Ham Radio Antenna On Metal Roof

You can use the metal parts of your structure as part of the antenna if that makes things easier.

Ham radio antenna on metal roof.

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. 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. The metal roof acts as a shield so rf exposure is a non issue. 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.

It would likely make a lousy antenna. The total length of the wire is 88 feet. 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. I would consider a vhf uhf antenna over a huge metal roof ground plane similar to an hf antenna over earth ground.

You can probably get as close as a quarter wavelength and still make things work with some adjustments to the tuning. 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. For the antenna to be really in the clear two wavelengths is a good rule of thumb. For mounting i d leave the 18 pole alone.