Good (small) indoor antenna for DTV reception?

[old_tv_nut]

If you are attempting to compare to the ChannelMaster, yours should be the same size. If it is smaller, it will be tuned to a higher frequency.

[wa2ise]

I've seen commercially made versions of this one
with a few S shaped wire pieces for decoration attached to the reflector grill, with the entire thing gold colored. And the bow-ties made of stamped aluminium, with some decorative cutouts in the middle of the triangles. Looked briefly at eBay, but didn't see anything like this there right now.

[kbmuri]

Looks good, Phil.

The only other thing I'd do is center and stand-off your 30-ohm twin-lead so that it can't press up against any metal of the antenna (as it is in your photo -- several places), which will cost you some gain. Otherwise I think you're gold.

[Phil Nelson]

Thanks, I rerouted the twin-lead as you suggested. Works like a champ now.

We were in Fry's electronics to get something else today, and on impulse I bought a Philips Silver Sensor tabletop antenna, which someone had mentioned earlier.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._cp_ob_title_0

The performance is much poorer than this homebrew antenna. Receives only 9 channels, as opposed to 32. Orientation didn't seem to change anything. I'll return it tomorrow.

Phil Nelson

[Phil Nelson]

One last footnote. I went to AntennaWeb

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

to get a list of digital stations broadcasting in this area. My homebrew antenna receives everything -- including a station 37 miles away. I even get one station that's not on their list.

Lucky for me, all of the transmitters are in the same general direction (southeast). Time to declare victory!

Phil Nelson

[EscapeVelo]

That is a sweet Double Bow Tie youve got there wa2ise.

Why is this message box so small?

Anyways, regarding indoor antennas. I have a big instrument measured shootout about to get under way with 20 or so commercially available units over at the AVSforum. And Im working on a guide as well. Its still a work in progress. But its getting there.

Check it out, everybody. Let me know what you think.

EV's Best Top Rated HDTV Indoor Antenna Review Test Round-Up Guide

[OvenMaster]

Originally Posted by EscapeVelo

That is a sweet Double Bow Tie youve got there wa2ise.

Why is this message box so small?

Anyways, regarding indoor antennas. I have a big instrument measured shootout about to get under way with 20 or so commercially available units over at the AVSforum. And Im working on a guide as well. Its still a work in progress. But its getting there.

Check it out, everybody. Let me know what you think.

EV's Best Top Rated HDTV Indoor Antenna Review Test Round-Up Guide

Nice post over there. This part caught my eye:
"During the transition to digital TV, many stations are temporarily operating at reduced power levels. If you are not receiving certain digital TV stations, this does not necessarily mean there is a problem with your antenna or receiver."
I sure hope this is the case. I have an outdoor antenna 25 feet up. In the winter, everything was fine. But since the leaves sprouted on the 40-foot tall trees that surround my house, I've lost half my DTV channels. Not good.

I also saw that people who rely on indoor antennas for DTV are potentially in for a big hassle: http://www.centris.com/pages/viewnew...ID=34&SiteID=9

I know some people in this situation, and an outdoor antenna is simply not an option for them. Since they refuse to pay to watch TV, there's an excellent chance that they will simply stop watching TV after Februrary 2009.

Oh, and your message box is small because it's an issue of this forum's software and your IE browser. Firefox does not have this problem.

Tom

[EscapeVelo]

I use Opera, not IE.

Id use Firefox, but I have others using the same computer, and we(I) decided to use a different browser, just to keep things serparate. Im thinking about switching to seamonkey.

[240sx4u]

Dumb question here folks. I live 8 miles outside of Madison, and can make one of these homebrew antennas pretty easily. I have a roof mount standard unit now. Should I stick with the rooftop? Or put this beast in the attic? I really hate the look of the rooftop unit and would LOVE to get rid of it.

I have cable, but like having my options open!!

Evan

[EscapeVelo]

Post your tvfool.com info.

Depends on where the towers are that you are trying to reach. But Id say an attic mount would be fine.

Post the TVfool info and list the stations you are trying to get. Then I can give you some suggestions and perhaps some dimensions for an improved Home Brew Bow Tie antenna.

[OvenMaster]

Originally Posted by EscapeVelo

I use Opera, not IE.

Id use Firefox, but I have others using the same computer, and we(I) decided to use a different browser, just to keep things serparate. Im thinking about switching to seamonkey.

Whoops. My bad.
Doofus Tom

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by EscapeVelo

That is a sweet Double Bow Tie youve got there wa2ise.

That's not mine, that's Findm-Keepm's antenna. I used his picture as an example of what some commercially made antennas looked like, with some decorations thrown in.

[EscapeVelo]

Oh. Im new forgive me.

A commercially available model similar to that is the AntennasDirect DB2.

[240sx4u]

Says everything in the area is either green or yellow. I don't know how to post the exact results. I live in Oregon, wi 53575. Town is very small, so street address is not really needed. There are a lot of trees.

Thanks!! - Evan

Evan

[EscapeVelo]

Here is your tvfool info. Is this info off by more than 10 miles to the local transmitter tower cluster? In your immediate yard/block, are there trees between you and 320 degrees or so? That figure may change with an exact address. How close is the info I posted to the info you got?



Are you trying to get analog still or or you just concerned with digital? Why kind of TV are you using? If using analog CRT, what kind of converter box are you using or going to use?



You are very close to the towers and Line of Sight. You could use and indoor antenna and do well, seem to me. And certainly an attic install would be fine. What is your preference?