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DIY Coat Hanger UHF HDTV OTA Antenna FTW!!!
Decided to build a DIY Coat Hanger UHF HDTV Antenna.
Took ~1 hour to build. I'm impressed so far.
You can see my previous antenna on top of the TV. It's a Radioshack 15-1868, $23: http://www.radioshack.com/product...Id=2062081 I live ~4 miles away from the local station array and even though I'm that close, the RS antenna still had dropped signals
For $4 in a Transformer (Lowe's RCA: VH54N) + stuff I already had, I'm now getting:
3 more channels, plus they were all bumped up 30-40% or more in signal strength! I'm still pulling in all my VHF channels (this antenna is really meant just for UHF). No more dropped signals!
Can't wait to get this sucker up in my attic and see what kinds of crazy stuff it'll pull.
Build plans and a DIY video:
http://vimeo.com/2931902
-edit April 1st 2011:
Here's a direct link to Mr. McClapp's design:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclap...20line.pdf
To make the 'whiskers' you need 8 qty 19inch long pieces of metal. The whisker's "V" should 5.5 inches apart, click here for a pic of what it looks like:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclap...layout.pdf
You can goto Lowe's and they have all kinds of 'finishing' type wood that's a much better spec than just a regular ole 2x4. I'm talking stuff that is like 2 inches wide by 36 inches long, by like 1/4 inch thick.
If you want to be ultra anal you could get some kind of hard plastic tubing or what not and cut off several pieces to build 'nubs' to raise the metal off the wood by 1/4 of an inch. Personally I think it's over kill.
I suggest using Romex instead of coat hangers. MUCH easier to work with.
If you get standard 2 wire romex (3 wires total), you'll need 7 feet.
If you get 3 wire romex (4 wires total), you'll need 5 feet.
Took ~1 hour to build. I'm impressed so far.
You can see my previous antenna on top of the TV. It's a Radioshack 15-1868, $23: http://www.radioshack.com/product...Id=2062081 I live ~4 miles away from the local station array and even though I'm that close, the RS antenna still had dropped signals
For $4 in a Transformer (Lowe's RCA: VH54N) + stuff I already had, I'm now getting:
3 more channels, plus they were all bumped up 30-40% or more in signal strength! I'm still pulling in all my VHF channels (this antenna is really meant just for UHF). No more dropped signals!
Can't wait to get this sucker up in my attic and see what kinds of crazy stuff it'll pull.
Build plans and a DIY video:
http://vimeo.com/2931902
-edit April 1st 2011:
Here's a direct link to Mr. McClapp's design:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclap...20line.pdf
To make the 'whiskers' you need 8 qty 19inch long pieces of metal. The whisker's "V" should 5.5 inches apart, click here for a pic of what it looks like:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclap...layout.pdf
You can goto Lowe's and they have all kinds of 'finishing' type wood that's a much better spec than just a regular ole 2x4. I'm talking stuff that is like 2 inches wide by 36 inches long, by like 1/4 inch thick.
If you want to be ultra anal you could get some kind of hard plastic tubing or what not and cut off several pieces to build 'nubs' to raise the metal off the wood by 1/4 of an inch. Personally I think it's over kill.
I suggest using Romex instead of coat hangers. MUCH easier to work with.
If you get standard 2 wire romex (3 wires total), you'll need 7 feet.
If you get 3 wire romex (4 wires total), you'll need 5 feet.
Last edited by Mike_Hawk; 11-01-2012 at 02:40 PM..
