Ham Radio Antenna On Metal Roof

For mounting i d leave the 18 pole alone.

Ham radio antenna on metal roof.

The metal roof acts as a shield so rf exposure is a non issue. It would likely make a lousy antenna. You can probably get as close as a quarter wavelength and still make things work with some adjustments to the tuning. The total length of the wire is 88 feet.

It runs up the front of the roof on the left as you face the house then runs across the roof along the ridge vent plastic construction then down the back of the roof to the eaves at an angle. You can use the metal parts of your structure as part of the antenna if that makes things easier. I would consider a vhf uhf antenna over a huge metal roof ground plane similar to an hf antenna over earth ground. As an ultra beginner without a lot of investment in the hobby it was perfectly acceptable to have to climb onto the roof to get any signal on my portable radio s antenna.

When its lower than a few wavelengths and at multiples of 1 4 wavelength like 1 4 3 4 etc the pattern of a vertical antenna can be pushed upward and away from the horizon a bit lowering its gain at the horizon. A 5 6 tripod with cement block weighted legs and a 10 pole in the center of the roof would work since the bottom of the antenna only needs a few feet of clearance. On using a metal roof as an antenna the joints between panels are likely not soldered and are likely to form corroded diode junctions that generate rfi. But the benefit of this larger roof mounted antenna is that now we can leave the radio on all the time and listen to it inside which leads to more opportunistic connections and overall more time spent enjoying.