I've gotten pretty good reception with a UHF loop antenna like catalog # 46-200 pictured here:
http://www.farnsworthelectronics.com/antenna.htm
I use a matching-transformer to connect it to the coax plug.
How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
61–70 of 74 posts
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#62Just made one of these, really really half-assed.
I had to strip a coaxe cable with a pair of scissors and my hands. That took at least 20 mins.
But here we are
I have to remember to take that down before someone gets cut in half running down the stairs
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
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Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#64Which city are you in? I'm in downtown Ottawa and with a store-bought HDTV antenna I get only 2 stations. Maybe I'll have to go buy a spool of wire!
I had the same experience in Vanier (Ottawa East..). I actually brought back the antenna to the store because I thought it was broken.
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#65You'll get even better reception if you shape the wire in a fractal pattern, like this: http://www.instructables.com/image/FDXQQVBFP8NM7YF/Create-fr... Nathan Cohen made this discovery after listening to a Mandelbrot talk on fractals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_antenna#Fractal_element...
I can't be the only person to notice that not every angle on the instructables example can be 60 degrees.
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#66Thanks, I'm glad you took our comments to heart :) Two questions: 1. What exactly is the purpose of the cardboard tube? I'm guessing the key point is that it's non-conductive, but would the same coil work without the cardboard? (not very knowledgable about antennae I admit) 2. How the hell does that connector even work? It looks so marvelously out of place ... does this mean the wire mesh around the normal coaxial ca…
1. Basically, I just wanted something I could wind a length of wire around and stick in my window. The tube did the trick. After the show, I tried a few other things, like wrapping the tube with tinfoil, but the basic wire around the tube design performed best. 2. The shielding is there to keep signal interference out, which is useful if you have a clean source to start with (ie: Cable TV or a properly designed anten…
very Interesting attempt. I would like to give a try.
Btw, did u do some math in arriving at length of cable or the number of winds? Did u try increasing number of winds etc?
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#67#1 - Old TV antenna == HDTV antenna.
#2 - For very close tv transmitters, unbend a paper clip, bend into 'L' shape, stick in F-connector, done.
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
"...too young to remember the fun of constantly adjusting TV rabbit ears..." Too young, ha! I use rabbit ears on my HDTV (no cable, just netflix + locals is enough for me) and laugh when I go to Best Buy and see "state of the art high definition" antennas for anywhere from $20 to $100. The same laugh hits me when I go down the gold plated monster cable isle, but that's a different story.
I used to think Monster cables were a complete joke too until a musician friend pointed out that they have a lifetime warranty and very generous terms of exchange. One can essentially walk into any music store in the country and swap out the splinched cables for new ones, no questions asked. It's an interesting pricing model, and the $20-$60 cables more than paid for themselves after a single tour. Probably not appro…
I used to think Monster cables were a complete joke too until a musician friend pointed out that they have a lifetime warranty and very generous terms of exchange. One can essentially walk into any music store in the country and swap out the splinched cables for new ones, no questions asked.
Is he doing it right? Should the cables fail after every show? Shouldn't he just get better cables?
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#69Does this work in the US? I've been under the assumption that with the recent switch from analog to digital signal (and the need for a digital converter box), connecting an antenna straight to a TV no longer works.
Thoughts?
Re: How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night
#70Does this work in the US? I've been under the assumption that with the recent switch from analog to digital signal (and the need for a digital converter box), connecting an antenna straight to a TV no longer works. Thoughts?
The frequencies are the same, and since they're not doing anything freaky with the signal (just broadcast) the same kind of antenna ought to work. In fact, you should get a better signal, because ATSC has much better multipath resistance than NTSC did.