Want to thank you for this video. I have made the bow tie antenna and had good success with local channels. However, I was wanting to extend my range so after watching this video I made this antenna. I as able to get the TV station I wanted and it was as clear as my local stations; the distance was 65 miles. And it was made with materials that I already had. Great antenna! Thanks.
Fantastic design, Mike!!! I just built one yesterday and it works amazing!!! I used to spend at least two days building a dipole antenna (with whiskers) and a screen or aluminum rod reflector attached. I built your design in about 3 hours without a reflector and it actually works better!!! I put it up about 20 feet attached to a step ladder just for testing purposes and am using an ONN inline amplifier from WalMart (about $14.00) and I scanned 72 channels!!! This includes VHF low (channel 3 WEDU PBS from Tampa). I'm located halfway between Tampa and Ft. Myers Florida and I can get Ft. Myers as well as Tampa stations pretty much without any pixelation!!! This is a GREAT design! I guess it's all about the 60 degree angles and 7 inch lengths, isn't it? Very happy with this design and I'll be using it to make antennas for family and friends going forward!!!
Hmmmmmm, looks like you got good results! Also, have you tried with Steak Knives? Look at my simple design with Steak Knives... Here: ua-cam.com/video/P1JW3skjQZ0/v-deo.html
Hey Art. You're midway between TPA and FTM--what, about 98-100 miles as the crow flies. How far from TPA would you guess? You're getting with this Ch3 WEDU TPA (broadcasting on digital 13). Are you also getting Ch8 WFLA TPA (broadcasting on digital 7, moving to 9), and TPA Ch10 (broadcasting on 10). thanks
I live in Sarasota and need both the Tampa (020 degrees for VHF) and Ft. Myer's markets 120 degrees for UHF) curious what bearing you pointed the front of your antenna at to receive both markets. tnx
This design works well! I had a hard time locating insulators like you have, so I found that sturdy bottlecaps do a good job. Since mine is going outside, I dabbed some silicone sealant on the screws to slow down oxidation.
Hey Mike... I've built a couple bow tie antennas in the past that have worked pretty well, but I decided to try this one. I'm really happy with how it works. It might even be better than the bow tie. Thanks for such a helpful video!
As a retired Radio and TV engineer in the UK, I find these US and Canadian antenna-building channels very interesting and I think yours is one of the best. I'm always looking for ideas for adapting them for other frequencies. In Western Europe the frequencies of UHF TV transmitters were planned in the early '60s when analogue TV began to expand from Hi-VHF (Band III, around 200 MHz) to UHF, I think West Germany was the first. This means that all of the channels in your area come from one site, so higher-gain antennas like Yagis and log-periodics are used and the transmitter power is lower, usually 100kW maximum for main stations. The bow-tie design is sometimes seen when a short wide-band antenna is required, but the Gray-Hoverman type is never seen. The Yagi antennas, normally used, have a narrower bandwidth, suitable for your local transmitter, rarely needing a bandwidth of more than 14 8-MHz wide channels (19 US 6-MHz channels). I think a single Bow-tie, mounted vertically, might be useful for Digital Radio which is transmitted here on the old European TV channels in the Hi-VHF Band.
This antenna is amazing. Just built one last week and the receptions are clearer and more than twice as many channels are coming in. I used 11 GA galvanized fence bracing wire scraps and it works like a charm. It straightens out nicely by rolling it between 2 boards.
I tried this and it works well. I live 65 miles southeast of Columbus Ohio. I have a version of this sitting on a twelve foot pole and I'm pulling in 12 channels and there's a storm in the area. Thank you much for design
Mike what a great attitude and no-nonsense way of explaining how to build I believe one of the best antennas. Thank You for your ideas and thanking the time to explain.
Love that design! It seems similar to the basic Bowtie, except that the ends of each Bowtie are connected together by the fact that each side is just one long piece instead of multiple pieces for each Bowtie. If this is similar in performance to the Bowtie, I love that this design is much easier to work with. Also - thanks for showing the signal meter on each channel. I always have to chuckle when I see someone go through each channel and simply declare they have good performance simply because they can see a good picture! Now, put a good reflector on that thing, and you will double your signal!
Mike. Gonna put this together tomorrow. I tried one of your earlier ones, picked up 10 channels 60 miles away without a reflector, 18 with. Those are the closest towers to my location. Looking forward to trying this one.
I was just telling another person who commented about the reflector. That's good if you want to be directional but are you really going to be going in twisting this antenna every time you want to tune into a Channel? But you're right, what you are doing is you receiving peripheral reception from other stations, as well as bidirectionality from behind as well as what you think is forward. I made my own yagi what's a little expense. Probably $0. Set up without a reflector 107 channels. Yeah I know I'm bragging, but I do have some electrical Theory as well as antenna Theory and physical Theory under my belt. Or was shoved up my ass or something I don't know😅🤣
Built one of these today, using insulated wire taken from a chunk of NM cable. Super easy and works great. I already had the balun, wire, and chunk of wood, so a nice free project for quarantine.
It's a keeper : ) Tried it and it works just as good as the antenna I'm using now. This was a lot simpler than the that one, so I wish I had this back then. Keep it up.
John LeBlanc Thanks John. Glad you had the time and materials to give it a try. Don’t know if there’s a more effective design that’s as easy to build as this one. I’m happy with mine :)
This antenna design will allow for more but not completely omni - directional reception with the most signal gain facing the front and rear of the antenna. There is an additional modification that can be made with this antenna design that will allow for an increase in signal but in one direction at the expense of omni reception by adding a metal mash or screen as seen on other youtube videos. I built this antenna design with the additional metal screen in the back of the antenna. Great reception for a non Yagi design.
This antenna looks like a variation of the Gray-Hoverman. I did build it to see how it works. It does works well for UHF stations but I don't get any reception for the High VHF stations in my area. You need to add additional elements to this type of antenna for those frequencies.
Great design. I built one but instead of 7 inches between bends I did 5 3/4 since I had a 92 inch wire leftover from a hoverman gray antenna build I did a few years ago. This design outdid my basic hoverman gray, 4 channels come in with 100% signal with no loss, one surprise channel I can get I have to turn the antenna to get but it's transmitter is about 40 miles away and I haven't been able to watch that channel since they switched to a lower uhf channel. Still having trouble receiving the local CBS station and the local My Network affiliate which has the great retro tv add on channels but hopefully with moving the placement of the antenna I can get them in. I did add a cheap cereal box wrapped in foil reflector 5 inches from the antenna which helps with reception from the one station that has its transmitter 40 miles away. Thanks for posting the video. Just thought I'd add this, just had a severe thunderstorm roll through here and that usually affects the signal enough to make tv unwatchable but not this modified hoverman gray design all the channels were at 100% signal. Two thumbs up.
@@DIYProjectsWithMike I went to the local hardware store and bought 12 gauge copper wire since they had it on sale for $6 and built two antennas, one for the living room and one for the bedroom. In the living room I get all the local channels without a reflector. Bedroom I get all but the local CBS affiliate without turning the antenna, if I turn it 90 degrees I can get the CBS affiliate. And that's with the antennas being at just 7' height. Being in apartment I don't have an attic but I bet if I could get them higher in the air the signal strength would be green on all the channels. This is by far the best design that I have made and I've made quite a few over the years including the fractal stars, fractal snowflake stars, hoverman gray to name a few. Just wish I would've came across this video a year ago. I will be trying a reflector and let you know if it improves the signal strength.
