Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On 10 Oct 2008 08:52:50 -0400, (Samuel M.
Goldwasser) wrote:

So far I've tried using old loop antennas and basic indoor antennas (loop+
rabbit ears) from Radio Shack, both unamplified and amplified (though I'm
not convinced the latter was even working properly).

This is a residential location with no high structures nearby. I believe
most of the transmitters are only a few miles away.

If that's true, then it's likely that your house is RF shielded either
by chicken wire in the walls (stucco) or aluminum foil backed
fiberglass insulation. If so, there's no hope for an indoor antenna.

Try a cheap and simple experiment. Take a length of RG-6/u CATV coax.
Strip back about 20" of the outer jacked and shield. Shove it out the
window, hopefully on the side of the house that faces the TV xmitters.
Crimp an F connector on the other end and connect it to the TV sets
antenna connector. This is a truly attrocious TV antenna but should
work in a strong signal area by moving the antenna outside of your
shielded house. If it works noticably better, you might consider a
better outside antenna, which should improve reception even more.

If you live in an apartment complex, you might consider inspiring the
landlord to resurrect the rooftop community TV antenna system, and
distribute the signal to the entire building. Most CATV coax
distribution system come together in some manner of utility room. It's
easy enough to disconnect your coax cable from the cable company and
reconnect it to a community antenna system.


If the wiring is owned by them, they can. Most of the apartments we
served were wired by our cable company, and the contract with the owner
stated they had to buy it from us, if it was to be used for anything
else. The few that had existing wiring were done with either 300 twin
lead, or single copper braided shield RG-59, neither of which would pass
the FCC leakage requirements. Some mid band channels could interfere
with aircraft communications, and others would wipe out two meter
Amateur radio, or high band VHF communications. Since the cable
company would have to opay the fines, they simply didn't use owner
supplied wiring, if it didn't consist of new, approzed materials.

Most of the buildings had locked wiring cabinets, as well.


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