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I just installed a magnetic based antenna on my galvanized tin porch roof. Will the metal roof act as a ground for the antenna? I am unable to attach a ground block to the antenna cable, because the end is fed through a window and connected to another cable, and the connection is lying flat on top of my air conditioner base. Thanks.

Anna L Daugherty
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  • Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Unfortunately, we have no way to tell, as it depends on both the antenna design and non-home-improvement knowledge. – Daniel Griscom Mar 20 '19 at 03:00
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because antenna design has nothing to do with home improvement. – Daniel Griscom Mar 20 '19 at 03:01
  • Althow the question is not well stated, I have helped to fix this problem many times. I have helped to fix or improve this issue with a dozen or more homes in just a few years it is a true need in today's internet connected world for this and your etc I give the question a + – Ed Beal Mar 20 '19 at 03:23

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I take it that you are talking about a cellular reception antenna. if so, then yes, depending on the specific make of antenna, the design is to ground through the metal to enhance the reception.

  • The metal acts as a ground-plane , which acts as a secondary antenna, using this technique should vastly improve performance.
  • The larger the metal surface, the better the performance
  • The device will work fine with no metal surface, however you should notice a performance degradation on a non-metal surface
Hightower
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It is just like the antennas they have for both phones and CB's they need to have the proper vswr, or correct length of cable and terminations. A galvanized roof would be fine as a ground plane just like a car or truck. The issue with a few folks in low areas is a taller or full wavelength attena would provide a better signal. Boosters may also help but my experience says a full length antenna is the best + a very tall pole, tree or mountain , other than that we would need more info.

Ed Beal
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