Made one too. Super easy and better than the one I have. I skipped the PVC pieces since the wood I used is dry and to be put in attic so no insulation needed. As I understand it, if wood gets moist then the conduction it would create would worsen its reception. I hope this works for all the tvs I have feeding thru the splitter. Thanks for sharing your design.
nice build. you're picking up Mobile from 60 miles away? wow. I got everything I need to make this. I take it you don't have any VHF stations since you didn't add the "hats" for VHF elements? and I agree with the earlier commenter, you could run all your TVs off one antenna, maybe with a distribution amplifier. but that doesn't take anything away from this excellent video.
Reflector will actually lessen the amount of channels you get because it will only be directional and not bi-directional without the reflector using it without a reflector and lengthening dipoles oh, you'll get better results. Make sure that you have correct wavelength this is between the two contact points between each. Polar length. But I find this crucial.
Popular misconception, Mixing metals. Consider this: imagine that antenna, vibrating with each cycle of its frequency. That's exactly what it does. Ground. A firm Solid Ground. A must.
I'm going to make one of these. I've been using cable since tv stations went digital and cut their power. The 6 tv stations in my area are all 50 miles away. I'm guessing if I build this I will need to add a reflector and use an amplifier.
Could you tell me how you found out the dimensions of the wire lengths ??? Also, would using a reflector make more of a difference in reception Sir ??? Thanks for the info too.
Another great instructional video I made the tuxedo and it works great. Will be trying this one soon. Some questions: 1) Will this work as well if laid flat? 2) Are the bends simply to allow for compressing the 56 inches into a smaller form/would a straight 56" piece work as well?
Hi. Nicework, nice video. was wondering what kind of screws and washers are used for contacts. Are they also galvanized, and what size? thank you. And i had to buy 12 gauge wire because they were out of 14 gauge. hoping it's better.
Glad to see it work !!!! I’m in Gautier, Mississippi... been looking for someone to Build me an Antenna or Possibly Buy 1 from someone!!! I live in a Condominium , and have access to my Attic
D’Iberville/St. Martin! Would you like me to build one for you? You might be able to get the Mobile stations from Gautier. Send me an email at mburkacoustic@gmail.com if you want to exchange info. :)
In our area Utah the Frequencies range from 500 mHz Channel 14 to 674 mHz channel 30 all other channels are in between. The best length for receiving are multiple 1/4 wave lengths up to 5/8th wave lengths if you know 1 wavelength is 11.8" at 1 gHz this may help optimize you measurements. for getting the best results. Your 7 inches is 1 wavelength at 593mHz let me know if this helps. Suggestion go to a near by college or a HAM operator and see if they have a network Analyzer to Sweep the Antenna over its bandwidth. good Work Best of Luck.
I made a miniature-sort-like this, it does work, nice. coz' I can't find any copper wire around the house, tried the galvanize wire laying around. Still works
Levi Scythe Good to hear. The copper one I show in this video was a custom build that didn’t perform as well as the 7” that I teach. I use it though because the one I built in this video ended up in a friends attic. (Word gets around) :)
@GhettoRanger - I hate to BUST your bubbles... But this is a " Gray-Hoverman Antenna ", Danny is COPYING it... It's NOT his! By the way.... Why did they called "Gray-Hoverman" ??? Get out of the Ghetto and "Educate" yourself before posting such things!
@@JodBronson You mean Danny didn't just name this antenna the Grey- Hoverman? Oh no, say it aint so! Wow, how did you get so smart? Boy, do I ever feel like a Doyt! Well, it's not 1959 or 1964 anymore, Toto.
Danny's video of the gray hoverman is showing another man building it and not explaining how it's done. Danny never claimed that antenna. Danny did not build the bow ties design Danny tuned dead antenna. Spacing links and the distance between the end of the whiskers. And it is a great antenna
Nice design. Why not just make it omnidirectional by mounting them in a clock pattern on a 4 inch PVC pipe? This way you don't have to bother aiming it. I have mine 5 feet above my home and I get 55 channels with no pixelation. I have a huge oak tree right in the way, and I get clear reception. I have 6 bays looking towards the main channel clusters, and the omnidirectional right above it to catch the channels coming from other directions. I have cut the cord going on 3 years now.
Great that it works for you! It depends on the location. Omnidirectional designs have never worked for me where I live but it doesn’t mean that it won’t work. Obviously:) keep saving that money!!
How does this design perform compared to grey-hoverman? I want to build one, yours looks good (does this design have a name?) and I think is smaller which is an advantage, but want to build whichever works best. Do you have a printable schematic/plan? Thanks for all the helpful, well done videos! Kudos!!
The Gray Hoverman May work a bit better in some frequencies while this one may do better in others. I built this one so that it would fit in my attic. I don’t have a schematic.
Go to WWW.TVFOOL.COM and click on *" TV Signal Locator "* - From there, enter your Zip Code - From there, you should see Location / Miles / Directions of TV Towers. From there, point your Antenna to where it is the most Channels... That way, you will know what and where all the TV Channels is / are. *NOTE: Take your time and study all the Channels including distance + locations and all the " Important " Channels that YOU like!*
@@JodBronson Mostly posting was for any other late comers... threading it to you was more about making sure they saw it in proximity to your now outdated advice... (I know it was a year old, that's why I cited the date of my posting in the Comment)
Find them at Lowe’s. I understand that they may not be available in all locations. The ones I used were basically 1 by 2s 6ft long if that helps any. If you can’t find it, 1” pvc pipe can be used as well but it’s a bit harder to work with.
New to your channel, great videos, easy to follow. Finally cutting the cable, I have a question is it possible to build one antenna for multiple TV's. I want to use my home cable wiring to connected to the antenna. I plan to add a cable splitter amplifier to the antenna and signal boosters at each TV. The antenna will be mounted in the Attic, my HOA won't let me mount it on the roof. Which antenna do you think will work best or should i just build an antenna for each TV. Let me know what you think. Thank you.
Cornell Freeman I have a separate antenna for each tv but there are amplified splitters that are available in most home improvement stores. Your call. Congrats cutting the cord! You won’t regret the savings.
@@cornellfreeman8425 HOAs do not have the right to restrict the use of an outdoor antenna. Might be worth it to read up on the laws and then stick it to them (HOA) and then educate your neighbors, lol.
I do have a question...Do you use a signal amp? The 10" model I've made needs it to get stations about 35 miles away...all UHF. Hopefully, this new design won't require one.
I’ve only tried reflectors made of aluminum foil in my attic. Made receptions worse. Never tried one made of chicken wire etc. I suppose it would work if I mounted it outside
I have a couple of questions I have to bother you with because I imagine you may have covered these in other videos I haven't seen yet. My apologies if you have. I'm just starting to understand the basics when it comes to antennas. 1- obviously this is directional, but is there a difference between the front and the back? I wouldn't think there would be a difference in performance if you spun it around a complete 180 degrees, but I'm wrong all the time. 2) instead of turning it to 'see' the other stations you can pull signal from... couldn't you just make 2 antennas, face each one in the necessary direction, and join their signals somehow? Awesome and very easy to follow videos, thank you!
