Plopping an outdoor antenna into the attic

 

Is there a problem letting an outdoor tv antenna sit on the floor
joists and insulation of an unfinished attic?   As long as the surface
is dry, does it matter what supports the antenna?


I have a friend whose tv reception is pretty bad since the digital
conversion.  Even the major network stations in Baltimore go out on
her sometimes (as they have for me).  She's taken to watching tv on
the net.

She doesn't want an antenna on the roof, and the hatch leading to her
attic is too small for me to enter.  Not because I'm fat, which I am,
but because my chest is too big, front to back, for the hatch, even
though my rib cage is not fat.  Maybe a half inch total front and back
more than it ever was.  (It's not that I'm big-chested either.  Her
hatch must be strangely small.)

So I was thinking I might be able to stand below the hatch (just a
square hole with a piece of plywood to stop the breeze), raise an
outdoor antenna into the hatch, use a 1x2, maybe with a notch cut in
the end to unfold each element after it passes the hatch, and lay the
whole thing down on the attic floor.

This sounds tricky, and I want to look at my antenna again, but I'm
not too worried about the tricky part.  (Last year, I had a broken
outside floodlight that was two high to reach with a standard 15-foot
extension ladder, but I changed it without using any ladder, from
inside the attic and from the ground outside.)

I just want to make sure that, other than losing 4 extra feet that it
could be mounted higher (if we got some lanky guy to go up there), it
will work okay on the floor, or maybe on a cardboard box on either
side of the hatch.


After my success last night, with your help, improving the sound in my
bedroom tv, I finally got around tonight to bringing my new, pretty
big, outdoor antenna into the attic, unfolding it, and connecting it.
I used to get 10 stations, and now I get 9 more plus maybe 6 more
substations.  Some are duplicate networks or in languages I don't plan
to watch, but still, I'm quite happy.   Because I haven't yet cut the
2x4 to mount my antenna higher, and out of my way, it's sitting on two
cardboard boxes, but not on the floor.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Nothing to lose by trying unless this place is really old and has knob and
tube electrical wiring that could be frayed by now which you don't want to
get near with something like an antenna.  Other than that give it a try.  
You'll probably want to keep it away from any pipes or electrical conduits,
cables, flex, metal flues, etc.  

But really...if a smaller person can get up there you might as well have
them do it.  Attach a short pipe to a roof rafter and clamp the antenna to
it so it hangs in the middle of the space.  That would give the greatest
chance of success.  If that doesn't do it she should reconsider a rooftop
aerial.

Your friend should really think about enlarging the opening if it's that
small.  If there is room up there to deploy a full size tv antenna it's
probably a good place for storage and that would be hampered by the small
opening.  

 

On Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:00:46 -0600, Steve Kraus


No, it's a modern house, but there is something to lose by trying.
She's a pain in the neck.  I like her and I'm glad to do her favors,
if I can get in and get out.  But if she buys the antenna -- I'm not
paying for it -- and then there is little improvement** she'll be very
unhappy, and almost blame me for being wrong about what would work.  

**That's a separate possibility, even if resting on the floor isn't a
problem.  I have to look her address up on tvfool.com


Good point.   I don't think I even looked when I had my head up there.


Like I say, she's a pain in the neck.  (Fortunately for me, she
doesn't read Usenet)  She has another ex-boyfriend ready, willing, and
able to put one on the roof.     And annoyed at her for her not being
willing to let him.  I consider myself laid back and "understanding"
because if she doesn't want it, I do understand.

He's not that small even, but I guess he's smaller than I am.  But I
get stuck at the middle of my breast bone and there is practicaly no
flesh there, at most a quarter of an inch and there must have been at
least an eighth of an inch there when I wasn't fat.  I can't check out
my back well, but despite the expression, fatback bacon, as best I can
tell, I don't think my back is actually fat.  Just my belly.


Maybe so.  I'll mention it.

 

wrote:


I see several points that should be made.

   If she is in an area with limited reception, the higher the
antenna, the better the reception.  It's a simple equation.  She can
accept having the antenna on the roof, or suffer with inadequate
reception.  Squeezing an antenna into the attic is a half-assed
solution.

  A second point is why you continue to put up with "a pain in the
neck". Perhaps you should 'man up' and face the facts.  At age 60,
there are 9 men for every 10 women.  At age 70, there are 8 men for
every 10 women.  At some point you should ask yourself if the benefits
of this relationship are worth the aggravation.

PlainBill

 

On Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:15:19 -0700, PlainBill47@yahoo.com wrote:


She knows all this.  She doesn't want an antenna on the roof.

Therapy?  We're going to have therapy?  Goodie!


Yeah, but you're talking about 10 70-year old women.  This one is
decades younger than I am.  


Thank you, Ann Landers. When we have more time, I'll explain
friendship to you.