coat hanger antenna

jim5506 · 05-02-2009, 04:15 PM

Your problem with 6.1 on RF ch 21 may be due to this type of antenna generally being weak in the lower UHF frequencies.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

On the first chart of this URL nearly all the UHF antennas are weak on the low end, except the Winegard PR-8800, now called the HD8800.

forthvacav · 05-15-2009, 05:17 AM

I just built one of these using 10 gauge copper wire and I solder the the V pieces before putting them under the screws and washers- I used double washers with each screw, placing the wire between the washers and used 1/2" sch 40 pvc tubbing using 90 degree pvc and tee fittings to make the frame. Spray painted it black the frame only. This way its weather proof and looks better than a piece of would hanging on the house. Installed it outside and I pick up more channel then with the original 100.00 antenna I bought. Would like to make another and face it in the other direction to pick up channels from direction that I never even knew where there. But fade out every now and then. I live somewhere between 40 and 50 air mile from my normal stations. These would come in fine only on clear days. With this antenna I made it does not matter if its raining or not. Great reception!!!!! 75% thur 100%

cajunratt · 05-18-2009, 08:15 AM

Do you have any pictures and how is the performance on your signal strenth. Did you go by the original specs?

danek · 07-03-2009, 10:18 AM

Has anyone tried several tv's on one antenna? jd

**rbinck** · 07-03-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danek

Has anyone tried several tv's on one antenna? jd

Welcome to the forum.

Yes it works fine. You use a splitter or distribution amp. Available at Walmart even.

dan34293 · 07-07-2009, 05:21 AM

I used the seven inch, four bay whisker design and I have received signals from 29 channels from a distance of around 37 miles to around 58 miles.

My house sits in a very flat location (Venice, FL) so I don't think I have any line of sight issues.

The signal strengths I have received range from 15 to 37, with 15 marginal unless it is really steady, which it appears to be.

I have two directions to point my antenna, which will be used indoors on a single set, although I do have an outside pole with multiple drops for four different spots in the house. If I point it pretty much due north I receive signals from Sarasota and the Tampa Bay region. If I point it around 120 degrees I get the Fort Myers towers. I think there also is a Lakeland station in the mix which is slightly east of due north, but not important to have.

If I have an issue, it is that I get all the major channels except a CBS affiliate. I really don't need the three ABC affiliates I get, but I am pleased to have them. The missing CBS affiliate is WTSP from St. Petersburg or WINK from Fort Myers. These affiliates are located at 10.n and 11.n and the reason they are not received is the lowest tuner position received is 16.n.

The question I have is do I need to throw an old school antenna on the pole outside to get either of these channels and use an A/B box? Or would a slightly bigger design with longer whiskers produce one of these channels?

Thanks for a great forum!

tube69 · 07-07-2009, 05:37 AM

Dan34293, if I'm not mistaken, that's a pair of Dynaco A25 speakers you're using.

dan34293 · 07-07-2009, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tube69

Dan34293, if I'm not mistaken, that's a pair of Dynaco A25 speakers you're using.

but they are "inactive".

Thanks for mentioning it.

danek · 07-07-2009, 02:45 PM

I made a pretty good example of the antenna. I discovered a station I did not have... But, my C 6 (upstate NY) requires me to hold the cable, or jamb the cable under the tv, which I did. All stations now work fine.

Does this mean I need some sort of additional ground? How and where?

Thanks, jd

dan34293 · 07-07-2009, 07:17 PM

Sometimes it is important to take a step back to move forward. Tonight I cut my reflector off to see what kind of affect it played wrt signal strength. Signal strength was cut in half and rendered the channel unviewable.

I also have a 2' X 4' piece of foam backed insulation board. I tried holding that up behind my collector to see if I could approach or exceed the signal strength of my reflector and it fell short.

I will need to play with this some more and experiment with more reflectors.

jim5506 · 07-07-2009, 08:17 PM

Another factor is the distance from the whiskers to the reflector, a CM4228 has 5 inches from bow-ties to the reflector.

If it is too close, it may actually reduce signal by having the reflection cancel out some of the direct signal. you want to find the distance where the reflected signal builds on the incident signal.