Russell Borrego No difference if you turn it 180. The one and only time I tried to connect two antennas together I lost reception big time. But I think I did it wrong so I won’t tell you not to. It may just work for you. It just didn’t work for me. One works better for me.
DIY Projects With Mike, wow! thanks for the fast reply! Thanks! Do you use boosters at all? If so, do you have one you recommend? One last question and I'll stop bugging you, is there a specific site for people like me who can check out and learn information that might be common knowledge to people like you? Just looking to cut down on my questions, and it's seems like there's a fair deal of misinformation out there.
Russell Borrego Never used a booster. I don’t need one since my stations are close enough. A booster with multiple outputs might come in handy if you wanted to hook up several TVs to one antenna. Thanks for the comment. :)
DIY Projects With Mike, thank you! I have now watched every antenna video you have, and probably another 2 or 3 dozen others since I posted that first question. Yours are short and to the point, which is fantastic. I've learned a ton. The majority of it thanks to you. I hope you realize there are probably many hundreds out there just like me that you helped educate, but just haven't posted a reply. Sincerely, thank you very much! Wishing you much luck in all you do. Russ
Russell Borrego Thank you for your wonderful comment! I was just like you and so many others looking for a solution to my high cable bill. I was going to look into buying an antenna when I saw a link to a video on how to build one yourself. It was the bow tie antenna and it didn’t work as well as I wanted it to and so I searched and watched and searched some more. I really didn’t know much about any of this stuff but I learned it all on the way. I created this channel with the hope that it may help others do what I did. Turns out that the hundreds you mentioned are actually hundreds of thousands!! I’m honored to provide the help you needed! Cable and satellite companies have kept us in the dark for decades. It’s time for us to take our TVs back!
I have a question concerning your method of crimping an indentation into the PVC block where the wire is clamped. The crimped indentation you show has an angle with a rounded curved but the wire taped to your pliers used to make that indentation appears to be straight. I don't understand how a curved indentation could be made by a straight wire. The indentation with a rounded angle would have to me made with a wire with a rounded angle. Did you just use the straight wire to make the straight parts of the indentation then fit the element in place and tighten the screw and washer to force the rounded angle of the element down into the PVC to make the rounded part of the indentation you showed? Or did you use a wire with that rounded angler shape taped to your pliers to crimp that part of the indentation?
Thank you for your quick reply. And thanks for the explanation. I have experimented using this antenna, a gray hoverman with VHF narods, your tuxedo with your modification for VHF (with two 23 inch upper parts), a gray hoverman modified for VHF in the same manner, and your VHF modified tuxedo with twice the number of fractals. Each antenna had a reflector made from chicken wire mesh spaced 4 inches behind the elements. and was tried in the same position (on an outdoor mast raising the antenna about 10ft. above ground ). For my needs the VHF modified double tuxedo worked the best. The hoverman type with the same VHF modifications is a close second. I am about 20 miles from Philly. The VHF modified double tuxedo antenna I built using your instructions gives me good signal strength for real RF channels VHF-low 2, 4, and 6; VHF-high 12;. and UHF 17, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 42, and 43.
I achieved the strongest signals with the balun connected to the angles 10 3/4 inches below the top. Because of its extended tuxedo shape I tried moving the balun 7 3/4 inches lower to the next angles. Even though in this position the balun was closer to the vertical midpoint, the signal strength was significantly reduced accross all the channels. I am very pleased with your antenna design. I have not seen either the 6-1-3 inch lengths or the way you have modified the design for VHF anywhere else. Works great 20 miles from Philly. Thank you again.
@@zappelectric5858 Thank you for conducting the tests and posting these results. Where did this antenna rank in order of performance among these tested - and how much worse? Thanks!!
most stations are still on the old freq. its just a digi signal not analog. so folks the simplest and pretty sure will work great... is dipole..... 468 divided by 500mhz. is about 1 foot long.. so 6 inch wire off center of your coax. 6 inch wire off shield of coax.. give it a try .. but any antenna for 1/2 wave its 468 divided by the freq. if you want full wave. 936 divided by freq will get you in ball park.. so it would be near 2ft long. 1 foot each side. look for homebrew dipole or j poles. will give ideas also .. more antenna doesnt always work folks. cut it for freq it will work tons better. otadtv. com/ frequency/ index .html. not tryin to take away from this video.. but who knows. just tossin it out there. sharing info.. i build all my antennas. from 400KHZ yes KiloHertz.. thats below am broadcast in your car.. to will above 1.2GHZ.. Gig Hertz.
@@piewolfe have no need. 14 inch piece of speaker wire. end stuck over center on coax. taped to side of house. i get all channels within 36 miles. when i have time ill make a nice little vertical. done deal.
What dimensions are those white blocks? I know they are 3/4 x 1 1/2 but what is the cut length? Or more importantly how far apart are the screws that hold the wires down?
Hey Mike, You're getting VHF high (digital 7 - 13) with this, without tweaking either the lengths or angles of the top and bottom wings?... keeping with the 7 inch lengths and same angles top and bottom? If so, how far away from those VHF transmitters? I have 40 miles to the NE Orlando at about 52-55 degrees, 50 miles to the SW TPA at almost exact reciprocal heading. With inexactly made and not-amplified stealth hawks I can get almost all available UHF's. But I have a tough time pulling in Orlando ch 2 broadcasting on digital 11, TPA 3 on digital 13, and TPA 8 on digital 7 (moving to 9). Also, now that the Repack is almost complete and nothing is being broadcasted on digital 37 and higher, would you do anything different to your lengths if building this today? The 7 inch lengths had to be giving you good gain on the mid and upper UHF channels. Were you getting digital UHF's 14 through 25 well with this? Many thanks
I’d say all uhf comes in fine. The only vhf I have in my area is rf13 at 10 miles & 3 kilowatts. I’m fortunate to be in the sweet spot to its polar plot. At 3 kilowatts, without a polar plot (some stations have then and some don’t) I might not be able to pick it up at all. Since the frequency change, I wonder if 8” would work better.....thanks for the comments
@@DIYProjectsWithMike [edited 5-7-20] This is a good build Mike. It doesn't perform well on the lowest VHF digital 7. It's great pulling almost all the UHF's in both directions looking SW and NE, 14 digital to 36, going out 40 and 50 miles in both directions. A couple VHF's are spotty, digital 11(40 miles), and digital 13(50 miles, weaker PBS). UHF digital 17(50 miles) is also spotty. Overall, really good. I've had good results also with inexactly made Stealth Hawks, either one by itself, or two ganged together running thru one balun, or two as separate antennas each thru a balun and then combined. I've played around with the angles of both those upper and lowers "wings," straightening the end 7 inch wings to make them horizontal (perpendicular) to the vertical axis, as a true Gray-Hoverman would be. I got really lucky with my first Stealth Hawk DIY antenna ... it's in a landfill now. That was just thrown together, beginners luck, from an old lampshade maybe older than us, don't know what metal it was, it survived hurricane Irma, and pulled better than two others that I was more particular and exact in assembly with. Somehow that was better on the VHF's than this, but this is better on the UHF's. Here's a pic : hosting.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/splitzcreen/Stealth%20Hawk%201/HAWK1CLOSEUP_zpsafe3bf6a.jpg. I'm going to try with yours straightening out completely those upper and/or lower wings to make them 14 inches in length, and/or adding a 2 inch extension to one/two/them.
