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Old 03-10-2012, 11:18 PM   #1
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Name: Colin
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HD Antennas

Do these things work well for a trailer? I was thinking about mounting one hidden in a cabinet. I found one for super cheap as well as TV mounts.

For only $16.46 each when QTY 50+ purchased - HDTV Indoor / Outdoor Antenna | Outdoor/Indoor HD Antennas
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Old 03-11-2012, 08:45 AM   #2
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In my experience,No.

There is no such thing as an "HD Antenna".

There is no special sauce for HD reception that is different than TV reception has ever been.

The performance will depend on where you are,how you are oriented in relation to the broadcast signals and how high in the air and how big your antenna is.

It is especially tough to get great reception from all sides at once and with the way a Digital tuner works this makes it tough to tune and move the antenna and retune so it can be frustrating to say the least.

We have talked about this here to death it seems to me, search the forums and read some of this and see what you can pick up.
Everyones experience is different and it always depends on location too.

If you are camping with others look in the air and see what others use.

10 to 1 it is the Sensar,easily and there is a good reason.
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Old 03-11-2012, 09:44 AM   #3
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Listen to Ed Harris, he is absolutely correct.

They are putting HD on everything to scam people into thinking it is needed to get HD over the air. My VHF/UHF antenna on both my house (15 years) and RV draw in the signal just fine and guess what, it has more resolution than a Satellite HD transmission.
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Old 03-11-2012, 09:47 AM   #4
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I built one of these and it works great.

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Old 03-11-2012, 10:00 AM   #5
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The Coat Hanger Antenna. Appears nothing has changed from the beginning of TV to today.

Car coat hanger antennas to bumper connectors. I once had a 1955 ford with a coat hangered tied on front bumper off a 1950 Oldsmobile back, and it even had a license plate light on it. The bumper fell off in Fort Madison Iowa and I ran over it.

Had a length of coat hanger wire sticking up for the antenna.

Those were the days.
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Old 03-11-2012, 10:54 AM   #6
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I actually have that one and use it at my shop where I don't have cable or an outside UHF/VHF antenna. Reception is mostly fine on most clear days, cloudy days not so much. I can only get HD channels - 3 Public Televison channels including CreateTV (yay), and Fox Network (blech).
It can be touchy. My shop has metal siding. I have the antenna mounted next to a window, and sometimes I have to nudge and wiggle and hold the cable wire in order to get reception, but mostly its the clouds that affect reception.

BTW, my husband is a rural mail carrier. He HAS a coat hanger antenna on one of his mail cars as we speak. They tend to break off if he hits an icy patch and slides too close to the mailbox.
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Old 03-11-2012, 11:03 AM   #7
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The Coat Hanger Antenna. Appears nothing has changed from the beginning of TV to today.

.............
Ahem. This is a TUNED coat hanger antenna.
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Old 03-11-2012, 11:18 AM   #8
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Tremendous DIY HD Antenna

Tom, That is an amazing video that many of us can really use! With the cost of almost everything skyrocketing that gives us little guys some hope!

I need to build one of these. Is that you in the video?

Thanks Indeed
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Old 03-11-2012, 11:34 AM   #9
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Smoke and mirrors.

Remember "Digital" speakers? Show me a human born with digital ears and I may buy it...

Any antenna with both VHF and UHF capabilities will do you just fine in an area with lots of stations. As a matter of fact, I am currently using an old set of rabbit ears in Sacramento and I get 30 stations. If I totally unhook the rabbit ears, I get 10 stations.. with nothing.

The Wingard Batwing antennas we all know and love have become antiquated now. They are heavy, (Relatively) a potential source of leaks and you have to add a "wingman" Winegard Wingman for Sensar UHF/VHF improvement - $20.89 to make them more effective for the hd ranges.

Its the shape, and not the smoke and mirrors that make one style of antenna better than another for picking up digital stations.

I removed my winegard batwing last week, glassed over the giant hole and zillion screw holes and will either use the amplified antenna I bought and used in the desert last year or mount a JACK Aftermarket Antenna where the Winegard was. This leaves me with the hole and potential leak equation, so I haven't decided yet. (The one a i got last year sits on a pole and I use thru the cable input .. no roof penetrations.)
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Old 03-11-2012, 11:53 AM   #10
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Smile

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas G. View Post
I built one of these and it works great.

Thank you Tom, I'm going to make one.
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Old 03-11-2012, 01:55 PM   #11
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.........Is that you in the video? ............

No.
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Old 03-11-2012, 02:40 PM   #12
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Thats pretty cool! But ugly as hell! And dangerous for eyeballs, Especially for my young kids. I think I will stick to the slick one for $18.73! Much prettier!
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Old 03-11-2012, 02:55 PM   #13
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Thats pretty cool! But ugly as hell! And dangerous for eyeballs, Especially for my young kids. I think I will stick to the slick one for $18.73! Much prettier!

You could make a much nicer one for almost nothing. The one in the video was made to toss behind a cabinet. But....do what ya want.
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Old 03-11-2012, 08:00 PM   #14
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Same idea as the above video but prettier and weatherproof:
.

It shows the bowties being soldered, which would be good. I just used stainless bolts & stopnuts. I also notched the pvc where it meets & used pvc glue before bolting the pieces together for extra stability.

The antenna has been sitting outside for over two years sucking down all the stations in the Portland metro area. Crystal clear. Total cost less than $20 and much better than the several expensive "amplified" antennae we tried first.

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Old 03-12-2012, 06:37 AM   #15
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That's a cool trick for straightening wire out with a drill and a vice.
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Old 03-12-2012, 07:29 AM   #16
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This is the antenna I use. Channel Master 4221HD Mid-range outdoor rooftop HDTV antenna at Crutchfield.com It is the same basic antenna as the coat hanger antenna but it has a reflector which makes it more directional. The range is about 45 miles with no amplifier. It packs into a box which is 2'X3' about 3" tall which I just lay on the upper bed of the 5th wheel in transit. I mount it to a pool cleaning pole which is mounted to a bracket attached to the camper.
The coat hanger antenna is good if you in the center of several transmitters. The Channel Master is better if you have several transmitters in the same direction. Channel Master also makes a two detector antenna which is half the size 18"X 24" but it cost more.
If you go to TV Fool and plot your camping location it will tell you where the TV transmitters are located in respect to your camp site. This really helps in aiming your antenna.
I don't have any connection with Crutchfields but they have been really great to deal with.
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