W5TWX
Member
How can i rig up an antenna inside a very small apartment? I have no way of doing this outside. I’m 2 miles from the 2 main highways that i want to listen to.
Any help is welcome
Any help is welcome
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CB inside question
- Thread starter W5TWX
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W8RMH
Feed Provider Since 2012
CB does not work well with an indoor antenna. The low band does not penetrate walls, etc.
Phreakin318
Member
lol sound like me awhile back, i tried 2 things neither worked that great but... i got the cheap magnet mount antenna from wal-mart and stuck it on the top of the refridgerator, it was ok for hearing but talking wasnt that great, then i went as far as mounting a bracket on the outside of the window frame same way would mount it to a vehicle that seemed to work better. then when i got $100 bucks i finally got an antron99 and put on a pushup pole and raised that sucker way up.. good luck
oh yeah you could also try speaker wire run it all around the house and i think that i used to have something that turned the house into an antenna (the electrical system) but dont remember that was over 10 years ago, might google and see if anything comes up, but if you just wanna listen i would go with the magnet antenna on the fridge lol
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W8RMH
Feed Provider Since 2012
Speaker wire, hmmm. Watch that SWR.
Phreakin318
Member
yeah meant to say that,but the cheap magnet antenna from wal-mart has high swr as well so none of what i said was if you plan on transmitting ,even with a meter it still blows ,but can get them down enough to transmit on the magnet mount
You will find that you aren't the only one with antenna restrictions, those indoor antennas aren't that uncommon. All indoor antennas are going to be less than 'perfect', no way around that. A signal has to reach that antenna to be heard, and walls will attenuate a signal to some extent depending on what those walls are made from. Metal in some form or other will attenuate/block/deflect RF more than just ordinary wood.
There are two problems with an indoor antenna. The first is finding one that will 'fit'. The typical 1/4 wave length CB/11 meter antenna is something like 9 feet long/tall. Unless your apartment is in an older building you just don't find many ceilings over about 8 feet tall. So, a shorter than 'normal' antenna is required. That typically means a mobile antenna. The problem with that is that the antenna it's self is only 'half' of an antenna, the vehicle's metal body makes of it's other 'half'. So you have to provide that 'other half' for a mobile antenna to work properly. That 'other half' is usually called a "groundplane" or counterpoise. It can be in a number of shapes, a simple 9 foot length of wire is one of those shapes. Sitting the antenna in a corner with the counterpoise run along the base of the wall can be made to work. That "making it work" is just tuning the antenna, all antennas require that to some extent.
The other problem with indoor antennas is that they are closer to the electrical things in the house/apartment and that means that any transmitted signal can interfere with things. Not just yours, but anyone else's that happens to be close to that antenna too. That's about as common as you can get, doesn't mean there's anything 'wrong' with the antenna, just too much RF too close to something susceptible to RF interference.
So can you find some antenna that 'fits' the circumstances, that isn't too short, and can put up with any interference, it should work. How well it works is variable according to all the attenuation due to building materials used in your building's construction.
The 'catch' with any shortened antenna is that they tend to be more difficult to tune correctly and aren't very usable over a wide range of frequencies. Shortened antennas are just more trouble to get working correctly indoors or out doors both.
- 'Doc
That counterpoise, or 'other half' of the antenna should be at least as long as the antenna it's self, longer doesn't hurt anything at all. It's just harder to make fit the situation/space available. Wadding it up into a ball doesn't work. Have fun...
There are two problems with an indoor antenna. The first is finding one that will 'fit'. The typical 1/4 wave length CB/11 meter antenna is something like 9 feet long/tall. Unless your apartment is in an older building you just don't find many ceilings over about 8 feet tall. So, a shorter than 'normal' antenna is required. That typically means a mobile antenna. The problem with that is that the antenna it's self is only 'half' of an antenna, the vehicle's metal body makes of it's other 'half'. So you have to provide that 'other half' for a mobile antenna to work properly. That 'other half' is usually called a "groundplane" or counterpoise. It can be in a number of shapes, a simple 9 foot length of wire is one of those shapes. Sitting the antenna in a corner with the counterpoise run along the base of the wall can be made to work. That "making it work" is just tuning the antenna, all antennas require that to some extent.
