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Dipole Question

Hurricane95

Member
Oct 28, 2015
42
17
18
55
Waterloo, IA
Hey all, I am considering mounting a dipole on the roof of my house. It's a 2 story and probably close to 20ft off the ground at the peak.

First question: Will it adversely affect the antenna to be surface mounted for either transmit or receive?

Second question: would it work best for SSB horizontally mounted or in an Inverted V?

Third and final question: Is there a magic length to be resonant on all or most bands from 80-10? Would I be better off getting a tuner and just making a convenient length to fit the roof profile?

I'm really new to the amateur radio, just got my Tech a couple weeks ago and awaiting my first HF radio to ship. I just want to do everything right and have it work well the first time.
 

Congrats on getting your license!

Ideally you want to get the dipole in the clear but I've been in situations where the only solution to operate was a perimeter wire or dipole laying on the roof. It will work as long as the house and roof are wood construction and there's not a lot of metal close to interact with.

Since you're a Tech and have 10 meter privileges I'd cut the dipole for 40 meters. Then with a tuner it will be pretty easy to tune it to 20, 15 to listen in and 10 for transmitting. You should also be able to get close enough with a the tuner to listen on 80. You can always add length to the ends later if you upgrade your license and want to use 75/80 meters.
 
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First question: Will it adversely affect the antenna to be surface mounted for either transmit or receive?

Second question: would it work best for SSB horizontally mounted or in an Inverted V?

Third and final question: Is there a magic length to be resonant on all or most bands from 80-10? Would I be better off getting a tuner and just making a convenient length to fit the roof profile?
First - get it in the air and not laying on the roof, it will work but not good.

Second - An inverted V is horizontal and will be more "omni" then a flat dipole.

Third - Cut it long and use a tuner is an option but I prefer to not use any turners so I use a Fan dipole, this a dipole with wires for each band cut to length.
 
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since you mention roof mounting and wanting to match the roof profile, I am assuming you have deed or HOA restrictions. There is no magic length, but in truth some surprising configurations can work quite well. I have used a Z shape wire mounted 4" off the roof with TV cable stand offs and a tuner and worked all HF bands. I suggest you get a copy of the ARRL
antenna handbook, lots of good info and Ideas in there.
 
I use a delta loop ON my roof. It works surprisingly well. It is made of 12 gauge household wire, brown in color, and matches my roof shingles perfectly. I use a Balun Designs 4:1 balun, and a tuner to match it. I can tune 40 through 10, and talk all over the place.

My second antenna is an end fed random wire, using the same 12 gauge wire with a 9:1 Balun Designs unun. It is about 53 feet long and has a counterpoise. I can work 75-10 with a tuner. It is 8 feet off the ground, attached to my privacy fence. Same deal... it gets out rather well.

All that being said, if you're not in an HOA, don't do it this way! Get it up in the air.

73,
Brett
 
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1) Yes - both. Try to get it as far away from other objects as possible and up in the air.

2) SSB = most likely means you want to talk DX so put it horiztontally.

3)If you're worried about the visibility of the antenna and that's why you're laying it on the roof - go with a random wire. You can mount it slightly above a wood fence or go from the roof to somewhere else in in the yard on a slope. With a tuner you'll be able to do all the bands and it will work better than a dipole laying on the roof.

I used a dipole in my attic for a while but it was suspended so it wasn't near the wood roof. I also a ran an antenna from my roof to pole in my back yard that went up 10'. Had a neighbor ask me why my clothesline was so weird once but no one else ever noticed or asked in the HOA.
 
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