Recommendations for wide band scanner antenna for attic install?

[Gadgeteer2000]

Hello all,

I am looking for recommendations (ideally sub $100) for an attic mount antenna for receiving only. (I know attic is not ideal - but cannot mount outside).

I am in a rural area (about 30km from Toronto) so need a reasonable antenna to get some signals in. Also, my house has quite a bit of RF noise (solar panels, LED lights etc.)

I am considering a Tram 1410 Discone in the attic, in a spot that is farther away from the solar panels: is that recommended?

Or would you have other suggestions? I could install a LNA directly next to the antenna - is that a good step to take?

What cable should I use to ensure a high quality signal to arrive at my SDR receiver (which is about 5 m away, in the room directly under the attic spot where the antenna would be)?

I am quite a newbie with this - so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[jonwienke]

Your best bet is a discone. A Tram 1410 would be a great choice for an attic install.

 

[Gadgeteer2000]

Thank you Jonathan. How do I make sure that I get the best cable (low loss, good noise resistance etc.)? I am thinking to use an adapter to convert the connector on the antenna to SMA then use a coax sma to sma cable to the radio. Is that a good idea?

 

[jonwienke]

Absolutely not.

For anything over 25 feet or so, you want something like LMR400 coax, which is far larger than a SMA connector. Anything that would fit a SMA connector will have excessive signal loss for anything other than short connection jumpers.

 

[chill30240]

I put a Tram 1410 in my attic this last Saturday and ran RG6 quad to my radio (about 25') and works perfect. I used to use RG11 but when I retired from the cable company I can't get it anymore.

 

[JimD56]

I run 2 attic antennas 1) Diamond VHF/UHF Discone 2) 700-800mhz Yagi both into a comet duplexer with a 20-foot drop RG6 into an Electroline +15db preamplifier then into an Electroline 8 way +4db preamp into the rack. No issues, great results.

 

[Gadgeteer2000]

Thank you both. This is very helpful!

 

[Gadgeteer2000]

A quick question: is RG6 not 75 ohms? (Sorry if this is a stupid question).

 

[jonwienke]

It is, but it's reasonably low loss. The impedance mismatch is less of a problem than using tiny coax with high losses. LMR400 is lower loss and 50 ohm, but is more expensive.