Hope this works. Here’s a photo of the latest one i builtI [URL=s347.photobucket.com/user/mburkacoustic/media/Mobile%20Uploads/C953ECB0-B9F8-4CDF-A7C8-A1424340FF39_zpslpmqdvib.jpg.html][IMG]i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/mburkacoustic/Mobile%20Uploads/C953ECB0-B9F8-4CDF-A7C8-A1424340FF39_zpslpmqdvib.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Glen Rose I think it would too. But I think it would worth a try before mounting it outside. If you do have to mount it outside, your roof might act as a reflector. Mike
Thanks for your detail sharing in this video. May I know how do you figure out the 7" length? Do you mind share more about this part? Then I can know the length for my country UHF/VHF HDTV antenna.
Frank Chang I tried several different lengths and 7” performed the best. There’s something about the 7” length that just works. Thanks for your comment!
Caleb Drake I have mine in my attic. Once I got it set that was it and I didn’t have to mess with it again. Outside is fine as long the base is weatherproof.
@@DIYProjectsWithMike How much single increase did you get going from inside the house(room) to the attic? Debating between sticking it outside and sticking it in the Attic...I was hoping for more then 9-12 channels
Caleb Drake I guess about 20% increase and better stability. Got a whole lot better outside. Too much lightning scares me though so they’re in my attic:)
Have you been having WLOX and WXXV dropping signal or getting a weak signal lately? I have.. constantly. Is it time to swap out antennas? Thanks, Danny
Danny Your antenna may have been subject to corrosion. If you’ve cleaned it already, then it may be time for a switch. I switched to galvanized for my antennas which is a good choice for exterior. Everything is available at Lowes if you want to build it yourself or I can build it for you. I haven’t experienced signal problems from wlox and wxxv but wxxv always gave me more problems than the others. Wlox just changes their frequency from 39 to 32 and upped their power so it should come in better.
Yes. Keep in mind that would contains a certain level of moisture especially treated wood so there could be some signal loss. But to confess I still have at least one antenna up in my attic that is wood based And it has been working great for years.
There is. VHF low and VHF high. There is a dead zone spanning 86 Mhz between the two. Here are a couple links that will help you out. www.csgnetwork.com/tvfreqtable.html antennaweb.org/ On the antennaweb page, when you click "START HERE" and you type in your address and click "SUBMIT", it will give you a list of stations near you with a map showing lines to the towers (USA). Notice the "RF" channels. These are the channel frequencies in which they are actually transmitted regardless of which channel it appears on your TV.
I used them to deaden sound. I used the room as a recording studio. I’ve since moved everything into another room. It’s been a while since I’ve recorded any music.
The lowest channel in my area is RF 13 so I can’t say for sure. Remember channel 2 may not necessarily mean channel 2 as it could be virtual channel that it shows up on. Antennaweb or TVFool will show which RF it transmits. All I can tell you is build one and see if it does.
the issue there is that the Signal Degrades over every foot of Cable, and with every split/coupling that you install... You'll need Boosters and superior cables to feed multiple TVs
@@TJ52359 that is correct connectors and coax equals resistance. I am 20 miles away from the transmitters by the time I get to the furtherest television approximately 70 ft and several splitters I'm still able to receive usable signal. It is also true connections degrademore over time. Most particularly the one at the Balin. I use stainless or nickel Hardware . I am one mile from the Gulf of Mexico with prevailing Salt Air so I use Plasti Dip over Balin connections. Anything you can do to reduce resistance. Height of the antenna and minimal coax and splitters and of course fine-tuning the direction as well as the efficiency of the antenna all play into account. And then it gets into the sensitivity of the television.your very correct
I'm building 2 now with 14/2 kind of flimsy copper unlike yours. LoL your installing that in your bathroom! UPDATE - Both antenna are done, previously with a purchased cheap antenna I received 6 HD channels.. Now I have 9! 6-1 WCMU PBS 6-2 WCMU CMU-Kids 6-3 WCMU @ Create 8-1 WGTQ ABC 8-2 WTOM NBC 8-3 Comet 10-1 WWUP CBS 10-2 WFQX-DT 10-3 MeTV-DT All channels are clear and 8 are 1080i/720P with very good signal. The WCMU channels are supposedly over 70 miles away wow lol...
Want to thank you for this video. I have made the bow tie antenna and had good success with local channels. However, I was wanting to extend my range so after watching this video I made this antenna. I as able to get the TV station I wanted and it was as clear as my local stations; the distance was 65 miles. And it was made with materials that I already had. Great antenna! Thanks.
Fantastic design, Mike!!! I just built one yesterday and it works amazing!!! I used to spend at least two days building a dipole antenna (with whiskers) and a screen or aluminum rod reflector attached. I built your design in about 3 hours without a reflector and it actually works better!!! I put it up about 20 feet attached to a step ladder just for testing purposes and am using an ONN inline amplifier from WalMart (about $14.00) and I scanned 72 channels!!! This includes VHF low (channel 3 WEDU PBS from Tampa). I'm located halfway between Tampa and Ft. Myers Florida and I can get Ft. Myers as well as Tampa stations pretty much without any pixelation!!! This is a GREAT design! I guess it's all about the 60 degree angles and 7 inch lengths, isn't it? Very happy with this design and I'll be using it to make antennas for family and friends going forward!!!
Hmmmmmm, looks like you got good results! Also, have you tried with Steak Knives? Look at my simple design with Steak Knives... Here: ua-cam.com/video/P1JW3skjQZ0/v-deo.html
What/how do these geometries work?
Interesting comments! I also live in Florida and have that amplifier.
Hey Art. You're midway between TPA and FTM--what, about 98-100 miles as the crow flies. How far from TPA would you guess? You're getting with this Ch3 WEDU TPA (broadcasting on digital 13). Are you also getting Ch8 WFLA TPA (broadcasting on digital 7, moving to 9), and TPA Ch10 (broadcasting on 10). thanks
I live in Sarasota and need both the Tampa (020 degrees for VHF) and Ft. Myer's markets 120 degrees for UHF) curious what bearing you pointed the front of your antenna at to receive both markets. tnx
This design works well! I had a hard time locating insulators like you have, so I found that sturdy bottlecaps do a good job. Since mine is going outside, I dabbed some silicone sealant on the screws to slow down oxidation.
Hey Mike...
I've built a couple bow tie antennas in the past that have worked pretty well, but I decided to try this one. I'm really happy with how it works. It might even be better than the bow tie. Thanks for such a helpful video!
As a retired Radio and TV engineer in the UK, I find these US and Canadian antenna-building channels very interesting and I think yours is one of the best. I'm always looking for ideas for adapting them for other frequencies. In Western Europe the frequencies of UHF TV transmitters were planned in the early '60s when analogue TV began to expand from Hi-VHF (Band III, around 200 MHz) to UHF, I think West Germany was the first. This means that all of the channels in your area come from one site, so higher-gain antennas like Yagis and log-periodics are used and the transmitter power is lower, usually 100kW maximum for main stations. The bow-tie design is sometimes seen when a short wide-band antenna is required, but the Gray-Hoverman type is never seen. The Yagi antennas, normally used, have a narrower bandwidth, suitable for your local transmitter, rarely needing a bandwidth of more than 14 8-MHz wide channels (19 US 6-MHz channels). I think a single Bow-tie, mounted vertically, might be useful for Digital Radio which is transmitted here on the old European TV channels in the Hi-VHF Band.
