On Nov 15, 11:33*pm, "Paul Hovnanian P.E." wrote:
...If you are a do it
yourselfer, you might want to take a crack at building your own UHF
antenna(s):
http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna*
Paul Hovnanian * *

I pick up Boston channels in NH very well with an antenna made of two
6" aluminum standoffs stuck into a plastic tubing center insulator. It
was a temporary repair to a broken Radio Shack UHF antenna, with
corner reflector and directors, when I couldn't find 3/8" tubing to
machine a replacement tuned for 700 MHz.

Here is the site with the antenna calculator;
http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic...vhf_quick.html

Right now it's pointed north at Manchester NH and receives all the
major Boston digital stations clearly right through the reflector.

I don't have a spectrum analyzer to measure it well, but it seems to
have a dipole's figure-8 pattern with a fairly narrow front lobe and
smaller but wider lobe in back, possibly from corroded connections on
the passive elements. It won't pick up stations from the side.

You could buy an omnidirectional UHF antenna, which is two dipoles at
right angles with a non-obvious matching stub connecting them, or
simply put up a cross of four 6" rods and see what happens. I get a
fairly good UHF digital signal from the VHF antenna.

Jim Wilkins