timjet
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 1,920
Can someone recommend a small tv antenna that I can install behind my salon tv. I don't want to run cabling to a bridge mounted antenna nor do I want to supply AC power to it.
Thanks
Thanks
I love reading about home-brew projects, what frequency would this bike wheel be resonant at? This antenna sounds like the old 6 or 2 meter Halo antenna, but these only worked in a very narrow frequency band.Find an aluminum scrap bike wheel.
Cut all the spokes out then cut the unit in to 2 half circles.
Use any insulation , wood will do and space the halves back to a circle but not touching..
Use a 300-75 ohm connected to either half wheel and bring the 75 ohm coax into your TV.
4 holes and some string will allow you to hang the antenna as high as you can, and to easily strike it when not required.
I mentioned Radio Shack because if you save the packing material and it doesn't work most stores will let you return the product and either refund your money or let you buy another product (store credit).
I really suggest an outside of the boat antenna for best results. I have tried most outdoor marine units and the Glomex V9125 has consistently worked best for me.
Bill
The Leaf antenna is actually a design called a "Patch" antenna.Take a look at "The Leaf" antenna. Works well for me.
https://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-indoor-hdtv-antenna.html
Mohu Leaf Indoor Antenna Review
No business connections to these guys, just own and use their antenna.
Mike
Isnt all US broadcasting now digital? And is it the same or different frequency range as analog was? It will mater with respect to the antenna. The few digital antenna that I've seen are much smaller than the old TV roof antennas, so I suspect the frequencies are a higher now and old antennas won't be of any use.
Find an aluminum scrap bike wheel.
Cut all the spokes out then cut the unit in to 2 half circles.
Use any insulation , wood will do and space the halves back to a circle but not touching..
Use a 300-75 ohm connected to either half wheel and bring the 75 ohm coax into your TV.
4 holes and some string will allow you to hang the antenna as high as you can, and to easily strike it when not required.
First, There is no such thing as a "digital antenna". It's advertising BS. An antenna picks up RF signals. It doesn't know or care what the content is.
Second, not all US TV broadcasting is digital. The vast majority of it is, but some low powered stations were allowed to continue broadcasting analog.
Third, The TV band used to be split, two through six at lower frequencies, seven through thirteen at higher frequencies (FM radio and some commercial services were in between) and UHF. In it's infinite wisdom, the government gave the lower VHF frequencies to other users but kept the upper VHF band and the UHF band for TV. That means your antenna still has to pick up seven through 13 of the VHF TV band and the UHF band. A smaller VHF only antenna won't pick up the VHF stations that may or may not be broadcasting in your area very well.
Just to make sure things were as confusing as possible, the government allowed the stations formerly broadcasting on the lower VHF band (2 through 6) to keep their channel numbers even though they are now broadcasting in the UHF band. Example; what you know as channel 4 might actually be broadcasting on channel 42.
It's not easy finding a Glomex antenna.
Ron excellent post.
Bill
Find an aluminum scrap bike wheel.
Cut all the spokes out then cut the unit in to 2 half circles.
Use any insulation , wood will do and space the halves back to a circle but not touching..
Use a 300-75 ohm connected to either half wheel and bring the 75 ohm coax into your TV.
4 holes and some string will allow you to hang the antenna as high as you can, and to easily strike it when not required.
I mentioned Radio Shack because if you save the packing material and it doesn't work most stores will let you return the product and either refund your money or let you buy another product (store credit).
I really suggest an outside of the boat antenna for best results. I have tried most outdoor marine units and the Glomex V9125 has consistently worked best for me.
Bill
Donny part of my testing of UFO marine style TV antennas was trying 2 different model Shakespeare antennas, your's was one. The performance was akin to night vs day. Even the small 10" Glomex outperformed any Shakespeare I tried.Bill,
I had a Shakespeare 3020 on my last boat that worked pretty well, but would not get some of the local news stations reliably. Just wondering if you have any experience with this company/model and how it might compare to Glomex?
Looking to add an antenna like this to our new boat.
Thanks,
Donny
Hopefully, this is close enough to the topic to ask you communications gurus. Our DF44 came with a new KVH M1 Tracvision. Any mods possible to receive HD signals with this unit?
We bought a cheap Walmart antenna for $20 and are traveling north. Currently just pulled into anchor at Wrightsville Beach NC and have 8 channels.
Each night we have stopped we have had some channels not all HD quality like we do here but then we just play a DVD.
If it only worked for a few days it's totally worth it
I have a two year old 14" Shakespeare Seawatch antenna. A buddy of mine a few docks over has an older Glomex. I "sometimes" can get two stations. He consistently gets 10+ stations. My antenna actually sets about five feet higher than his. I am considering the Glomex.
When I am within 10 miles of the Baltimore/DC area I can pick up 50 stations. My dock is about 45 miles away from the metro area.
My observation being on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake: we are out of range of consistently reliable big 3 network coverage. We have a Naval brand $500 antenna at the top of mast. If you are in the slip a directional winegard clip in window antenna will pull in more channels - as a directional antenna does. If you are in a fringe area like us, test the antenna you want before install and buy a returnable product because if you are out of range you are out of range in my opinion. We gave up over here, having a KVH M1DX installed next week.
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