This antenna is amazing. Just built one last week and the receptions are clearer and more than twice as many channels are coming in.
I used 11 GA galvanized fence bracing wire scraps and it works like a charm. It straightens out nicely by rolling it between 2 boards.
I tried this and it works well. I live 65 miles southeast of Columbus Ohio. I have a version of this sitting on a twelve foot pole and I'm pulling in 12 channels and there's a storm in the area. Thank you much for design
Mike what a great attitude and no-nonsense way of explaining how to build I believe one of the best antennas. Thank You for your ideas and thanking the time to explain.
Robert Klein
Thank you for comment. Made my evening!😀
Love that design! It seems similar to the basic Bowtie, except that the ends of each Bowtie are connected together by the fact that each side is just one long piece instead of multiple pieces for each Bowtie. If this is similar in performance to the Bowtie, I love that this design is much easier to work with.
Also - thanks for showing the signal meter on each channel. I always have to chuckle when I see someone go through each channel and simply declare they have good performance simply because they can see a good picture!
Now, put a good reflector on that thing, and you will double your signal!
Mike. Gonna put this together tomorrow. I tried one of your earlier ones, picked up 10 channels 60 miles away without a reflector, 18 with. Those are the closest towers to my location. Looking forward to trying this one.
I was just telling another person who commented about the reflector. That's good if you want to be directional but are you really going to be going in twisting this antenna every time you want to tune into a Channel? But you're right, what you are doing is you receiving peripheral reception from other stations, as well as bidirectionality from behind as well as what you think is forward. I made my own yagi what's a little expense. Probably $0. Set up without a reflector 107 channels. Yeah I know I'm bragging, but I do have some electrical Theory as well as antenna Theory and physical Theory under my belt. Or was shoved up my ass or something I don't know😅🤣
Built one of these today, using insulated wire taken from a chunk of NM cable. Super easy and works great. I already had the balun, wire, and chunk of wood, so a nice free project for quarantine.
It's a keeper : ) Tried it and it works just as good as the antenna I'm using now. This was a lot simpler than the that one, so I wish I had this back then. Keep it up.
John LeBlanc
Thanks John. Glad you had the time and materials to give it a try. Don’t know if there’s a more effective design that’s as easy to build as this one. I’m happy with mine :)
This antenna design will allow for more but not completely omni - directional reception with the most signal gain facing the front and rear of the antenna. There is an additional modification that can be made with this antenna design that will allow for an increase in signal but in one direction at the expense of omni reception by adding a metal mash or screen as seen on other youtube videos. I built this antenna design with the additional metal screen in the back of the antenna. Great reception for a non Yagi design.
Best antenna video I've seen so far
Thanks Grody! I appreciate the comment!
That is a masterpiece antenna looks damn good too thanks for the tutorial can't wait to build mine
Thanks, Mike! I know I'm doing tomorrow... I've built 3 of your 10" models and they work great...now time to try this design.
How did it go?
This antenna looks like a variation of the Gray-Hoverman. I did build it to see how it works. It does works well for UHF stations but I don't get any reception for the High VHF stations in my area. You need to add additional elements to this type of antenna for those frequencies.
How would I add those elements? I've built this design already.
Wonderful brother: thanks. A small suggestion put some cap or plastic piece to that sharp ends as they harm eyes or the birds flying.
Great design. I built one but instead of 7 inches between bends I did 5 3/4 since I had a 92 inch wire leftover from a hoverman gray antenna build I did a few years ago. This design outdid my basic hoverman gray, 4 channels come in with 100% signal with no loss, one surprise channel I can get I have to turn the antenna to get but it's transmitter is about 40 miles away and I haven't been able to watch that channel since they switched to a lower uhf channel. Still having trouble receiving the local CBS station and the local My Network affiliate which has the great retro tv add on channels but hopefully with moving the placement of the antenna I can get them in. I did add a cheap cereal box wrapped in foil reflector 5 inches from the antenna which helps with reception from the one station that has its transmitter 40 miles away. Thanks for posting the video.
Just thought I'd add this, just had a severe thunderstorm roll through here and that usually affects the signal enough to make tv unwatchable but not this modified hoverman gray design all the channels were at 100% signal. Two thumbs up.
That’s great news spikeg79! I hope moving it brings that channel in. Good luck!
@@DIYProjectsWithMike I went to the local hardware store and bought 12 gauge copper wire since they had it on sale for $6 and built two antennas, one for the living room and one for the bedroom. In the living room I get all the local channels without a reflector. Bedroom I get all but the local CBS affiliate without turning the antenna, if I turn it 90 degrees I can get the CBS affiliate. And that's with the antennas being at just 7' height. Being in apartment I don't have an attic but I bet if I could get them higher in the air the signal strength would be green on all the channels. This is by far the best design that I have made and I've made quite a few over the years including the fractal stars, fractal snowflake stars, hoverman gray to name a few. Just wish I would've came across this video a year ago. I will be trying a reflector and let you know if it improves the signal strength.
Why don’t antenna manufacturers use your logic and build a better antenna for the consumer? great job thanks
Made one too. Super easy and better than the one I have. I skipped the PVC pieces since the wood I used is dry and to be put in attic so no insulation needed. As I understand it, if wood gets moist then the conduction it would create would worsen its reception. I hope this works for all the tvs I have feeding thru the splitter. Thanks for sharing your design.
I hope it worked for you. If it gives you trouble maybe try an amp. I saw one at Lowe’s that splits to four TVs. I think it was the @$20
Very well put together video, guy. Thanks for making it.
Great! Thanks for this antenna. I like it. I need one for a antique TV. Blessings.
nice build. you're picking up Mobile from 60 miles away? wow. I got everything I need to make this. I take it you don't have any VHF stations since you didn't add the "hats" for VHF elements? and I agree with the earlier commenter, you could run all your TVs off one antenna, maybe with a distribution amplifier. but that doesn't take anything away from this excellent video.
Thanks for your experimentation. That's an interesting design. Will have to give that a try.
Lambert Klein I don’t think you’ll be disappointed:)
Good video. Shows everything that is needed.
Thanks for your reply, I’m going to try your build when the weather warms up. I was unsure if the reflector really helped that much. Thanks again!
Reflector will actually lessen the amount of channels you get because it will only be directional and not bi-directional without the reflector using it without a reflector and lengthening dipoles oh, you'll get better results. Make sure that you have correct wavelength this is between the two contact points between each. Polar length. But I find this crucial.
Have you tried Stainless Steel + Copper + Galvanized? It seems to me that by mixing, it helps. I believe each Metal Type absorb different frequencies.
Popular misconception, Mixing metals. Consider this: imagine that antenna, vibrating with each cycle of its frequency. That's exactly what it does. Ground. A firm Solid Ground. A must.
Could you tell me if you did anything to get the antenna to work with VHF ?? Would a reflector work better ?
A reflector might be worth a try. No guarantees though. One of those kind of things you have to see for yourself.
@@DIYProjectsWithMike So you just have to do a trial by error ?? Any other pointers Mike ? Enjoy Memorial day and peace to you fella too.
