have a simple Uniden pro 510xl radio.i have a simple 4 foot cb antenna (i dont know much about it, all i know is its not a loaded antenna) and i want to get the best range out of my four watts.i live in a heavily forested area and am pretty level with everything else around me.i dont want to install the antenna outside and i was wondering if i could install it in my attic.the walls in my attic are pretty thin with no insulation on the ceiling.no wires or pipes either.there is little between the antenna and the outside world (i have a non-metallic shingled roof (also pretty thin).so if i installed the antenna in my attic, will it affect my performance compared to if i installed it outside at the same height?.i know it will attenuate the signal slightly if i installed it in my attic but i dont have a good idea on how radio waves in the cb frequency range propagate.so could i still get 6 miles or so with the attic-mounted antenna, or is outside the only way?
Yes, they make insulation for thatOf course any insulation will help a quite a bit.
just insulation will help alot with noise like talking and the tvIt will help some with walking but not as muchThe best thing is an acoustical ceiling with insulation on top of the tiles The reason this is the best is because an acoustical ceiling is suspended with wire from the floor joists so the vibration and noise from walking cant transfer down the wireUnfortunately its not cheap to have doneGood luck
You will always get better performance if your antenna is clear of structuresYou would do better with an actual base antenna on the roof or antenna tower This being said, sometimes attics are the only alternativeIf you use this (vertical?) 4' antenna, it will require a ground plane, assuming it's a 1/4 wave antennaThis ground plane can take the form of 4 radials, 104 long, or as close to this as possibleTry to have the antenna itself as far away as possible from walls, posts or other obstructionsThe fact that you don't have aluminum siding or such is good, although sometimes wall insulation sometimes has a metalized surfaceYou might want to check thatIf you can bend the radials down a bit, that will create a better match between the antenna and coaxIdeally, the angle should be 45 degreesWhen life gives you lemons, make lemonadeSince you are limited to an attic, make the most of itIf you have an 18' straight stretch of attic, you might put up a 1/2 wave dipole antenna tooThere are a few web sites around that can show you how to make oneIt would be 17' 3 long, given by the equation: Length (in feet) 468 / frequency (in Megahertz) The frequency would be in the middle of the CB bandYou can hook regular 50 ohm coax to itThis should radiate a little better than the vertical, at least perpendicular to the dipoleIt will have very little radiation along the direction of the axisHave the vertical antenna below it if possibleBoth antennas should be tuned with an SWR meterSwap connections between the two to see which one does best in various directions, maybe the vertical will do better all aroundYou can run coax cables down from both to an antenna switch near your radio later.
