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Is Your Attic Suitable for TV Reception?

Building materials play a big role in determining the success of an attic mounted TV antenna.

 A while back I connected a TV antenna to my field strength meter. A field strength meter measures the signal strength of any individual TV signal. I Grabbed a piece of 7/8" OSB particle board and tested the signal strength of several TV channels without the board in front of the TV antenna. Then I placed the board at a distance of about 6 feet in front of the antenna. I found that on every channel the signal strength decreased with the board in front of the antenna. The closer I moved the board the weaker the signal became, as I moved it further away the signals became stronger. Keep this in mind when placing the antenna in the attic the further you can keep the antenna from any signal obstruction the better.

    Do you have a metal or masonry roof? If the station transmitter direction requires the signal to penetrate either of these materials your chances of success are diminished a great deal if not eliminated. However, if the signal direction allows the signal to penetrate a sidewall then all is not lost. A plywood roof covered by a single layer of asphalt shingles is best. Many homes have a 2-3 foot wide aluminum stripping installed under the shingles at the edge of the roof. Always install the antenna above this point so the transmitter signal line of sight to the antenna is above the metal stripping.

    Do the attic sidewalls have metal siding, foil faced insulation, brick, or masonry of any kind? All of these materials are nasty signal blockers. Try to place the antenna in a position so the line of sight from the TV transmitters to the antenna is not block by any of the above mentioned materials.

   Signal loss, attic installation VS. outside.  By now you know that the building materials are a big factor. TV antenna elevation will also play a role in signal strength. The extra antenna elevation that can be gained by mounting the antenna outside above the roof line must be considered. Weaker TV signals and TV signals from a greater distance will be effected most by antenna elevation and the attic location.

  However, the the biggest factor in determining your success may be the attic gremlin. Several years back I installed an MS 2000 omni-directional antenna in a customer's attic. They and I were tickled with the reception results. A short time later the neighbor to this customer called and requested the same work be done at their home.

The new customer's home is located within 250 feet of the original successful attic installation. Both homes were two story and are constructed of the same materials by the same building contractor built within a couple of months of each other. Both were surrounded by several miles of farm land and the antennas in each attic were within a foot or two of elevation of each other.

Do you think I could get the second customer's antenna to work in the attic like his neighbors did? I tried relocating the antenna to several locations. I tried a different antenna and nothing worked. I couldn't see any reception factors that would make this difference but yet I couldn't achieve acceptable TV reception. I took the same antenna outside on top of the roof about 4 feet above where it was located in the attic and presto. The difference was amazing it was almost like flipping a switch. To this day I can't tell you why this happened. I'm sure there's a good reason but I just blame it on the attic gremlin.

Under the right conditions good TV reception can be obtained with an attic mounted TV antenna. Be sure to check construction materials in the line of sight to the transmitters and beware of the attic gremlin and if the gremlin strikes be prepared to move the antenna to an outside location.

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