I'm going to make one of these. I've been using cable since tv stations went digital and cut their power. The 6 tv stations in my area are all 50 miles away.
I'm guessing if I build this I will need to add a reflector and use an amplifier.
Could you tell me how you found out the dimensions of the wire lengths ??? Also, would using a reflector make more of a difference in reception Sir ??? Thanks for the info too.
Very good video. Congrats.
Another great instructional video I made the tuxedo and it works great. Will be trying this one soon. Some questions: 1) Will this work as well if laid flat? 2) Are the bends simply to allow for compressing the 56 inches into a smaller form/would a straight 56" piece work as well?
Was wondering? Can I use wood blocks if I can’t find square pvc blocks?
Hi. Nicework, nice video. was wondering what kind of screws and washers are used for contacts. Are they also galvanized, and what size? thank you.
And i had to buy 12 gauge wire because they were out of 14 gauge. hoping it's better.
Glad to see it work !!!! I’m in Gautier, Mississippi... been looking for someone to Build me an Antenna or Possibly Buy 1 from someone!!! I live in a Condominium , and have access to my Attic
D’Iberville/St. Martin! Would you like me to build one for you? You might be able to get the Mobile stations from Gautier. Send me an email at mburkacoustic@gmail.com if you want to exchange info. :)
Similar to a Hoverman, probably with similar performance
Mike can I use electric fence wire used for livestock?
What range do you get ,,,I’m in a rural area closest station is pbs 90 miles away
In our area Utah the Frequencies range from 500 mHz Channel 14 to 674 mHz channel 30 all other channels are in between.
The best length for receiving are multiple 1/4 wave lengths up to 5/8th wave lengths if you know 1 wavelength is 11.8" at 1 gHz this may help optimize you measurements. for getting the best results. Your 7 inches is 1 wavelength at 593mHz let me know if this helps. Suggestion go to a near by college or a HAM operator and see if they have a network Analyzer to Sweep the Antenna over its bandwidth. good Work Best of Luck.
Nice sharing 👌🥰
Have you compared this antenna with the tri-4? If not, please do. Thank you.
Where to get the PVC material from?
Which one of your designs performs best? My channels range from 10 to 49. 10 and 49 are on the same tower 57 miles away.
I made a miniature-sort-like this, it does work, nice. coz' I can't find any copper wire around the house, tried the galvanize wire laying around. Still works
Levi Scythe
Good to hear.
The copper one I show in this video was a custom build that didn’t perform as well as the 7” that I teach. I use it though because the one I built in this video ended up in a friends attic. (Word gets around) :)
Next time I'll stick to the measurements, specs, etc. you made in this video for best reception, thanks for the tutorial sir
You should call it "The Danny Hodges" antenna.
@GhettoRanger
- I hate to BUST your bubbles... But this is a " Gray-Hoverman Antenna ", Danny is COPYING it... It's NOT his! By the way.... Why did they called "Gray-Hoverman" ??? Get out of the Ghetto and "Educate" yourself before posting such things!
@@JodBronson You mean Danny didn't just name this antenna the Grey- Hoverman? Oh no, say it aint so! Wow, how did you get so smart? Boy, do I ever feel like a Doyt! Well, it's not 1959 or 1964 anymore, Toto.
@@GhettoRanger01 - *Nigga, get out of your GHETTO head! Nigga is, Nigga does!* 😂😂😂😂😂
Danny's video of the gray hoverman is showing another man building it and not explaining how it's done. Danny never claimed that antenna. Danny did not build the bow ties design Danny tuned dead antenna. Spacing links and the distance between the end of the whiskers. And it is a great antenna
Nice design. Why not just make it omnidirectional by mounting them in a clock pattern on a 4 inch PVC pipe? This way you don't have to bother aiming it. I have mine 5 feet above my home and I get 55 channels with no pixelation. I have a huge oak tree right in the way, and I get clear reception. I have 6 bays looking towards the main channel clusters, and the omnidirectional right above it to catch the channels coming from other directions. I have cut the cord going on 3 years now.
Great that it works for you! It depends on the location. Omnidirectional designs have never worked for me where I live but it doesn’t mean that it won’t work. Obviously:) keep saving that money!!
How does this design perform compared to grey-hoverman? I want to build one, yours looks good (does this design have a name?) and I think is smaller which is an advantage, but want to build whichever works best. Do you have a printable schematic/plan? Thanks for all the helpful, well done videos! Kudos!!
The Gray Hoverman May work a bit better in some frequencies while this one may do better in others. I built this one so that it would fit in my attic. I don’t have a schematic.
how do U know how far the stations are I live in spring valley ca. sub.of san diego ca.and I don't see any stations
Go to WWW.TVFOOL.COM and click on *" TV Signal Locator "* - From there, enter your Zip Code - From there, you should see Location / Miles / Directions of TV Towers. From there, point your Antenna to where it is the most Channels... That way, you will know what and where all the TV Channels is / are. *NOTE: Take your time and study all the Channels including distance + locations and all the " Important " Channels that YOU like!*
@@JodBronson TV Fool is out of Date as of Summer 2020
@@TJ52359 - My post was 1+ year ago. If they are out of service, YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK!!! LMFAO
@@JodBronson Mostly posting was for any other late comers... threading it to you was more about making sure they saw it in proximity to your now outdated advice... (I know it was a year old, that's why I cited the date of my posting in the Comment)
Does aluminum wire work ok ?
Yes aluminum should be fine.
Mike. Where did you get the pvc blocks? I’ve had no luck finding any. Thanks
Find them at Lowe’s. I understand that they may not be available in all locations. The ones I used were basically 1 by 2s 6ft long if that helps any. If you can’t find it, 1” pvc pipe can be used as well but it’s a bit harder to work with.
Gray hoverman TV antenna
100%
New to your channel, great videos, easy to follow. Finally cutting the cable, I have a question is it possible to build one antenna for multiple TV's. I want to use my home cable wiring to connected to the antenna. I plan to add a cable splitter amplifier to the antenna and signal boosters at each TV. The antenna will be mounted in the Attic, my HOA won't let me mount it on the roof. Which antenna do you think will work best or should i just build an antenna for each TV. Let me know what you think. Thank you.
Cornell Freeman
I have a separate antenna for each tv but there are amplified splitters that are available in most home improvement stores. Your call.
Congrats cutting the cord! You won’t regret the savings.
Cornell Freeman
Oh btw, you might consider running a multi-booster for several TVs rather than a booster for each tv.
Just a thought.
Wow, thank you for to quick reply, i'm headed to Lowe's for the material.
@@cornellfreeman8425 HOAs do not have the right to restrict the use of an outdoor antenna. Might be worth it to read up on the laws and then stick it to them (HOA) and then educate your neighbors, lol.
@@raymccarty4612 yes, stick it up their ass. hoa.
I do have a question...Do you use a signal amp? The 10" model I've made needs it to get stations about 35 miles away...all UHF. Hopefully, this new design won't require one.
Clint Cates
I hope it doesn’t need an amp as well but it depends on your location. I don’t use one. Best of luck to you. And thanks.
Have you ever tried a reflector with this design?
I’ve only tried reflectors made of aluminum foil in my attic. Made receptions worse. Never tried one made of chicken wire etc. I suppose it would work if I mounted it outside
I have a couple of questions I have to bother you with because I imagine you may have covered these in other videos I haven't seen yet.