Unfortunately, that distance varies with the frequency of the channel.

cajunratt · 07-28-2009, 07:46 AM

Hey Guys I finally built the antenna for me. I contacted my CBS channel and asked them to tell me why there signal was the weakest and told them our problem and they stated that they were replacing there tower and could take a few weeks. That was not good enough for me so I built a 34” one bay DB4 antenna with 10” V’s and 1 ¼” phasing lines and solider all joints and I do not use a reflector because I need a multi directional antenna. When I tried the temp. model all my channels went from 30 to 50% to 90 to 100%. So I built one out of solid materials. My antenna sits 34’ off the ground and we do have several trees to work around but I will confess that this antenna works in my area and I have tried the DB8 type with only 7” V’s and it worked good but not like this model. So before you give up keep trying different ways.

jeffjolly · 10-04-2009, 07:59 AM

Could anyone give me specs. on building a DB4 ? If it is 10" V's how far apart 5 3/4 and how wide at the end of the V 3" or do both of these change thanks Jeff

IDRick · 10-04-2009, 09:16 AM

Jeff,

Drawings for the mclapp 4-bay antenna can be found here: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A.../diagrams.html

Note, mclapp recommends 5-1/2 inch spread at the end of the whiskers. He has also stated that this is one of the least critical measurements with the antenna. Variations in spread have small to no effect on received signal strength. The above link is for the 9.5"whisker 9 inch bay spacing design. It is tuned for little higher gain on the higher frequency channels. The 9.5x9 has higher gain for VHF channels 11 through 13 than the 10x9.5 that I use. The 10x9.5 is tuned a bit lower and gives higher VHF gain on channels 7 through 9. If you don't need VHF reception, build the 9.5x9 version, it's a bit smaller.

You can see his performance charts here:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/Antennas/plots/
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A...mpare 4221.gif
http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A...t%20VHF-HI.gif

HTH, Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Rick

ken2400 · 10-04-2009, 08:15 PM

Made two 4 bays so far.

My first one uses
paneling, 2X4, foil and coat hangers.

Second one uses
Cardboard, 2X4 - 5 pieces, foil and like 20 gage wire
Made for light weight.

Need to test both to compare.

05-02-2009, 04:15 PM	#61
jim5506 Yellow Submarine Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 3,303	Your problem with 6.1 on RF ch 21 may be due to this type of antenna generally being weak in the lower UHF frequencies. http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html On the first chart of this URL nearly all the UHF antennas are weak on the low end, except the Winegard PR-8800, now called the HD8800. __________________ Seeking colinear harmonics! Programming: Dish AT120 Displays: Sony VPH-D50Q FPCRT - 7 ft on the wall; Hitachi 57R59 RPCRT; Panasonic 42" Plasma; 26" Sanyo LCD Receivers: DishNetwork ViP722k; DishNetwork ViP211K;2 - DishNetwork ViP211; 2 - TiVo HD Series 3; 2 - TiVo Series 2's; Accurian 6000; Samsung SIR-T351; Panasonic ShowStopper 2000; ATI HDTV Wonder Dish 1000 on 110,119,129; Dish 500 on 61.5; DPP44 Sony 80GB PS3; Toshiba HD-DVD

07-03-2009, 10:18 AM	#64
danek What is HD? Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 2	Multiple tv's Has anyone tried several tv's on one antenna? jd

07-07-2009, 05:37 AM	#67
tube69 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: May 2005 Location: Salem, Ohio Age: 60 Posts: 128	Dan34293, if I'm not mistaken, that's a pair of Dynaco A25 speakers you're using. __________________ Panasonic TC-P50G25 Plasma TV Dish DTVPal DVR Roku XD/S Streaming Player Harman-Kardon AVR 7550HD AV Receiver 5 Dynaco A25 Speakers 1 JBL CinemaVision 400 Watt Powered Subwoofer Logitech Harmony One Remote Control Channel Master 4228 8-Bay UHF Antenna Winegard YA-1713 High Band VHF Antenna Channel Master 9521A Rotator Channel Master 7777 Titan2 Preamplifier 55' Antenna Tower Harman-Kardon DVD 48 DVD/SACD/DVD-A Player Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player Adcom ACE-515 Power Conditioner

07-07-2009, 02:45 PM	#69
danek What is HD? Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 2	Multiple TV's Q I made a pretty good example of the antenna. I discovered a station I did not have... But, my C 6 (upstate NY) requires me to hold the cable, or jamb the cable under the tv, which I did. All stations now work fine. Does this mean I need some sort of additional ground? How and where? Thanks, jd

