Clothes Hanger Television

Hello Guest,

Those types of antennae for TV and Radio Hams have been tried many years ago, and discarded.

They are damaged very easily:

• Lightning strikes
• High Wind
• Rot in the wood
• Other factors all render that type of antenna useless in a short time.

For indoor use only, perhaps OK, if you want to look at one in your living room.

If you really need a TV antenna, best to purchase from a local supplier, who knows the local field strength patterns, has test equipment for fine adjustments too.

The other thing to remember, is that a commercial TV Antenna maker has a complete finished product, at very reasonable cost, normally far cheaper than the individual parts can be bought for, because of their bulk purchasing, as well as using mass-production techniques.

Satisfactory TV reception is a combination of factors:

1. Output Power of TV transmitter
2. Orientation of transmitter antenna
3. Terrain in between transmitter antenna and receiver antenna
4. Powered preamplifier if one is needed at receiver antenna
5. Climate: Fine, Rain, hail, snow, thunderstorm, tornado

There are other factors, but the above are the most relevant.

Hope that assists you.

Kind Regards....

In addition to what Sparky said, the U.S. is going completely digital transmission in early 2009 (not sure of the date but it is being discussed in the main media.) They're saying that rabbit ears won't work then unless you buy a converter.

I did grow up watching only 1 TV channel that our rabbit ears pulled in.

I had the typical engineers radio antennae on my car, a coat hanger, for a couple of years; you know, one of those things on the "to do" list and never quite getting around to it. I was forever having to replace it, someone would "knock it off" so eventually I replaced it with a short piece of insulated electrical conductor, and that stayed there until the car died the beginning of last year.

By not signing up for cable and paid satellite, a family can save from 4-800 dollars US, up to $ 50,000 US, not sure about other countries. There is a video on http://www.metacafe.com and http://www.youtube.com on how to make one of those indoor antennas. Plus, it's not ugly as you can decorate it , you don't have to take it back to the store if it doesn't work for you, give it to a friend. The video on metacafe has over 40,000 hits. That's a trend. If you have a short cable run RG-6, few splitters, high amplifier 22db. All you would have to pay for is the amp. To potentially save up to $ 50,000 US dollars over a lifetime.