My apologies if you have. I'm just starting to understand the basics when it comes to antennas.
1- obviously this is directional, but is there a difference between the front and the back? I wouldn't think there would be a difference in performance if you spun it around a complete 180 degrees, but I'm wrong all the time.
2) instead of turning it to 'see' the other stations you can pull signal from... couldn't you just make 2 antennas, face each one in the necessary direction, and join their signals somehow?
Awesome and very easy to follow videos, thank you!
Russell Borrego
No difference if you turn it 180.
The one and only time I tried to connect two antennas together I lost reception big time. But I think I did it wrong so I won’t tell you not to. It may just work for you. It just didn’t work for me. One works better for me.
DIY Projects With Mike, wow! thanks for the fast reply! Thanks! Do you use boosters at all? If so, do you have one you recommend?
One last question and I'll stop bugging you, is there a specific site for people like me who can check out and learn information that might be common knowledge to people like you? Just looking to cut down on my questions, and it's seems like there's a fair deal of misinformation out there.
Russell Borrego
Never used a booster. I don’t need one since my stations are close enough. A booster with multiple outputs might come in handy if you wanted to hook up several TVs to one antenna.
Thanks for the comment. :)
DIY Projects With Mike, thank you! I have now watched every antenna video you have, and probably another 2 or 3 dozen others since I posted that first question. Yours are short and to the point, which is fantastic.
I've learned a ton. The majority of it thanks to you. I hope you realize there are probably many hundreds out there just like me that you helped educate, but just haven't posted a reply.
Sincerely, thank you very much! Wishing you much luck in all you do.
Russ
Russell Borrego
Thank you for your wonderful comment!
I was just like you and so many others looking for a solution to my high cable bill.
I was going to look into buying an antenna when I saw a link to a video on how to build one yourself.
It was the bow tie antenna and it didn’t work as well as I wanted it to and so I searched and watched and searched some more.
I really didn’t know much about any of this stuff but I learned it all on the way.
I created this channel with the hope that it may help others do what I did.
Turns out that the hundreds you mentioned are actually hundreds of thousands!!
I’m honored to provide the help you needed!
Cable and satellite companies have kept us in the dark for decades. It’s time for us to take our TVs back!
I have a question concerning your method of crimping an indentation into the PVC block where the wire is clamped.
The crimped indentation you show has an angle with a rounded curved but the wire taped to your pliers used to make that indentation appears to be straight. I don't understand how a curved indentation could be made by a straight wire. The indentation with a rounded angle would have to me made with a wire with a rounded angle. Did you just use the straight wire to make the straight parts of the indentation then fit the element in place and tighten the screw and washer to force the rounded angle of the element down into the PVC to make the rounded part of the indentation you showed? Or did you use a wire with that rounded angler shape taped to your pliers to crimp that part of the indentation?
ZappElectric
The pvc material I used in the video was used. Your idea of rounded wire is a good idea.
My apologies. :(
Thank you for your quick reply. And thanks for the explanation. I have experimented using this antenna, a gray hoverman with VHF narods, your tuxedo with your modification for VHF (with two 23 inch upper parts), a gray hoverman modified for VHF in the same manner, and your VHF modified tuxedo with twice the number of fractals. Each antenna had a reflector made from chicken wire mesh spaced 4 inches behind the elements. and was tried in the same position (on an outdoor mast raising the antenna about 10ft. above ground ). For my needs the VHF modified double tuxedo worked the best. The hoverman type with the same VHF modifications is a close second. I am about 20 miles from Philly. The VHF modified double tuxedo antenna I built using your instructions gives me good signal strength for real RF channels VHF-low 2, 4, and 6; VHF-high 12;. and UHF 17, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 42, and 43.
I achieved the strongest signals with the balun connected to the angles 10 3/4 inches below the top. Because of its extended tuxedo shape I tried moving the balun 7 3/4 inches lower to the next angles. Even though in this position the balun was closer to the vertical midpoint, the signal strength was significantly reduced accross all the channels.
I am very pleased with your antenna design. I have not seen either the 6-1-3 inch lengths or the way you have modified the design for VHF anywhere else. Works great 20 miles from Philly. Thank you again.
@@zappelectric5858 Thank you for conducting the tests and posting these results. Where did this antenna rank in order of performance among these tested - and how much worse? Thanks!!
most stations are still on the old freq. its just a digi signal not analog. so folks the simplest and pretty sure will work great... is dipole..... 468 divided by 500mhz. is about 1 foot long.. so 6 inch wire off center of your coax. 6 inch wire off shield of coax.. give it a try .. but any antenna for 1/2 wave its 468 divided by the freq. if you want full wave. 936 divided by freq will get you in ball park.. so it would be near 2ft long. 1 foot each side. look for homebrew dipole or j poles. will give ideas also .. more antenna doesnt always work folks. cut it for freq it will work tons better. otadtv. com/ frequency/ index .html. not tryin to take away from this video.. but who knows. just tossin it out there. sharing info.. i build all my antennas. from 400KHZ yes KiloHertz.. thats below am broadcast in your car.. to will above 1.2GHZ.. Gig Hertz.
If you tried this design, I believe you'd be a believer. I'm sold on it.
@@piewolfe have no need. 14 inch piece of speaker wire. end stuck over center on coax. taped to side of house. i get all channels within 36 miles. when i have time ill make a nice little vertical. done deal.
What dimensions are those white blocks? I know they are 3/4 x 1 1/2 but what is the cut length? Or more importantly how far apart are the screws that hold the wires down?
Nevermind. Hadn't watched the video far enough. My bad.
Hey Mike, You're getting VHF high (digital 7 - 13) with this, without tweaking either the lengths or angles of the top and bottom wings?... keeping with the 7 inch lengths and same angles top and bottom? If so, how far away from those VHF transmitters? I have 40 miles to the NE Orlando at about 52-55 degrees, 50 miles to the SW TPA at almost exact reciprocal heading. With inexactly made and not-amplified stealth hawks I can get almost all available UHF's. But I have a tough time pulling in Orlando ch 2 broadcasting on digital 11, TPA 3 on digital 13, and TPA 8 on digital 7 (moving to 9). Also, now that the Repack is almost complete and nothing is being broadcasted on digital 37 and higher, would you do anything different to your lengths if building this today? The 7 inch lengths had to be giving you good gain on the mid and upper UHF channels. Were you getting digital UHF's 14 through 25 well with this? Many thanks
I’d say all uhf comes in fine. The only vhf I have in my area is rf13 at 10 miles & 3 kilowatts. I’m fortunate to be in the sweet spot to its polar plot. At 3 kilowatts, without a polar plot (some stations have then and some don’t) I might not be able to pick it up at all. Since the frequency change, I wonder if 8” would work better.....thanks for the comments
@@DIYProjectsWithMike [edited 5-7-20] This is a good build Mike. It doesn't perform well on the lowest VHF digital 7. It's great pulling almost all the UHF's in both directions looking SW and NE, 14 digital to 36, going out 40 and 50 miles in both directions. A couple VHF's are spotty, digital 11(40 miles), and digital 13(50 miles, weaker PBS). UHF digital 17(50 miles) is also spotty. Overall, really good. I've had good results also with inexactly made Stealth Hawks, either one by itself, or two ganged together running thru one balun, or two as separate antennas each thru a balun and then combined. I've played around with the angles of both those upper and lowers "wings," straightening the end 7 inch wings to make them horizontal (perpendicular) to the vertical axis, as a true Gray-Hoverman would be. I got really lucky with my first Stealth Hawk DIY antenna ... it's in a landfill now. That was just thrown together, beginners luck, from an old lampshade maybe older than us, don't know what metal it was, it survived hurricane Irma, and pulled better than two others that I was more particular and exact in assembly with. Somehow that was better on the VHF's than this, but this is better on the UHF's. Here's a pic : hosting.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/splitzcreen/Stealth%20Hawk%201/HAWK1CLOSEUP_zpsafe3bf6a.jpg. I'm going to try with yours straightening out completely those upper and/or lower wings to make them 14 inches in length, and/or adding a 2 inch extension to one/two/them.
