Question :
I am pretty sure I am going to go with a full wave octagon shaped design suspended from the rafters above using rope and insulators, not too close to the rafters above, not too close to the floor below. The radio is going to be set up approximately 16 feet below and 16 feet off to the side of the antenna.
Would the coaxial cable connect directly to the antenna ends, OR, would I connect a ladder line to the antenna and then install a Balun to connect to the coaxial cable ?
This part is confusing me, when exactly is a Balun used, is it used for multi-band antennas when the antenna is not matched for any exact frequency ? Or, is a Balun required to connect to ladder line and ladder line is preferred because ladder line is more efficient than coaxial ?
If the antenna wire is cut to length to operate at a certain frequency then would I connect the coaxial cable directly to the antenna wire ends anticipating I may need to adjust the wire end length(s) to get the antenna to match, or is this incorrect ?
Also, expecting I may encounter somewhat higher SWR due to reflected waves inside the attic what would be the best cheapest antenna match set up I could purchase to prevent the radio from seeing a high SWR ?
I know I will be limited with this set up but I would still like to get this to operate the best I can so if I have to do this a certain way then I will try to, my house sits pretty high up compared to my surroundings so I think this might be somewhat successful, all considered.
I made a dipole antenna in an attic once way back when and I believe I got it to match pretty good, I did not even know what a Balun was at that time.
I could probably research and experiment and figure a lot of this out on my own, but if I could skip unnecessary time and money it would be nice. I have watched many You Tube videos regarding this but it is hard to ask a question to a TV and time can be a hard commodity to come by now a days.
