TV Antenna Design

What is it about the design of an antenna that helps it to function more efficiently? How exactly does it pull the signals in?

Would it hurt, help, or not really affect the reception, if I attatched a metal object to it? Would it give it more surface area for signals to be absorbed through or interfere with the origional design?

The number and size of the elements (rods) are determined by the frequency you want to receive. To receive multiple frequencies, the rods will be of different lengths. The should be horizontal because TV signals are horizontally polarized.

The design is important and any added metal, etc., would probably do more harm than good as it would interfere with the design.

I put in the link below to give you pictures of the antennas. Each design has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you need.

2006-12-04 11:00:46 by BulletBite_45

This antenna design uses only two coat hangers -- a third the material of the popular yagi design -- yet it is very powerful! When mounted on a ...

My TV gets terrible reception in my apartment. This weeks NOVA ran a story on fractals and interviewed a physicist who discovered fractal antennas by accident.

As a poor grad student he faced the same situation of lousy TV reception. His landlord wouldn't let him mount an outdoor antenna so he began experimenting by bending coat hangers into fractal shapes and testing their antenna properties. They worked great and he discovered how to make antennas with fractal shapes which were much smaller and gave much better reception than conventional antenna designs.

So does anyone know where I can find one of these fractal coat-hanger designs to replace my old rabbit ears?

I also am here because of NOVA. My 16 yr old son and I, using a pattern, board, nails and copper wire, built a Koch snowflake to the third iteration. When hooked up to our digital converter box we were able to pick up all that we were getting through our rooftop atenna with almost as much signal strength. It did not however, bring in any more than we were already getting. It also did not seem to do anything for our analog picture.

2008-11-01 15:27:18 by Quat

Price: $753.99

Range of up to 70 miles or more
Weatherproof construction
Impedance of 300/75 ohm
Works up to 70 miles or more from transmitters
Very flexible aiming characteristics

I can't afford to upgrade my cable plan to the HD cable, so I want to use our house TV antenna to pick up the free over the air HD broadcasted channels, but there's only one cable that runs to my room. I don't want to run new cable into the room, so is there a way to combine the air TV signal with the cable TV signal so it comes in on the same cable? I read something about diplexers, but it seems those are designed for satellite signals + air TV signals.

The easy way is to purchase an "A/B switch" ($5-$10) from a local electronics store, or larger hardware/home center store.

Connect the output coax from the cable box to the "A" side of the A/B switch. Connect your over-the-air antenna cable to the "B" side of the switch.

To watch cable programming, flip the A/B switch to the "A" side, and tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 depending on the output of the cable converter. To watch over-the-air HD programming, flip the A/B switch to the "B" side and tune your TV to the desired channel (most likely a UHF channel).

Don't use a "diplexer" (which is really just a 2-way splitter). The reasons are two-fold:

(a) it can re-radiate the cable signals from your over-the-air antenna. That's illegal under FCC rules, and you can have your cable service terminated because of it, and

(b) it can cause interference to your own TV set, especially on channel 3 or 4 (depending on which, if either, channel is active in your area).

Jonathan Kramer, Esq.
Kramer Telecom Law Firm, P.C.
http://www.CableTV.com Forum Admin

2007-08-18 23:37:21 by lazydave

Price: $119.99

Supports all digital and analog TV frequencies including VHF and UHF and 1080 signals
Paintable ultra compact design disappears into surroundings
No special oreintation or adjustments required due to patented 360 degree reception pattern
Extended range signal reception quality and needs no adjustment
For outdoor use and comes with mounting hardware and power adapter

A few years ago, I bought a '94 Sony TV from a yard sale. Instead of cable, I have an antenna on my roof, but it didn't seem to be receiving any signals so I got an Insignia digital-to-analog converter box to see what I could pick up. The back of the TV has only three outlets that I can plug things into, however: 1 Audio(white), 1 Video (yellow) and 1 VHF/UHF. The Insignia box needs outlets for red, white, and yellow. I do not have the red outlet.

Is the design of a '94 TV simply to outdated to accept modern converter boxes? Is there something in addition I have to buy to be able to plug in the Insignia?

If you can't pick up analog signals with your antenna, you probably won't be able to pick up digital signals. Either you have a bad antenna, bad coax cable, or live in a bad location. It is not your TV that is the problem. You may need an new antenna... make sure it is a combination VHF and UHF.

2008-06-21 21:08:23 by Elizabeth

I have two TV sets located in my property. I can attach cable TV to one of them, but the other TV set is so far away I can not send a cable TV signal to it. So, what I want to know is about the possibility of a signal converter box designed for sending the signal to the second TV via a yagi antenna.
I forgot to mention distance: 120 meters (400 feet).
The two units you kindly showed me does not semm to be able for more than 100 feet (30 meters). Distance is an issue here!

That is probably NOT the way to go..

Why not look into a wireless cable sender.
This one or a similar device:
http://www.x10.com/promotions/wireless_v ideo_sender_vk82a.html

I have NOT used the product so look it over carefully before you buy but it sound like what you are after.

2008-07-16 09:35:22 by YaLoReparo