Our condo is interesting in that it is very limited in TV options. The entire time we've lived here, Comcast has been the only cable provider we could go with due to some sort of deal where there is only one line in and it's theirs. We used to be able to get DirectTV satellite service but the HOA nixed that. I can understand. Imagine all the little satellite dishes attached to the roof line or rigged on people's porches.
So our options are down to Comcast cable or indoor antenna (indoor for the same reasons as not being allowed to have a satellite dish). Our condo, being built to strict hurricane proof guidelines, has steel studs in the interior walls and cinder block exterior walls. I'm not sure if these have anything to do with it but our antenna reception has been horrible to nonexistent. We went without cable for a summer after we had to end our satellite service and did well but decided to sign up for basic cable once the fall lineup came back on. This was before kids and before internet services like Hulu and Netflix instant. With the cost of cable going up (not to mention the kid related expenses) we finally weened ourselves off of cable also. For several months we only watched DVDs.
Then one day I tried the co-axial outlet just to see if maybe it was somehow connected to an antenna (I know, silly idea but a friend mentioned that their apartment's plugs were switched to antenna when not plugged into the cable service). Surprisingly, we got several basic cable channels. We took advantage of that until they finally updated the equipment connected to our condo and we lost it again.
We've been that way for awhile now. We toyed with the idea of getting a newer more powerful antenna but the price was always annoying for something we could do without. We weren't even sure a bought antenna would do us any good due to the building structure, outside obstacles, etc. So we made do with watching internet streaming up until now.
The bombing at the Boston marathon and the explosions in Texas (not to mention all the miscellaneous news elsewhere), reminded me of when I watched the morning news and saw the twin towers fall. Made me kinda antsy to watch some actual news rather read the internet stuff.
I remembered that I had run across a link to a diy antenna that could pick up digital some time ago. A quick internet search lead to several options many of which were great ideas but were overkill for what I could do in my condo. I finally came upon a post via Make magazine blog that shows a fractal antenna. I chose it because it could potentially get better reception in a smaller space. I made a prototype with some speaker wire and cardboard using a printout I found. I made this with stuff I already had to see if it worked before I spent money (which is in tight demand at the moment) on better stuff. I made it as good as I could with the little time and the distractions that I had. I plugged it into the TV via a coaxial and placed the antenna on a high shelf.
Darned if it didn't work! We get 44 channels now and the signal strength registers at no lower than 87% most of the time for any of the channels. On the down side, we do live in the Fort Lauderdale area, so probably a third of the channels is in Spanish. Some of the channels may be duplicates but this is still 44 channels more than what we did have.
Sorry for the long post but I seldom attempt an electronics project like this. I didn't think it would work, honestly. I couldn't be accurate. I like to strive to make things that are functional but also look great. I just didn't have the time to put into this to accomplish my normal goals. Now that I know it works well in prototype form, I may spend more time and money making a more permanent one in the future.
As an end note, I didn't go much into this as a how-to. There are plenty of references online. Go to the link above or search for "diy digital antenna" or maybe add "fractal" to the search terms. If you really want my how to, then let me know. Super simple, no soldering. The next version will probably be more complex and better made but for now I get to watch TV again!
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