Sorry it didn’t work for you. Try straightening out the top first before both top and bottom.
Hope this works. Here’s a photo of the latest one i builtI [URL=s347.photobucket.com/user/mburkacoustic/media/Mobile%20Uploads/C953ECB0-B9F8-4CDF-A7C8-A1424340FF39_zpslpmqdvib.jpg.html][IMG]i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/mburkacoustic/Mobile%20Uploads/C953ECB0-B9F8-4CDF-A7C8-A1424340FF39_zpslpmqdvib.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Try again. i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/mburkacoustic/Mobile%20Uploads/C953ECB0-B9F8-4CDF-A7C8-A1424340FF39_zpslpmqdvib.jpg
Roger that. Thanks
Hi Mike, I have a metal roof. If I build one and put in my attic, will the metal roof affect the signal? I'm thinking it would. tkx.
Glen Rose
I think it would too. But I think it would worth a try before mounting it outside.
If you do have to mount it outside, your roof might act as a reflector.
Mike
How do I add Hi-VHF to this antenna? Thanks in advance.
😊 Good
Thanks for your detail sharing in this video.
May I know how do you figure out the 7" length? Do you mind share more about this part? Then I can know the length for my country UHF/VHF HDTV antenna.
Frank Chang
I tried several different lengths and 7” performed the best. There’s something about the 7” length that just works. Thanks for your comment!
What kind of metal
I get 9-12 channels depends on who holds it in my kitchen....would moving it to attic really help that much? Is this setup ok to be used outside?
Caleb Drake
I have mine in my attic. Once I got it set that was it and I didn’t have to mess with it again.
Outside is fine as long the base is weatherproof.
@@DIYProjectsWithMike
How much single increase did you get going from inside the house(room) to the attic? Debating between sticking it outside and sticking it in the Attic...I was hoping for more then 9-12 channels
Caleb Drake
I guess about 20% increase and better stability. Got a whole lot better outside. Too much lightning scares me though so they’re in my attic:)
Have you been having WLOX and WXXV dropping signal or getting a weak signal lately? I have.. constantly. Is it time to swap out antennas?
Thanks, Danny
Danny
Your antenna may have been subject to corrosion. If you’ve cleaned it already, then it may be time for a switch. I switched to galvanized for my antennas which is a good choice for exterior.
Everything is available at Lowes if you want to build it yourself or I can build it for you.
I haven’t experienced signal problems from wlox and wxxv but wxxv always gave me more problems than the others.
Wlox just changes their frequency from 39 to 32 and upped their power so it should come in better.
@@DIYProjectsWithMike if you'd build me a new one, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for the quick reply
Can it be made from darker material or do u suggest it not
Danny
I was thinking about painting the material. Give me a little time. I’ll make you one.
Thank you Mike
Can i just not use a pvc block and go directly to the wood base??
Yes. Keep in mind that would contains a certain level of moisture especially treated wood so there could be some signal loss. But to confess I still have at least one antenna up in my attic that is wood based And it has been working great for years.
Wood
How would i adapt this for vhf low? Add 2 elements to the top that are 19 inches longish?
You might need a separate antenna altogether for VHF low. (If this antenna doesn’t pick it up already).
is there a difference between vhf high and vhf? if there is, can this antenna bring in vhf?
There is. VHF low and VHF high. There is a dead zone spanning 86 Mhz between the two. Here are a couple links that will help you out.
www.csgnetwork.com/tvfreqtable.html
antennaweb.org/
On the antennaweb page, when you click "START HERE" and you type in your address and click "SUBMIT", it will give you a list of stations near you with a map showing lines to the towers (USA). Notice the "RF" channels. These are the channel frequencies in which they are actually transmitted regardless of which channel it appears on your TV.
DIY Projects With Mike thanks for the links!
What are the carpets on your wall for? Does it help with sound dampening , or is it for another purpose like heat insulation? Thnx
I used them to deaden sound. I used the room as a recording studio. I’ve since moved everything into another room. It’s been a while since I’ve recorded any music.
Is that covering from dtv channel 2 on up?
It might if you’re really close to the station. Do you have rf channel 2 in your area?
@@DIYProjectsWithMike 5 through 7 and I think there's a PBS 2 in the region
The lowest channel in my area is RF 13 so I can’t say for sure. Remember channel 2 may not necessarily mean channel 2 as it could be virtual channel that it shows up on. Antennaweb or TVFool will show which RF it transmits. All I can tell you is build one and see if it does.
Do you sell these kits?
I don’t sell kits. I get all my stuff at Lowe’s
You could run all of your TV's on one antenna
the issue there is that the Signal Degrades over every foot of Cable, and with every split/coupling that you install...
You'll need Boosters and superior cables to feed multiple TVs
@@TJ52359 that is correct connectors and coax equals resistance. I am 20 miles away from the transmitters by the time I get to the furtherest television approximately 70 ft and several splitters I'm still able to receive usable signal. It is also true connections degrademore over time. Most particularly the one at the Balin. I use stainless or nickel Hardware . I am one mile from the Gulf of Mexico with prevailing Salt Air so I use Plasti Dip over Balin connections. Anything you can do to reduce resistance. Height of the antenna and minimal coax and splitters and of course fine-tuning the direction as well as the efficiency of the antenna all play into account. And then it gets into the sensitivity of the television.your very correct
I'm building 2 now with 14/2 kind of flimsy copper unlike yours. LoL your installing that in your bathroom!
UPDATE - Both antenna are done, previously with a purchased cheap antenna I received 6 HD channels.. Now I have 9!
6-1 WCMU PBS
6-2 WCMU CMU-Kids
6-3 WCMU @ Create
8-1 WGTQ ABC
8-2 WTOM NBC
8-3 Comet
10-1 WWUP CBS
10-2 WFQX-DT
10-3 MeTV-DT
All channels are clear and 8 are 1080i/720P with very good signal.
The WCMU channels are supposedly over 70 miles away wow lol...
Wow that’s amazing! So glad it works for you
Where do You get the PVC Material 3/4" X 1"X 2"
Z71Ranger
I found the pvc materials at Lowes
how would you add VHF capability to this antenna? VHF and UHF transmit from different directions. tnx
The top "longer" element is the vhf. Uhf has shorter. There are usually more uhf than vhf elements bc vhf elements will scramble each other
Depressions, not "crimps".
Impressions even
Number 1 there is no hd antennas.
Looks a lot like a gray hoverman antenna mikey boy