The $10 TV Antenna
I really don’t like Comcast.
Since I don’t like Comcast so much I got rid of as much of my Cable television package as possible (they acutally charge more if I have only internet). So I am paying 2 dollars per month in rent for their cable box and I am pay walled out of HD service.
The only show I ever watch is local NEWS and surprise surprise watching standard definition on a 55" TV was not the best.
What else could I do but scoop my local NEWS right out of the air.
I began looking at antennas, and I just didn’t love the idea of buying a 20–40 dollar antenna that I wasn’t sure would work.
So I made one.
I researched a few designs and I really enjoyed this one from Popular Mechanic.
I don’t like committing to a project without a good idea of what it will cost and I don’t want you to feel lied to, so here is the list of supplies I used but most of it I had laying around the house.:
17' of 12 gauge bare copper wire $3.91
an impedance matching transformer like this one $4.00
a plank of wood (I got mine from a pallet) $3.98
a box of screws
a bag of washers
some coax cable $4.77
a wall socket $1.01
a coax faceplate $3.97
PVC pipe $3.98
Hose clamps $3.70
Not all of this is strictly necessary but if you had nothing then this project could cost you $29.32. The necessary items (wire, transformer, and wood) comes in right at 8 dollars add tax and you could build it for $10.
So I cut my wire into 10 pieces, 8 x 17" pieces and 2 x 34" pieces. I marked out roughly where I thought they would end up and bent the 34" pieces in the shape used by Popular Mechanic. I bend my 8 17" wires and screwed everything down.
First I tested directly into the back of the TV and ran a channel scan.
Success!
Next up was to set it up so that my wife could stand it. So I cut a hole in the wall the size of the wall socket from Home Depot. I crawled through the attic and dropped some coax down the wall where the hole was (I cut my hole right next to a phone line so that I could run the coax right next to it). I installed the wall socket with the coax.
I put the antenna in the attic so that my wife and the Home Owners Association can’t see it. I mounted the antenna right in the peak and connected it by two PVC pipes so that I could point it towards the local broadcast.
I used the TV transmitter and locator tool and a compass to direct my antenna and get it pointed towards my local broadcast station.
Lastly I scanned for channels on my smart TV and kept my fingers crossed. Low and behold I receive 38 HD channels from my location.
As an added bonus my FireTV can download a channel guide from the internet. I can pause live TV and do a little bit of rewinding a feature that would cost extra from Comcast.
Not bad for 17' of copper wire, a transformer, a plank of wood, and some coax.
A few weeks later I thought I would get slick an add a $10 amplifier from Amazon, but I actually received fewer channels, so I returned it.