#Diy tv antenna preamplifier for free
#Diy tv antenna preamplifier update
#Diy tv antenna preamplifier mac

4th picture Next, use two, thick, 1inch wide X 36 inches long aluminum bar to reinforce the top and bottom. I then turned it over and pounded the other side to flatten the mesh as the aluminum tended to curl in the direction of pounding. I placed one side of it under the mesh and pounded it over with a hammer. To reinforce the sides (40' side) I used thin 1/4' wide angled aluminum trim.

Unroll 40 inches (for the hight) and cut it with snips. Wider could be used but it would go wasted as the reflected signal wouldn't hit anything useful. The 36' is perfect for the width of the array. It's got 1/2 inch squares of stiff galvenized wire that is welded at each crosslink. I found some 36' wide rolls of something called galvenized wire netting at Home Depot. Anything larger than that and it would exceed the wavelength and would not reflect the signal to the wiskers. And all that is really needed is horizontal bars or wire that are separated by no more than 2 inches vertically. You could use a solid sheet but in a big wind it would be a problem. I was a teacher for 30 years (no I don't want any help with my grammar, I said I used to be a teacher) My job was simplification and clarity. What follows is my foray into the world of HDTV antenna construction and trying to squeak the most out of it for a moderately fringe TV area I live in.īTW, the last segment contains all kinds of HDTV signal information and links to places to assist you in learning more. The last picture in the segment is a commercial one. It's basically two DB4 antenna's combined. A DB8 antenna has 8 receiving elements, or 4 pairs of elements. Something where 60 miles might be the limit but a doable and good limit. I decided that I need more antenna than that. Most HDTV antennas work for 30 miles and a few claim to get up to 60 miles. Some are further, about 50-60 miles away. Here in Southern Maine the TV stations are mostly in Portland about 30 miles away.

#Diy tv antenna preamplifier for free

The channels I look at I could get for free if I used an antenna. By value I mean I get the basic local channels and a bunch of junk otherwise. I'm finding that even basic cable has little 'value'. We also have my macintosh connected to the TV so we can Hulu any program that played recently. Netflix is excellent by the way but that's another story. I eventually cut down to basic for $20 and supplemented with Netflix. It seems that there is less and less on cable than there ever was. Oh, I also now have a 60' Sony Bravia LED instead of the old Sony analog TV we had at the time of the original construction. My plated stuff is doing well but stainless would have given many, many years of carefree use. I would recommend stainless hardware throughout if doing this. I go up on the roof to check things every couple of years and so far all is well. Actually, I leave it set facing the fringe channel and the stronger ones are the ones that compensate. I've since put an amplifier on the mast and we now can get that fringe channel lightly to the left of the others without any longer having to use the rotor to turn it. We still have it and it's still doing it's job.

#Diy tv antenna preamplifier update

Update May 2015: this antenna was built in 2009.

These changes along with the antenna for network tv and we're good.

#Diy tv antenna preamplifier mac

So, our entertainment bill is essentially down to a high speed cable bill with a Mac mini connected to the TV and an Amazon Echo Dot. We watch any TV show the next day after it plays and have a choice of all movies made. I've been using Kodi for awhile now with a VPN to mask my IP address. We still have Amazon Prime for it's other services so it's video is available. Same Sony Bravia from the last update and still getting the same stations.Īlso, I'm currently completely off any pay per view service like Netflix or Hulu. Reconnected now and this summer i'll make a larger offset on the roof edge to eliminate this issue. A large snowstorm on a steel roof took out the coax as the thick snow slid off the roof. Some washers weren't galvanized so some rust but not enough to make a difference. I've checked it out a couple of times and all looks like the day I built it. Update June 2018: Nine years old now and it's still up there. I will also check Bertha over and see how she's doing. I'll be welding up a chimney mast holder this summer that will never be affected by the weather. Big wind this winter so the mast has a tilt. Update June 2023: 14 years and still working.