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.

http://www.damike.com/Pics/HT/Coat%20Hanger.jpg

http://www.damike.com/Pics/HT/Coat%20Hanger2.jpg

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! :woot:

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.

I built the same one - unfortunately I'm 35-40 miles away from the stations I needed and this sucker didn't do too much, but I've heard from a lot of folks that have great luck with theirs. For a few minutes of work it's worth a shot. Chances are that a lot of folks will already have the balun kicking around their house.

Shameless :bump:

RE











:p

I built one several months ago, too, and though it's not the prettiest antenna by a long shot, they work really well!

I'll give this a try. My brother doesn't have cable and his signal is crappy.

SNES, N64, XBOX 360, gamecube, NES, panasonic 3do, ps2

I built one of these like a year and a half ago. The wires kind of got corroded or w.e but it's still running pretty good.
My dad built 3 more and they're working fine as well.

Tip to people, don't buy/use plastic coated coat hangers. PITA to remove the plastic.

:nod:

Hi thanks for your nice posting. These product information is very much useful for me. And I think it will helpful for more people also. Thanks for your review.

I got the exact same one I built - Works better than the one I bought from Monoprice. My girl calls it Alien Spider while weaving it over her head. :)

There's also a "Mclapp Design" that you can build using Romex, it's bigger.

More details/pics:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/sh...?t=1200448

very interesting

Can I pick up Chinese channels with that?

Maybe if you live in China :rolleyes:

Nope, but there's an all you can eat chinese resturant not too far away.

What part of Guangzhou are you located in?

the part that has electricity I suppose?

Anyone built one of these in the Seattle area?

Can we plug in digital cable to it and watch the tv on the Laptop?

Can it be used with windows vista?

Shameless :bump: as well as answering questions.

Digital Cable is most likely encrypted, well most channels. There are come cQAM channels meaning "Clear" as in not encrypted.

Check here to see what you can pick up OTA (over the air) http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

You could plug this + your cable outlet coax (via a splitter of course) into a USB tuner and see whatcha pick up. I'm sure it can be used in Vista depending on the USB tuner's drivers.

I've had great success w/ the Hpapgapgpapapap (misspelled on purpose :D ) 950q which can be had for $50 or $20 on a SD: http://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-1...324&sr=1-2

I built this and got one channel. I went out and bought an antenna and got 9.

Were the channels VHF? Was the DIY antenna placed and directed correctly? Same as the store bought antenna?

Edited the OP with updated design links and build thoughts.

I made mine last summer. I'm about 30 miles from the towers and pick up every local station with excellent reception, except one is a little flakey. Overall I am happy.

http://img600.imageshack.us/i/291...14156.jpg/

Built the McClapp a year ago or more and get many channels despite living right on the edge of the digital cliff at 70 miles. With a Chanel Master 7777 pre-amp and 35 ft of antenna ... it's actually an old sailboat mast we are not hurting for programs. Include internet and what else does anyone need?

here is link to a great site with all available OTA channels.... just plug in your zip code and check "air" for broadcast type.
http://titantv.com/default.aspx

thnx man,works like a champ

Kudos. I'm about 60 miles from my stations, but we live in a heavily wooded neighborhood, and I've never been able to get a lock on all the basics at the same time.

you too will need the signal booster if you don't have it already. Leaves absorb signal, can you get an antenna on the roof using a mast of some sort to reach up as high as possible?

The sweet spot's near the bottom of my roof, actually. I get a much better signal there than at the top...go figure. I have a pre-amp, but I haven't had much time to get up there and make the needed adjustments to see if I'll ever get it to work.

Update:

I've made 3 variations of this Antenna so far:

1) The coat hanger version as pictured in the first post
2) The Mcclap larger design on a 2x6 piece of wood (made because I was told the design was better)
3) The Mcclap larger design on a 0.25x1.5 piece of wood (made because I was told the 2x6 was too bulky and blocking stations)

End results: They ALL pull the same strength for my particular location. So IMO build what you can and don't get hung up on the details.

very interesting

Do you really need 16 of the whiskers ? Wouldn't 2 work just the same ?

All of the HD antennas I have seen, have this same layout but they never explain why you need so many hangers - I thought maybe because they are used in rural areas. Is there a science as to why they are in Vs and criss-crossed ?

I built this one (fractal aluminum foil antenna) a few days ago and its working great. Only thing I had to buy was the RCA matching transformer (found it for under $3 on ebay):

http://lifehacker.com/5919128/bui...hd-antenna