Nice work! On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Gordon Williams wrote: > Just to report back. =A0I put the antenna together and it works amazingly > well!! =A0The number of channels increased from 7 to 14! > > An hour or so with junk that I had around the house and presto! > > A few pictures for those that are interested. > > http://web.ncf.ca/fh489/antenna/ > > Gordon Williams > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John Ferrell" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 3:32 PM > Subject: Re: [EE] OTA antenna design question > > >> On 10/5/2011 10:15 AM, Gordon Williams wrote: >> > Hi, >> > >> > In Canada all the over the air channels have now gone digital and I ne= ed > a >> > UHF antenna to pick up the local channels. =A0Where I live the two mai= n >> > transmitters are roughly 180 deg. apart so I need something that will >> > receive equally in both directions as I don't want the hassle of turni= ng > the >> > antenna while I switch stations. =A0This is also going to be an indoor > antenna >> > on my 3rd floor. >> > >> > Currently I'm using rabbit ears set up as a straight dipole and > collapsed a >> > bit from full length to maximize signal strength. =A0It works OK but a= few > of >> > the stations are breaking up a bit so I need something with a bit more > gain. >> > >> > It looks like the bow tie types of antennas are easy to build and I'm >> > looking at a two-bay design with whiskers of 9" length, spaced at 8.5" > with >> > the feed lines spaced at 1.25". =A0Basically the center section of >> > http://m4antenna.eastmasonvilleweather.com/Drawings/PDF%20Drawings.htm= l >> > this design. >> > >> > The question has to do with the size of the wire. =A0From the little t= hat > I >> > know about antennas is that size matters. =A0It is supposed to be 1/8"= .. > What >> > I have is #14 gauge (1/16") that I have wound together to increase siz= e > and >> > rigidity. >> > >> > Will the twisted nature of the wire and the fact that it is not solid > 1/8" >> > affect the performance of the antenna? >> > >> > Thanks, >> > >> > Gordon Williams >> > >> > >> You are going to be pleasantly surprised! The fellow with the plans has >> done a great job. Since you want a bidirectional pattern, you will most >> likely be better off without a reflector. >> >> Considering that this is a small indoor antenna in one plane, you can >> probably =A0tape it on a piece of corrugated cardboard for at least the >> first prototype. =A0Don't get too fussy about precision measurements, th= ey >> will average out since the elements are basically in parallel. >> >> Please let us know how it works out! >> >> -- >> John Ferrell W8CCW >> >> >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive >> View/change your membership options at >> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .