5 ways to make a DIY TV antenna

If you get stuck for a long time where there is neither the Internet nor television, you can very quickly miss the benefits of civilization. If you have a TV and rather banal things, by household standards, you can make a TV antenna with your own hands. At what the device will be able to capture a digital signal. There are many varieties of homemade products, some of them are more powerful, others are weaker. In the country, it is better to create an outdoor antenna capable of receiving at a distance of up to 20-30 km. More is also possible, but some kind of amplifier is already required. In urban conditions, a simple room option is also suitable, since the quality of the television signal is much better. Below we consider 5 antenna manufacturing technologies with the simplest design.

You will find more information about the features and parameters of antennas in our guide to choosing digital antennas for TV.

From wire

A very simple model to manufacture at home, but at the same time with a fairly high power. It is desirable to add an amplifier to the design. It is very good if there is an amplifier from some old antenna. In this case, you can get a powerful antenna even for the village.

Materials and tools:

• copper wire without a braid of sufficient rigidity (so as not to deform in windy weather), 2 pieces of approximately 2 m each are required;
• square 15×15 cm, metal is better;
• amplifier – very desirable, but the need for it depends on the distance to the tower;
• small metal bolts;
• drill + drills for metal;
• the pipe is long enough to install the antenna;
• coaxial cable and plug;
• welding machine (optional, you can do without).

Having found all the necessary materials and tools for our homemade device, we are ready to start creating the antenna. In general, all of the above are improvised means, but some elements may not be. You can look for a cable and an amplifier from your neighbors or, in extreme cases, buy it in a store.

How to make a homemade wire antenna for a TV:

1. Creating a trap . We need to get 2 rhombuses with the same sides, each 45 cm. It has been verified by experience that the figure works well in this size. Between themselves, the rhombuses are connected using a soldering iron, or you can weld a welding seam over the connection. Other methods will do, the main thing is to ensure good contact between the parts.
2. Base manufacturing . A plank or metal plate 15×15 cm must be drilled so that the wire is then clamped in several places with the help of bolts.
3. Amplifier installation . We connect different parts of the trap to the two sites, and a coaxial cable to the output. For secure fastening, you can use screws. Only the contact point should be well cleaned, better – tinned.

1. Cable connection . The procedure is simple – a few screws located on the amplifier are unscrewed. We insert the plug into the connector and twist them. It may be enough just to plug in the plug.
2. Foundation installation . The mast will require a sufficiently strong pipe that will raise the antenna to a height. It is difficult to say at what height it is optimal to install the antenna, since everything depends on the terrain and surrounding obstacles. Most often, the required height is about 5 m.

After connecting to the TV, a signal should appear. Just do not forget that a DVB-T2 tuner is also required. In new TVs, it is already built in, but in older ones, you need to buy it separately. Otherwise, digital TV will not be available, even if the antenna is properly assembled and connected.

“Butterfly”

This “model”, made at home, provides all-wave reception of channels in the meter and decimeter ranges. The creation procedure is simple, but requires accurate measurements, as a result – a lot of time. But it is very compact and can be used both indoors and outdoors. To give it, most likely, it will not be enough.

Materials and tools:

• wooden board 55×7.5 cm;
• copper wire (optimal section 4 mm);
• signal amplifier;
• antenna cable;
• knife for removing insulation;
• screws and a screwdriver or screwdriver.

How to make a TV antenna from a cable:

1. We drill 10 holes, according to the diagram in the image.

1. Cut the wire into 8 equal parts. The length should be 37.5 cm. You will also need a couple of pieces with which we will connect the “wings”, and 2 parts of the required length for connection with the amplifier.
2. In those places where the wires will be in contact with the screws, we clean the insulation. In the case of wings, this is in the center of the segment. Intermediate parts are measured in place. The insulation should be stripped about 1 cm long.
3. We bend the wires of the “beams” in the center so that the wires are cleaned on both sides by ~ 0.5 cm. You should get the letter V, which has 7.5 cm between the ends.
4. We fix the wire with the help of self-tapping screws in the holes that we created earlier. While we do not clamp much, we need to lay 2 more cables.
5. We connect these 8 screws together according to the principle in the figure. At the points of contact, the cores must be bare.
6. In the center of the connecting wires, we also remove the insulation, connect one piece of cable at a time and lead them to the inputs on the amplifier. Usually it is installed on the back of the board.
7. We connect a coaxial cable to the amplifier and connect the antenna to the TV.

