Practical_Antenna_Handbook_0071639586

364 P a r t V : H i g h - F r e q u e n c y A n t e n n a s f o r S p e c i a l i z e d U s e s
there’s nothing magic about any of those “usually” descriptions. So if your HF antenna
needs to be hidden, here are some ideas to help make an untenable situation at
least tolerable:
• Hang your dipole from the rafters or carrying beam in the attic of your residence.
That’s the highest place, and it’s out of the way of family members and
landlords.
• Feed your wire at one end instead of in the middle, if need be. Turn it into an
end-fed Zepp or just a simple longwire. Be aware that you will need a good
ground system attached to your transmitter for maximum effectiveness of the
longwire.
• Bend the ends if you run out of attic space. Let them dangle, or let them come
down the rafters at an angle. See Fig. 15.1.
• Use traps to get multiple bands out of your wire—especially if you’re using
coaxial cable as your feedline.
• If you’ve never used one before, add a full-range antenna tuning unit (ATU) so
you can load up your attic wire on virtually any frequency you want.
One possible
solution
House
A
B
C
D
Figure 15.1 Installing dipole in attic.