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(152 votes) Published: Aug 20, 2008 6:34 p.m. In 4 Favorites Lists Viewed 1300 times
I’ve never had cable/satellite/whatever for TV. I’ve always had local channels only.
Well with all the broadcasts moving to digital instead of analog signals, my parents decided to go ahead and get a HD TV.
This egg will show you how to create a UHF antenna for your new TV (or old TV w/ a converter box).
First I searched Google images for ’DIY HDTV antenna’ and thought this one looked cool, so i modified it a bit to make it fit my needs and supplies.
This is a cheap project and you will get very nice and clean OTA (over the air) signals.
WARN: Pictures might stretch page if your monitor is less than 13"; I did this so you would have more detailed guides!
Alright so first thing, find where your channels are being broadcast from: http://antennaweb.org/ Click ’Choose an Antenna’, then enter your info and click ’View Street Level Map.
You should get a map showing what directions the broadcasts are coming from; save/print this for later.
I had 3 main clusters so i built 3 panels (one facing each cluster). For the guide i will walk you through making 1.
Then you can make as many more as you need to on your own, Just wire them together with a splitter when you have them all done.
Now the actual construction; Cut your cardboard into a 30" by 16" rectangle.
Cover it with aluminum foil. make sure the entire front is covered, then fold the edges over and tape down with duct tape.
Cut your 2x4 to your desired height. I would suggest something around 4 foot.
Turn your board on its side (4" side sticking up vertically), and lay your aluminum panel face down on the sideways board.
Center the panel on the board with the top of the panel at the top of the board. Nail the panel to the board.
Turn your panel over and set it aside somewhere; it will take you a while to finish prepping your wire.
You will need a total of about 13.5’ of wire to complete one antenna.
At 45cents a foot that might be too much to spend, so feel free to use metal clothes hangers.
If you want to buy wire, get 12 gauge. I had some I found in my basement so I just used it.
I will also show you how to prep the clothes hangers.
If using wire: Cut off 8, 15" pieces.
Fold them in half; use pliers to get a good V in the crease.
Using your wire cutters and a knife, strip the insulation around the creases you made.
If using clothes hangers: First snip the hook at the top off.
Then cut the bottom bar at the 1/2 way point.
Straighten out the legs so they are at 2 unequal lengths.
Clip each leg until it is 7" in length.
The hard part is getting the paint off the wire. If you have acetone i suggest filling a shot glass and then setting your 8 corners in there to soak for a couple minuets. After they have soaked, pull them out and scrape the paint off of the V. If you don’t have acetone, i suggest using a Dremel tool with a grinding/sanding bit. If you don’t have a Dremel, get to work with some sandpaper!
Try and get them like this:
Now you are ready to start screwing stuff together.
Pull Your 2x4’s back out and lay them down aluminum side up.
Mark it off like this diagram:
Get 2 lengths of wire/hanger and form them like this (ignore the top two ’Vs’ for now):
Make sure and strip and bend them just like the picture and don’t let the two ever touch metal on metal.
Now that the middle lines are ready, screw down your ’Vs’. Use a screw and washer for a good connection.
1/2 way through your second 7" measurements you will need to add your tildun in to connect the two wires and convert it to a coaxial connection.
If you have trouble keeping the metals from touching, use a small piece of plastic as insulation.
Go back and make sure all your Vs are parallel to the panel and equidistant apart.
Finished product looks something like this:
Set your panel in the best direction you found earlier, hook up your cable and enjoy your free HD TV.
Put it somewhere high for best results, attic or loft works great.
Link to complete album for a few extra pics: http://s519.photobucket.com/albums/u356/m0rt_p/Antenna/ Comments appreciated.
Aug 20, 2008 8:02 pm - 1. 19" Monitor 1024x768, yea it stretched, haha.
2. Nice sandal thingy’s.
3. On the step when you screw the wires onto the back by using a washer to fasten them down, may I suggest pre-drilling your screw holes with a drill bit smaller than the diameter of the screw. It will prevent the relatively thin wood from splitting as it did on your antenna (The right screw, 13th picture down, including the MSPaint drawing).
4. I actually had a transformer laying around, (Bought one too many) so I tried this. I don’t have a high quality HDTV, actually its pretty crappy, however, I did notice the difference when I disconnected it from the cable and connected this.
Aug 20, 2008 8:24 pm - myincrediblycreativenam, yeah drilling would have been best. someone hasn’t returned my my bit set though :( It works rather well as a regular vhf antenna too. thanks for the votes.
Aug 20, 2008 10:11 pm - Nice job. Use plywood for cardboard, solder connections, and paint the wood mast. It will make a nice outdoor antenna. Cardboard/Aluminum can be replaced with steel window screen or chicken wire for less wind resistance. 5*s & favorites
Aug 24, 2008 11:56 am - prepping the wires takes majority of the time.
you could probably spend about 30 minutes on them alone, but once they’re done and you have all your pieces/suppplies it only takes about 15 minutes to put it all together.
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