See also: Detailed instructions for setting up digital television

“Eight”

One of the easiest ways to create a homemade antenna yourself. It is assembled in a couple of minutes, but the signal reception quality is mediocre. Works well in cities as an indoor receiver.

Materials and tools:

• a cardboard box, similar to a shoe;
• antenna cable;
• plug;
• knife;
• soldering iron;
• PVA glue or other;
• foil.

Instructions for making the antenna yourself:

1. Box preparation . We remove everything from the box so that the surface is numbers. Using glue, glue the foil, which will act as a reflector. Just avoid thick layers of glue so that our metal takes the shape of the box correctly. We close the box with a lid and glue it with tape around the perimeter.
2. Cable work . We cut the antenna wire into 2 parts and make circles out of them (a little not closed). At the output, we should get a figure eight of 2 pieces of wire. We carefully clean both ends on both pieces of the cable, without removing the foil braid itself, it should be preserved. We attach it to the box with the same adhesive tape.

1. Connection of parts . We take the antenna cable, already the one that will be used to connect to the TV. Choose your own length. We clean the end to get to the copper cable, then we clean the piece so that the foil remains. With the help of copper wire we make layers from the foil (we fix the cable around it). We connect the main core to one side of the figure eight, and the layering to the other side through the wire.

“Zigzag”

This antenna is used to receive digital television in the decimeter range. In appearance, the “model” resembles the very first, but the design still has many distinctive parameters. There are also 2 rhombuses at the base.

Materials and tools:

• copper wire (aluminum is also suitable), must be strong enough;
• rod or corner;
• pliers;
• television cable;
• frame for antenna installation;
• insulating tape;
• plug;
• file or sandpaper.

How to make a TV antenna out of wire:

1. We prepare the wire . We need to decide on the frequency range for which the antenna is designed. Typically, the wavelength is from 31 to 64 cm, which corresponds to the frequency range of 471-940 MHz. You need to look at the exact data on the CETV map for your region. We need a frequency range, for example, the Moscow region 546/498. We divide the value by 4, this will be the desired length of the wire. A cable 136 cm long must be bent so that all sides are equal in the shape of a square with smooth corners at 90 degrees. We make 2 such blanks.
2. Connection . The places of the beginning and end of our squares need to be connected to each other. You can solder and tin them with tin. The distance between both sides must be about 2 cm.

1. Antenna cable connection . We clean the coaxial wire on both sides. From the side of the receiver, you need to create 2 contacts: the first is a core, the second is a contact from the braid, we connect it to different contacts of the receiver. We insert the other side of the cable into the plug and connect it to the TV.
2. Final revision . We create the base for this antenna from a corner, a rod or something else. At the junction of the squares of the antenna in a zigzag, we strengthen the structure with hot glue. So we immediately provide both protection from an aggressive environment and increased strength.

This is a very weak antenna, so there will either be no signal here, or it will show well. It makes sense to use at a short distance from the tower – up to 20 km.

From cans

A very simple and quick to assemble TV receiver can be made from aluminum and tin cans. The main thing is that soda or beer cans are even.

Materials and tools:

• metal cans with drinks, preferably large volume, ideally – 1 liter, 0.5 liter is also possible;
• a small piece of copper wire;
• antenna cable;
• scotch;
• base for the antenna, you can take a wooden plank or hanger;
• a screwdriver (you can get by with a screwdriver) and a few self-tapping screws.

How to make a TV antenna with your own hands:

1. Working with banks . We clean the inside of the cans from moisture. We do everything carefully so as not to crush the metal. We clean the places on the banks where we will attach the wire from the cable. The connection must be good, varnish and paint will interfere a lot. It is better to choose a place on the side of the neck, where we will fasten the wires with a self-tapping screw.
2. We prepare the cable . We remove the entire braid from the antenna wire to get to its central core. Then we clean another section, but only to the braid and fasten the copper wire there. With self-tapping screws we fix the core and layering on different banks.
3. Final stage . We attach the cans to a dielectric material, in our case, a hanger. Maybe with tape. We connect the second side of the antenna cable to the connector on the TV, having previously prepared the plug, if it was not there initially.

Important! Take your time to fasten the banks, and do not make the cable too short in length. To adjust the quality of the signal, you need to change the distance between the banks until you can achieve an acceptable picture.

It is not so easy to make a good home-made antenna, violating the dimensions of the device or creating a bad contact, the signal will not come. Also an important element is the signal amplifier. It can also be done by hand, but it is quite difficult. However, following the instructions, you can provide yourself with television almost anywhere where there is at least some material at hand. The most important of these is the signal amplifier and antenna cable.