07-07-2009, 08:17 PM	#71
jim5506 Yellow Submarine Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 3,303	Another factor is the distance from the whiskers to the reflector, a CM4228 has 5 inches from bow-ties to the reflector. If it is too close, it may actually reduce signal by having the reflection cancel out some of the direct signal. you want to find the distance where the reflected signal builds on the incident signal. Unfortunately, that distance varies with the frequency of the channel. __________________ Seeking colinear harmonics! Programming: Dish AT120 Displays: Sony VPH-D50Q FPCRT - 7 ft on the wall; Hitachi 57R59 RPCRT; Panasonic 42" Plasma; 26" Sanyo LCD Receivers: DishNetwork ViP722k; DishNetwork ViP211K;2 - DishNetwork ViP211; 2 - TiVo HD Series 3; 2 - TiVo Series 2's; Accurian 6000; Samsung SIR-T351; Panasonic ShowStopper 2000; ATI HDTV Wonder Dish 1000 on 110,119,129; Dish 500 on 61.5; DPP44 Sony 80GB PS3; Toshiba HD-DVD

05-15-2009, 05:17 AM	#62
forthvacav What is HD? Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3	I just built one of these using 10 gauge copper wire and I solder the the V pieces before putting them under the screws and washers- I used double washers with each screw, placing the wire between the washers and used 1/2" sch 40 pvc tubbing using 90 degree pvc and tee fittings to make the frame. Spray painted it black the frame only. This way its weather proof and looks better than a piece of would hanging on the house. Installed it outside and I pick up more channel then with the original 100.00 antenna I bought. Would like to make another and face it in the other direction to pick up channels from direction that I never even knew where there. But fade out every now and then. I live somewhere between 40 and 50 air mile from my normal stations. These would come in fine only on clear days. With this antenna I made it does not matter if its raining or not. Great reception!!!!! 75% thur 100%

05-18-2009, 08:15 AM	#63
cajunratt A couch and an HDTV to go please. Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 10	Do you have any pictures and how is the performance on your signal strenth. Did you go by the original specs?

07-07-2009, 07:17 PM	#70
dan34293 What is HD? Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 3	Sometimes it is important to take a step back to move forward. Tonight I cut my reflector off to see what kind of affect it played wrt signal strength. Signal strength was cut in half and rendered the channel unviewable. I also have a 2' X 4' piece of foam backed insulation board. I tried holding that up behind my collector to see if I could approach or exceed the signal strength of my reflector and it fell short. I will need to play with this some more and experiment with more reflectors.

07-28-2009, 07:46 AM	#72
cajunratt A couch and an HDTV to go please. Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 10	Hey Guys I finally built the antenna for me. I contacted my CBS channel and asked them to tell me why there signal was the weakest and told them our problem and they stated that they were replacing there tower and could take a few weeks. That was not good enough for me so I built a 34” one bay DB4 antenna with 10” V’s and 1 ¼” phasing lines and solider all joints and I do not use a reflector because I need a multi directional antenna. When I tried the temp. model all my channels went from 30 to 50% to 90 to 100%. So I built one out of solid materials. My antenna sits 34’ off the ground and we do have several trees to work around but I will confess that this antenna works in my area and I have tried the DB8 type with only 7” V’s and it worked good but not like this model. So before you give up keep trying different ways.

10-04-2009, 07:59 AM	#73
jeffjolly What is HD? Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1	Db4 Could anyone give me specs. on building a DB4 ? If it is 10" V's how far apart 5 3/4 and how wide at the end of the V 3" or do both of these change thanks Jeff

10-04-2009, 09:16 AM	#74
IDRick High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Eastern Idaho Posts: 2,715	Jeff, Drawings for the mclapp 4-bay antenna can be found here: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A.../diagrams.html Note, mclapp recommends 5-1/2 inch spread at the end of the whiskers. He has also stated that this is one of the least critical measurements with the antenna. Variations in spread have small to no effect on received signal strength. The above link is for the 9.5"whisker 9 inch bay spacing design. It is tuned for little higher gain on the higher frequency channels. The 9.5x9 has higher gain for VHF channels 11 through 13 than the 10x9.5 that I use. The 10x9.5 is tuned a bit lower and gives higher VHF gain on channels 7 through 9. If you don't need VHF reception, build the 9.5x9 version, it's a bit smaller. You can see his performance charts here: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/Antennas/plots/ http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A...mpare 4221.gif http://www.frontiernet.net/~mclapp/A...t%20VHF-HI.gif HTH, Let me know if you have any other questions. Best, Rick Last edited by IDRick; 10-04-2009 at 09:24 AM.

10-04-2009, 08:15 PM	#75
ken2400 A couch and an HDTV to go please. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 11	Made two 4 bays so far. My first one uses paneling, 2X4, foil and coat hangers. Second one uses Cardboard, 2X4 - 5 pieces, foil and like 20 gage wire Made for light weight. Need to test both to compare.

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