How to Build a Free HDTV Antenna
It's not ancient history when TV was free, but old-time antennas often got fuzzy pictures. Now, HDTV is free, bounced off satellites for everyone to receive. Better yet, you can get stronger over-the-air HDTV signals than cable and satellite providers charge you for. The difference is, cable TV signals are not over-the-air, so you don't get as many channels.
What you get, with an antenna made from wire coat hangers, is a free HDTV antenna that can provide savings of more than $1,000 per year. That's why the YouTube video has over one million views.
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Things You'll Need
- Saw
- Phillips screwdriver or power drill with Phillips head bit
- 1/8-inch drill bit
- Metal cutters or pliers with cutting section
- Wire strippers
- Steel wool or sandpaper
- Tape measure or ruler
- Pencil or marking pen
- 75-ohm coaxial cable
- 2X4 or 1X4 piece of wood, 4 feet long
- 30-inch-by-16-inch plywood, heavy cardboard or metal grate
- Aluminum foil
- Wire coat hangers
- Wood screws
- Metal washers
- UHF/VHF transformer/adapter
Instructions
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Free HDTV Antenna with Coat Hangers
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1
Get a piece of plywood, paneling, heavy cardboard or anything else that provides a rigid surface. This backing should be approximately 30 inches by 16 inches, enough to extend to the edges of the coat hanger array. If your HD antenna is going outside, metal drying racks from a dollar store or grates from an old oven also work.
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2
Wrap the board with aluminum foil. Secure it with high-temperature duct tape on its backside if the antenna will be in an attic or outside.
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3
Cut a 2X4 for outside or a 1X4 by inside to 41 inches in length. This length affords enough room to make the antenna to attach a motor if you care to make the antenna movable.
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4
Place the 2X4 narrow side down on your work surface or floor. Place the backing board with the aluminum facedown on top of it. Center the aluminum board. Nail or screw it in place.
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5
Measure the hanger attachments 7 inches from one another on both edges of the board. The matching transformer, aka "balun," is attached between "bow ties" No. 1 and No. 2.
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6
Attach the screws with washers, making sure the washers do not touch. Drive the screws in halfway. If you're using the 1X4 for inside use, place the screws on the wide portion of the board, rather than on the narrow side as on the 2X4.
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7
Cut the "hook" off the coat hangers and the curly part of the opposite end. Straighten each hanger and fold it in half, so a "V" is formed in the middle. Trim each hanger so that each "V" has 7-inch legs. You will have a total of eight hanger "V"s. Sand or scrape any paint or insulation of the hanger "V"s, so that bare wire contacts each washer.
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8
Secure each of the "V" hangers under the screws and washers. You can also use any 12-gauge bare wire, if you prefer.
Run the two remaining hangers or other solid wire from each top "bow tie" and down the opposite side through the third bow tie, making the final connection on the fourth bow tie on the same side as the first connection. The wires will cross between the first-second, and third-fourth bow ties, and at these crossing points, at least one wire should be insulated.
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9
Attach the UHF/VHF transformer/balun. This is the connection for the cable that goes to the TV. Use the marks between hanger bow ties No. 2 and No. 3 where previously marked.
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10
Recheck that your "V" wires are the same length and parallel with the foil backing (ground or wall if you're not using the background.) Make sure the spread of all "V"s is uniform and parallel with the foil background.
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11
Connect your homemade HD antenna to your television.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Total construction time is 30 minutes to one hour.
"Balun" is a contraction of "balanced" and "unbalanced." It electrically isolates the antenna from the coaxial cable. Balun is also known as a UHF/VHF transformer. It is the means to connect the cable from the antenna to the television.
