40 Meter Attic Antenna

A coaxial cable trap dipole antenna installed in the attic provides a surprisingly effective solution to hf operation on the 10 15 20 30 40 and 80 meter amateur bands at a qth with restrictive covenants that prohibit outside antennas.

40 meter attic antenna. The question was if 143 feet of wire could be made to fit. Version 2017 nov 7 abstract this antenna is a 20 to 25 foot long 6 0 m to 7 6 m off center fed dipole antenna for the 20 m and 40 m bands designed for those who need to conceal an antenna. I live in a tightly packed urban neighborhood without much room for antennas. The antenna is rated to handle 125 watts continuous and 1 500 watts pep.

The better your antenna the more success you will have making contacts. I was not very hopefull because the attic has metal wiring and vents and also because it is covered by a slate roof. Ham radio antenna that needs no trimming and covers 40 meters 20 meters 10 meters and 6 meters with swr less than 3 to 1. On 40m it worked a treat.

Mac af4ps fp 51 note. This was installed at a previous qth i will be the first or millionth remember i m from fl to affirm that the antenna is the determining factor for success when it comes to one s station set up. The performance on 40 is good. It gave me 40 20 and 15 with a push because although a 40 meter dipole should give you a resonant 15 meter antenna in this case with the coils for 40 it mucked the maths up and caused the atu some trouble.

A non metallic messenger line provides support for the slinkys. It can also be set up as a short vertical antenna that does not need a radial system. It is small enough to fit inside the attic of many homes. This antenna simply uses 2 standard metal slinky toys connected to a 1 1 balun and stretched to the corners of the attic space.

The second dipole set lower on the roof rafters started as a 40 meter only slinky antenna. The antenna is 68 and one half foot long one side is 23 feet long and the other is 45 5 feet long with high quality components used throughout. The infamous attic dipole. I decided to install an 40 meter dipole in my attic space which is about 25 by 45 feet and about 25 feet up from the ground.

It s shorter than a dipole and needs no radials but it s a single band antenna. The 40 meter dipole was loaded with some coils so that i could fit it in the attic.