WEAK-AM

It’s winter here in the north, and therefore not a good time for outdoor antenna experiments. So I’ve got an idea for something to try until the thermometer rises to a more comfortable level.

It’s winter here in the north, and therefore not a good time for outdoor antenna experiments. So I’ve got an idea for something to try until the thermometer rises to a more comfortable level.

Indoor antennas are not known for great performance, but let’s see what you guys think of this idea. I have a space in the attic where I could install my SSTran. If I put the transmitter on the attic floor, I could ground it with a short wire 🙂 to one of the electrical conduit lines that distributes power to the rooms below. Potentially, I could even lay out some additional radial wires on the attic floor. The antenna wire could extend vertically about 6-7 feet (a compromise, I realize). It would be a relatively simple matter to add a top hat made of 6-8 ~1 meter long wires. The wires could be tacked to main cross beam and to the rafters. The ones along the cross beam would be horizontal, but the others would have to angle downward to accommodate the slope of the roof. I hope that that this would not significantly detract from the top hat’s performance.

It gets cold up there, but at least the transmitter is protected from the elements, and therefore would not require a special enclosure. Adjustments would also be easy to make, and it would be easy to run power and audio to the unit.

Has anyone tried something like this, and if so, how did it work out for you?