im coming to this conversation late. I have a 102" whip antenna screwed into a mag mount. To allow the antenna to be free standing and to make a ground plane, I attached the mag mount to a cheap metal pizza pan. For a gound plane I attached 4 110" runs of speaker wire to the the pan. It is no A99 but it works well for my purpose.
Tack a dipole to the wall vertically in the stairwell? Workman BS1HAM Indoor Ham Dipole Antenna FASTEST SHIPPING | eBay
TheSpaceMann
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Three 9 foot whips out the window!
prcguy
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I would find a wall with a window in an outside facing corner of the building and see if there is any wiring or metal backed insulation or metal lath under stucco. If all that's good then make a ground plane but with a capacity hat on top to shorten it to the height of your ceiling.
Lay out two wires for the ground plane about 110" each running along the wall in opposite directions and attach to the ground side of the coax. If you don't mind wire running across the room make a third ground plane wire and run at a right angle to the first two. The run a vertical wire up the wall and if you can fit about 108" of wire vertically before hitting the ceiling great and its ok if it doesn't. If it doesn't and say your ceiling is 7ft tall, run the wire to the ceiling then attach two wires horizontally where the wire ends at the ceiling for maybe 2ft each direction. In this case the vertical wire would look like a "T" with the capacity hat wires attached. This capacity hat that will shorten the antenna some without any real loss.
Then trim the capacity hat wires until you get a good match keeping both wires the exact same length as you trim. It would be best to have an antenna analyzer to see where the antenna is resonating so you can easily trim it into the CB band. This type of antenna will work much better than any shortened mobile or indoor apartment antenna on the market.
If you do this and its successful then we"ll talk about a common mode choke to put in the coax.
Lay out two wires for the ground plane about 110" each running along the wall in opposite directions and attach to the ground side of the coax. If you don't mind wire running across the room make a third ground plane wire and run at a right angle to the first two. The run a vertical wire up the wall and if you can fit about 108" of wire vertically before hitting the ceiling great and its ok if it doesn't. If it doesn't and say your ceiling is 7ft tall, run the wire to the ceiling then attach two wires horizontally where the wire ends at the ceiling for maybe 2ft each direction. In this case the vertical wire would look like a "T" with the capacity hat wires attached. This capacity hat that will shorten the antenna some without any real loss.
Then trim the capacity hat wires until you get a good match keeping both wires the exact same length as you trim. It would be best to have an antenna analyzer to see where the antenna is resonating so you can easily trim it into the CB band. This type of antenna will work much better than any shortened mobile or indoor apartment antenna on the market.
If you do this and its successful then we"ll talk about a common mode choke to put in the coax.
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