Indoor Antenna Idea

[MrHellion]

So I recently had surgery and have to spend some time in a "skilled nursing facility" a.k.a. Nursing Home, I am going to be here for quite a while and wanted to play radio during my stay. HF is out of the question from all the medical devices, o2 generator, TVs, etc. So I had the wife bring me my BC125 handheld. The Nagoya anteena works fine but still wasn't happy. So I did this. What do you all think?

 

[KB4MSZ]

It's a good start. If you can run the coax horizontal to the opposite corner of the vent and then let it drop down, it would likely perform a bit better. That would keep the coax from running alongside the antenna so close.

 

[K4EET]

So I recently had surgery and have to spend some time in a "skilled nursing facility" a.k.a. Nursing Home, I am going to be here for quite a while and wanted to play radio during my stay. HF is out of the question from all the medical devices, o2 generator, TVs, etc. So I had the wife bring me my BC125 handheld. The Nagoya anteena works fine but still wasn't happy. So I did this. What do you all think?

Sorry to hear that you’ll be in a skilled nursing facility for a period of time. Praying that you have a speedy recovery ❤️‍🩹.

I have done what you have done at my office. Billy, @KB4MSZ, does have a good suggestion about trying to keep the coax from hanging next to the antenna. That may be difficult to do without the help of the facility maintenance department.

One other suggestion. Since the antenna is upside-down, be sure to hold the microphone upside-down as well. That way, your signal will radiate from the antenna right side-up so people you are talking to will not need to stand on their heads. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Just kidding… 😂😂😂

73, Dave K4EET

 

[MiCon]

Appreciate you sharing this idea, and any others you come up with. Good choice for an office location, or at home where you don't want to (or can't: rental, apartment, etc) poke holes in the wall, or you just need a temporary set-up.
Enjoy the down-time, and God-speed on your recovery.

 

[MrHellion]

After reading the responses I was remiss to mention this is/was RX only. VHF/UHF/SHF is dead here though we have repeaters, not systems, but stand alone repeaters that cover from near Sacramento al the way south to Bakersfield and all points inbetween. My "ghetto fabulous" upside down antenna idea was for my scanner. I figured vertical is vertical. *shrug* So after reading the posts i asked the tallest dude that works here to do this "mod" for me. Comments?

 

[mmckenna]

First off, I hope your recovery goes smooth.

Second, I needed a temporary antenna in my office and I did the exact same thing. Mag mount to the T-bar ceiling frame, thumb tack to route the coax away from the radio.

So after reading the posts i asked the tallest dude that works here to do this "mod" for me. Comments?

Uh, yeah, you really do not want to attach anything to the fire sprinkler. Eventually someone is going to see that and get a might cranky about it. I'd recommend finding the tall guy and having him remove that. Have someone on the "outside" get you a 3M Command Strip hook to do the cable routing.

 

[MiCon]

First and foremost, DEFINITELY do not attach it (or anything else) to the sprinkler head in any way. Reroute that cable immediately.

Second, anyone who actually read your post would realize that you said you were using a BC-125.

Third, I'm no antenna expert, and there are people on this forum who will feel the need to explain antenna polarity, length, gain, location & position, etc, ad nauseum. They don't take into consideration this is a temporary 'at best' situation. As a guest at this facility, you have next to no control over what you can do here. This is one of those "Do the best that you can with what you have", and "Use whatever works" type of situations. If this works, use it.

 

[hill]

It will fine upside down.

I live in an apartment with suspended ceilings and have several .mobile mag mounts stuck on the ceiling tracks the same way.

 

[KCA6YU]

Hope you get better. And thats a damn fine idea and one I never thought of.

 

[MrHellion]

First and foremost, DEFINITELY do not attach it (or anything else) to the sprinkler head in any way. Reroute that cable immediately.

Second, anyone who actually read your post would realize that you said you were using a BC-125.

Third, I'm no antenna expert, and there are people on this forum who will feel the need to explain antenna polarity, length, gain, location & position, etc, ad nauseum. They don't take into consideration this is a temporary 'at best' situation. As a guest at this facility, you have next to no control over what you can do here. This is one of those "Do the best that you can with what you have", and "Use whatever works" type of situations. If this works, use it.

Took your advice and just have it hanging, I was curious as to just RX why the coax would matter, If were TX I would understand, TBH I am on enough painkillers to drop an elephant, that is why I asked the question in the first place as I admit I may not be thinking as clearly as I should. Thank you for the advice,

First off, I hope your recovery goes smooth.

Second, I needed a temporary antenna in my office and I did the exact same thing. Mag mount to the T-bar ceiling frame, thumb tack to route the coax away from the radio.



Uh, yeah, you really do not want to attach anything to the fire sprinkler. Eventually someone is going to see that and get a might cranky about it. I'd recommend finding the tall guy and having him remove that. Have someone on the "outside" get you a 3M Command Strip hook to do the cable routing.

Advice taken! Thank you!

Sorry to hear that you’ll be in a skilled nursing facility for a period of time. Praying that you have a speedy recovery ❤️‍🩹.

I have done what you have done at my office. Billy, @KB4MSZ, does have a good suggestion about trying to keep the coax from hanging next to the antenna. That may be difficult to do without the help of the facility maintenance department.

One other suggestion. Since the antenna is upside-down, be sure to hold the microphone upside-down as well. That way, your signal will radiate from the antenna right side-up so people you are talking to will not need to stand on their heads. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Just kidding… 😂😂😂

73, Dave K4EET

Good joke! Scanner is now upside down! =P

First off, I hope your recovery goes smooth.

Second, I needed a temporary antenna in my office and I did the exact same thing. Mag mount to the T-bar ceiling frame, thumb tack to route the coax away from the radio.



Uh, yeah, you really do not want to attach anything to the fire sprinkler. Eventually someone is going to see that and get a might cranky about it. I'd recommend finding the tall guy and having him remove that. Have someone on the "outside" get you a 3M Command Strip hook to do the cable routing.

Great idea to get the coax away from the antenna. The facility actually has these on hand and on Monday I'll have the maintenance guy get me a plastic hook to run it away from the antenna.

 

[KB4MSZ]

One other suggestion. Since the antenna is upside-down, be sure to hold the microphone upside-down as well. That way, your signal will radiate from the antenna right side-up so people you are talking to will not need to stand on their heads.

I was gonna say that....

 

[mmckenna]

I was curious as to just RX why the coax would matter, If were TX I would understand,

The shield on the coax acts as a reflector. It'll change the impedance of the antenna (not a big deal for a scanner) and depending on how close, it can detune the antenna and make it slightly directional. Same reason you'll see vertical antennas that are mounted on the side of a tower stood off by some amount of spacing.

 

[Chevyclub]

I did that as well worked good