Attic Mounted Antenna

[WQOC472]

Hello everyone, Ive recently got a Kenwood TK-880 for UHF and a Yaesu FT-1900R for VHF. i use the Kenwood for EOC and Emg. Mgt. Communications and i use the Yaesu for SkyWarn NET operations around my area. Heres the problem, i live in a area that does not allow outdoor antennas. i need to mount indoors. i would like to mount in the attic where both antennas are out of my way. i have 2 Tram Mobile to Base antenna radial kits and 1 Tram 1151 VHF antenna and 1 Laird 4503 phantom antenna for UHF and 2 spools of coax. any tips on mounting and advise you can give would be greatly appreicated! Thanks,

 

[N5TWB]

Hello everyone, Ive recently got a Kenwood TK-880 for UHF and a Yaesu FT-1900R for VHF. i use the Kenwood for EOC and Emg. Mgt. Communications and i use the Yaesu for SkyWarn NET operations around my area. Heres the problem, i live in a area that does not allow outdoor antennas. i need to mount indoors. i would like to mount in the attic where both antennas are out of my way. i have 2 Tram Mobile to Base antenna radial kits and 1 Tram 1151 VHF antenna and 1 Laird 4503 phantom antenna for UHF and 2 spools of coax. any tips on mounting and advise you can give would be greatly appreicated! Thanks,

You don't mention (and I haven't looked them up) what kind of mount system the antennas are. If they are NMO system mounts, you will also need an NMO mount of some kind unless the radial kits include that component. With the phantom antenna for UHF, I hope you have good line of sight to the repeater because you won't have any gain with that antenna. You will also want to keep the coax run as short as possible to minimize line losses.

As a former resident of AC (1955-1972), I'm curious as to the location of an antenna-restricted neighborhood. PM me if you don't want to put it in the forum.

 

[WQOC472]

i live in an apartment complex on the 2nd floor.. and yes, the Radial kits are NMO and include everything i need to mount a mobile antenna onto the radials to make it a base antenna, ive got 2 18ft RG-8x spools of coax.. i have a high gain UHF antenna im not using (i got it as a back-up for my truck) should i use it instead of the Phantom antenna? most of my UHF Frequencies are Simplex but the EOC channel uses a repeater.. the repeater is about a 1/2 mile from me..

 

[N5TWB]

i live in an apartment complex on the 2nd floor.. and yes, the Radial kits are NMO and include everything i need to mount a mobile antenna onto the radials to make it a base antenna, ive got 2 18ft RG-8x spools of coax.. i have a high gain UHF antenna im not using (i got it as a back-up for my truck) should i use it instead of the Phantom antenna? most of my UHF Frequencies are Simplex but the EOC channel uses a repeater.. the repeater is about a 1/2 mile from me..

To get the maximum range on UHF simplex, the high gain antenna would probably be the better choice, assuming there is room in the attic space for the height. Given the repeater location, you could choose to compromise your simplex coverage because the Phantom should have no problem and would definitely not be a challenge for height in the attic.

Have you ever made the antenna end connection on an NMO and RG-8x? I know I have only bought fully assembled NMO mounts w/cable (RG-58 size) and they look a little tricky to me -- maybe that's just me, though. Also, the short length of the cable is really going to limit your operating location choices but it is an apartment so I'm sure you understand space limitations.

 

[StevieB]

Atttic antenna

Have been running a Cushcraft AR270 dual band in my attic on a three foot tripod fed with 35 feet of LMR-400 Ultra Flex with incredible results.Only 3.9 feet tall,8 or or 10 inch long ground radials,how much more compact can you go in an attic when you have antenna restrictions?Universal radio radio recommended this antenna to me eight years ago and never regretted it.Who knows how accurate their gain claims are?It works.