Homemade antenna

I've been anxious to put these pictures up, but really tired from my new job this week, and therefore not getting around to it. Thanks MJ for the kick in the pants to post them.

This is the UHF antenna I built using these plans from Make Magazine.

The plans say all materials should cost $20 or less, but I spent around $28. My only disappointment is that I might have bought an antenna for less. But it was fun!

Some action shots:

It was a beautiful day, and I set up a workshop outside. It snowed the next day.


Plying the coat hangers. Nice perspective on this shot, husband!


Cutting. I'm not sure my Snap-On diagonal cutters were ever meant for this purpose. If mere coat hangers kill your dikes, will Snap-On still honor the warranty?



Assembled. Sorry for the blur. This thing seems to have a personality. It's just dripping with evil potential. We have to do something about the tines so no one gets their eye poked out, like I almost did dozens of times while constructing it.

And the final results:



Here it is tuning our TV (via the digital converter box) to KETC 9-4, the PBS DIY channel. I didn't see an increase in picture quality with the antenna versus the old rabbit ears, but it did catch about six additional channels, including all of the PBS stations.

I finished right in time, because we were hoping to watch a PBS documentary on water infrastructure the next day. "Liquid Assets" was recommended by Peter's sister, a civil engineer. It was really interesting and I'm glad I got to see it!

The pictures still cuts out A LOT when it's windy. But I'm starting to think it's just our crappy converter box. When we hooked the antenna up to P's eyeTV tuner and watched some TV on his MacBook, the picture was crystal clear, with no faltering.

Cable vs 'Nets and Sita Sings the Blues

A few months ago, Peter and I cancelled our cable due to the Hurricane Ike flooding. You see, our cozy basement rec room was where the big screen and the only cable connection were, and our basement is now stinky and unliveable due to Ike and a subsequent flood. Thus, while the landlord continues her slow steps toward making the house ship-shape, we have no use for cable.

Around this time, we also resolved to watch less TV. We've replaced most of our broadcast-TV watching with hulu.com and watching short videos online, and the occasional DVD. Even though we consume a fair amount of video, we don't just zone out mindlessly in front of the TV for hours and watch whatever happens to be on Comedy Central, or Food or Travel Channel (yeah, like we used to). It's sad not to have access to Anthony Bourdain or Alton Brown, but good god, how many episodes of Clean House did I WATCH???!!!

Is it wishful thinking if I believe that watching videos on the 'net is slightly better for your brain than watching broadcast TV? After all, with nearly infinite options, I usually end up applying some criteria for choosing, or else I would be overwhelmed with choices. And normally, when an online video ends, the screen freezes, and you have to DO something to get it moving again; you can't just sit there and wait for something else to start.

Maybe it is wishful thinking. But there ARE some amazing things on the web that you would never find on broadcast TV, and here is one shining example; Sita Sings the Blues, a Creative Commons film that you can watch for free online.