Antenna On Roof Ridge (#963)

Rodney, KD9WCK, is wondering if he can run a wire along the ridge of his house. He also says that he has a small yard without adequate trees. Watch to learn more about the different possibilities.

Edited and Videographed by Aidan Jakeman

Twitter: @dcasler

[davidc]

Absolutely love how Dave gives you many options, and not what some youtube channels gives which is X antenna is the best. Each antenna type has its own advantages and disadvantages, and one gets the truth here.

[Thomas-ZET]

For the DXCommander there is a new signature 9 that you put a pice of pvc pipe in the ground so you don’t have to guy it, also if it’s an HOA you can stand it up when you operate and down when off the air, I have seen people take a dipole and run it down the center of the roof then down

[ronjoseph]

I’m planning a similar configuration due to living in a HOA. Fortunately, I do have a couple of 35’ trees in the back for my endpoint. The 66’ EFHW wire will drop to the ridge using the old RCA 300 ohm twin lead line offsets. The ridge terminates right at 70’. I’ll drill a small hole for the wire to the LDG 49:1 unun. With the coax connected to the SO-239, I have a previous coax hole into the closet in my radio room which will feed my antenna switchbox to the autotuner and then to the transceiver.

[glenmartin]

Thank you, Dave.
I checked several Internet sites and generally 5 foot stakes are recommended. So that is what I am using now, especially after we had 80 mph wind gusts here. N0QFT

[williamshepherd]

The DX Commander is great and can fit in any small yard.. best option for longer range communication

[mjktrash]

The vertical is better than a dipole??

Is this true even if the dipole is on the ridgeline of a 2-story house, and further elevated by a foot (or maybe more), my ridgeline is ~50-52ft in length that I could a fix a mast at either end and string a multi-band dipole between (I'm only just knowledgeable enough to put that together, please don't think I'm saying this is correct), the height off of the ground is ~28-30ft due to the attic/roof pitch.

The rigdeline is oriented East/West however and this also seems like an issue??? (The dipole would be obviously in the same orientation)

[maxasaurus]

I think the house wrap Tyvek and its equivalents are popular these days and they don’t have metal additives.

[davep]

chain link fence top rail comes in 20ish foot length also. I say "ish" because depending on manufacturer they can be 21 or 22. I have 22ft

[michaeltyniec]

Don't buy your "stakes" from your local Home Depot. . . Great video - thank you!

[Ezzell_]

Great episode.
Do you have Og stickers? Would like to buy one for my tool box at work.

[patriot]

How about electric fence wire for transmit and radials for end fed. I have a carport, with 8 legs, that could give me 8 radials. A vertical centered on the car port may be possible.

[scvdad]

I will hopefully have my Ham Tech lic by next week, so I'm trying to think of how to get an Antenna up on the roof using an old Directv dish coaxial cable that was used for that installation and then run another coax from inside the home to the transceiver. Would this be feasible to use?

[ericdee]

Why do you show a stop watch in the upper left of the screen when you announce being a Patrion subscriber?, is it a youtube requirement or something???. Great video tutorial as always Dave. 🙏

[AlvinMcManus]

Where is the link to purchase DX Commander in US? I only can find the UK version.

[McPilot_WDDS]

Hello Dave. How are you feeling these days? I happen to have the same situation here in Florida. Concrete roof tiles. Any suggestions? My townhouse is concrete bock with stucco. The stucco is over a wire mesh. A wire antenna along the outside wall is deaf!could a lay the antenna wire on the roof surface? The hoa is brutal