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Best DIY Antenna For Cambridge & Kitchener, ON?

34K views 98 replies 18 participants last post by  c-sat 
#1 ·
What is the best GH antenna for Cambridge, Ontario that I should build?
 
#27 ·
Hi Hamid14,

Did you finish building a GH?
Did you ever figure out how to get your TV into 'antenna mode'? I think this would probably be the first thing that needs to get done. The frequencies are not the same for OTA and Cable. If you could at least find a model number you should be able to find a manual online which might tell you how to change the mode without the original remote.
 
#42 ·
You're not that far from me.
With a 4228 style antenna I was able to pull in about 15 HD channels and penty od analog channels - basically the stronger Toronto and Buffalo channels.
I'm going to try a DBGH later this spring to see if it does any better.
Have any of you tried an industial supplier for the copper rod (ie brafasco) I'm pretty sure they carry 1/8 copper rod.
 
#37 ·
re: what do I need

I've re run my report and I appear to have improved reception results? They look very similar to ebomers. I put my antenna at 30 feet which is close to the height of my roof.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=b7c84707e3b799

I've given up trying to find heavy guage wire for my antenna. I'm going to try and find some of the 1/8" copper tubing to use instead. I may even have it built this weekend. I'm not sure I'm ready to get on the roof and mount it even though it is a balmy +3 degrees this weekend.
 
#38 ·
I've given up trying to find heavy guage wire for my antenna. I'm going to try and find some of the 1/8" copper tubing to use instead.
1/8" copper tubing is even rarer. It was used sometimes on old timey pressure switched shallow well systems that didnt have pre-pressured tanks. But, a 10ft roll of 1/4" copper tubing should be found at your local Home Depot that will do fine.
 
#39 ·
Thanks for the advice 300ohm. Unfortunately I didn't read it in time. Because I couldn't find 1/8 copper tube I bought some 10 AWG wire for the elements. I got my DBGH put together roughly and did a test from my living room. I was able to pull in 3 more analogue channels than I could with the single bay, but no digital yet.

I still have work to do on it though and expect the results to be better when it's complete. I need a proper balun (ordered through our favorite forum sponsor), I built a quick coax-loop balun using a 3-way splitter I found in my bin of parts. I only attached this to the phase lines by wire-wrapping. I expect it to be quite lossy. I need to build some spacers to keep the phase lines a consistent 20mm apart (on the Y-axis) and add some stability. I also need a reflector.

Looking at the way this build went together I am wondering if it might be easier to use copper tube for the elements. I could drill a hole for attaching the phase lines which would make it easier to assemble and make it possible to solder the connection, which I wasn't able to do with the current build.
 
#41 ·
Progress

I tried making spacers by drilling holes in pieces of zip ties. worked pretty well, but I ended up going up to a 10ga pair of wires for the phase lines and have had better luck keeping them straight.

I put the DBGH with no reflector in my attic aimed roughly west and ended up getting about 12 analogue channels (about 2 were clear, some were fuzzy, and most were unwatchable) and I got 2 digital stations! CH 11.1 and 36.1, both from hamilton. 11.1 came in at about 82% and 36.1 came in at about 72% strength. Can't wait to get it on the roof.
 
#44 ·
There's also a metal supermarkets on Sheldon. I've almost gone there myself to order stuff, and pickup on the way home from work.

The C110 copper should be good for bending. They advertise different sizes (not sure if they have them in stock). Here is a datasheet on C110 copper:
http://www.husseycopper.com/Alloysheets/C11000.pdf
 
#49 ·
FYI, I had built just a quik mock-up of a SBGH with no reflector, and placed it on the ground outside my front door, and it picked up 11-1 without a problem. From here I decided that I would have adequate reception with a DGBH to justify the effort.
I purchased what looked like a 4228 and mounted it on a 3' tripod on my roof and have most of the Toronto and Buffalo channels with out a rotator.
Just looking at the sensitivity charts I have no doubt that a DGBH with a reflector will bring in better results - it has higher gain in the new HDTV band (14-51) and a wider beamwidth.
Kitchener and Cambridge has the advantage that most channels are just north or south of directly east. Placing the proper antenna facing exactly east will bring in the two largest markets - Toronto and Buffalo.
 
#50 ·
Reflector material

In the original build notes for the DBGH I saw a 1"x2" wire fencing material used for the reflector. I haven't been able to find anything similar here. It's either much smaller or much bigger. I have found some 2"x3" stuff around and wondered if it would be suitable. Also which alignment would be preferable, the long dimension horizontal, or vertical?

I also see a lot of discussion about reflector gaps. Is this only necessary when using rod reflectors? I imagine it would be quite difficult to secure a wire mesh with a vertical gap down the middle.
 
#53 ·
they also had it in 36" wide but I`m not sure of the price
about $50. I bought some from there in Cambridge. It was the most expensive thing in my build...but it covered 2 Gray Hovermans, 1 MClapp M-4, and could also cover my 2 bay VHF bowtie antenna I'm building, and still have plenty left over for another couple of antennas :). I don't have a farm of animals...I have a farm of antennas. You could imagine what looks you'd get if you said that there :)
 
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