The other problem with indoor antennas is that they are closer to the electrical things in the house/apartment and that means that any transmitted signal can interfere with things. Not just yours, but anyone else's that happens to be close to that antenna too. That's about as common as you can get, doesn't mean there's anything 'wrong' with the antenna, just too much RF too close to something susceptible to RF interference.
So can you find some antenna that 'fits' the circumstances, that isn't too short, and can put up with any interference, it should work. How well it works is variable according to all the attenuation due to building materials used in your building's construction.
The 'catch' with any shortened antenna is that they tend to be more difficult to tune correctly and aren't very usable over a wide range of frequencies. Shortened antennas are just more trouble to get working correctly indoors or out doors both.
- 'Doc
That counterpoise, or 'other half' of the antenna should be at least as long as the antenna it's self, longer doesn't hurt anything at all. It's just harder to make fit the situation/space available. Wadding it up into a ball doesn't work. Have fun...
jhooten
Member
A quality mag mount on the radiator in front of the window worked quite well in the barracks. But you would have to live in an old building for that to work now.
Someone I know is using a Wilson "Little Wil" mag mount on his refrigerator with decent results.
Someone I know is using a Wilson "Little Wil" mag mount on his refrigerator with decent results.
bob-the-scanner-man
Member
You say you want to "listen". WIll this setup be just for monitoring or will it be for TX also? You might get away with rigging up a wire dipole that you can either buy or make yourself and be able to monitor with the antenna inside your apartment. If you want to transmit you probably won't be able to using an antenna inside.
Can you install a CB in your car? If you could run a good 102" whip or even a small antenna like a Wilson Lil Wil, you should be able to make the 2mi. trip to the highways you want to talk to and listen to. Of course, you'd have to go sit in your car to talk or listen in but this might be one way of getting around the shortcomings of indoor antennas and the restrictions of mounting one outside.
Join the ARRL
Since you're a General class ham . . . if you're not already a member, then join the American Radio Relay League. Just got an email today . . . in June they're making the monthly issues of QST available online, as well as archive copies of QST from 1915 through December 2011 (issues through 2007 are available now). You're sure to find an article in those archives that will help you build an antenna that will suit your needs!
Since you're a General class ham . . . if you're not already a member, then join the American Radio Relay League. Just got an email today . . . in June they're making the monthly issues of QST available online, as well as archive copies of QST from 1915 through December 2011 (issues through 2007 are available now). You're sure to find an article in those archives that will help you build an antenna that will suit your needs!
sloop
Member
indoor antenna
Check out this link...www.wolfington.net/articles/dipole...great idea on home-brew dipole using 2 Firestik antennas. I realize that you may not have access to the attic, but you could use the short Friestik antennas and mount the antenna beside the window frame (behind the curtain) and still get the desired effects. This should work on the ham bands using hamstick antennas.
Check out this link...www.wolfington.net/articles/dipole...great idea on home-brew dipole using 2 Firestik antennas. I realize that you may not have access to the attic, but you could use the short Friestik antennas and mount the antenna beside the window frame (behind the curtain) and still get the desired effects. This should work on the ham bands using hamstick antennas.
prcguy
Member
I've made simple CB/10m ground plane antennas for indoor use that worked quite well inside wood structures with no stucco or metal lath in the walls.
If you have a wall that faces the direction you want to receive and there is an area with no electrical outlets or other metal in the wall make two 9ft ground radials that run along the floor against the wall and a vertical wire at least 9ft long taped to the wall and bend the top at the ceiling. Trim the vertical wire for a good match and have fun.
prcguy
If you have a wall that faces the direction you want to receive and there is an area with no electrical outlets or other metal in the wall make two 9ft ground radials that run along the floor against the wall and a vertical wire at least 9ft long taped to the wall and bend the top at the ceiling. Trim the vertical wire for a good match and have fun.
prcguy
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