Make Indoor Television Antennas
Indoor TV antennas are useful for occasions when directed television service is unavailable. In order to provide an alternative for cable or satellite service, an indoor antenna must be strong enough to detect local television signals, many of which are digital in nature. The old-fashioned solution of attaching a coat hanger to the TV can be modified to create a wide-band UHF indoor antenna with a receiving range of up to 60 miles, and the capability to detect even HDTV signals. The single hanger will have to be replaced with five, and modified with a few tools, but the results are a stable directional antenna that can be connected with your television using commonly found coaxial cables.
Instructions
1. Prepare the wire hangers for assembly. Cut the joined section of the hangers and then straighten the hangers into long sections. Cut four of the hangers into eight 14-inch sections. Remove two inches of coating from the center, using sandpaper.
2. Mark points on the wood for attaching wires and screws to. Mark points 2 inches from the top of the wood, placing the points 2 inches apart horizontally, centered on the 4-inch width of the board. Mark another two points 5 3/4 inches from the top, and repeat the marking twice more at 5 3/4-inch intervals for a total of four sets.
3. Take one of the two remaining long lengths of hanger wire and place a tip of the wire at the upper right corner of the board, angled to cross the second mark placed on the left half of the board. At the angle, bend the wire with the pliers so that it continues across the board to the fourth mark on the right side. Cut the wire as it crosses the edge of the board. Use the bent wire as a form for bending the second long wire to the same shape. Clean away the wire coating at the bent portions of the wire, and from a 1-inch area located in the exact center of the wire.
4. Bend the eight 14-inch wires at the center to form the shape of a "V" so that the wire ends are 3 inches apart.
5. Place a washer onto a screw and attach one of the "V" sections of wire to the board at the upper right-hand mark beneath the washer, sticking out to the side at a 90-degree angle. Place the end of a long wire section under the "V" section, in the same place as bent, so that the stripped areas of the wire touch. Screw them securely to the board.
6. Connect the remaining "V" sections of wire to the board, each pointing 90 to the side with all connected sections secured with stripped wires; repeating the connections with the second long wire. The longer wires will cross in the center of the board creating two "X" shapes. Wrap electrical tape at the two "X" points for insulation of the two wires from each other.
7. Attach the Balun to the stripped area of wires at the center of the board, one end of the Balun attached to each wire. The Balun is a UHF/VHF transformer and will convert the signals received by the antenna into one which can be used by coaxial cables plugged into a television.
Tags: long wire, points inches, center board, coaxial cables, eight 14-inch
