Video Asylum

Posted by DavidLD (A) on September 04, 2013 at 05:29:45

I have been reading the forums on antennas for digital off-air channels. One of the things I've learned is that some antennas do not receive VHF channels at all but are excellent for UHF. One they were talking about was the so called classic golden double bow tie that was sold by Radio Shack, and I read a number of posts that indicated on UHF digital, as a passive antenna indors, these are about as good as they get.

I got to thinking, I have one of those, but I forgot what I did with it. Well yesterday I found it stuck in a cupboard. One of the bows was broken off but fortunately that was next to the antenna. Last nite I glued that back on with FixAll adhesive. The repair dried overnite and actually is not noticeable. It also needed a 300-75 ohm converter but I found one of those on a pair of rabbit ears I had.

Anyhow, my earlier experiments involved placing a reflector behind an $8 pair of RCA-branded rabbit ears and loop (see posts below). I disconnected those and hooked up my new (old) contraption. Mine is about 40 years old, I think, dating from early 1970s. Lexington KY never did have any VHF channels, running then on UHF 18, 27, 46 and 56. I would have been using this antenna prior to cable which came in about 1980.

Anyhow, I hooked this antenna up, pointed due south ang guess what? I get all 12 local digital channels very clearly still 18, 27, 36, 46 and 56) ABC used to be on 56 but thought the signal was better on 36 so they moved, and Fox took over the 56 spot some time in the 1980s. The beauty of this test this AM is that I have not seen any pixilization on any of the channels, even 46 (KET Public TV) which pixilated on the other setups and sometimes would not come in at all.

The problem with this strategy is that Radio Shack no longer sells this antenna, and has not for some time. Channel Master apparently fairly recently sold a similar clone but I can't find any current source of that either.

I also have a SuperSonic 602 on order
http://www.amazon.com/SuperSonic-HDTV-Digital-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B003IN0GRI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378297413&sr=8-1&keywords=Supersonic+602

The reviews on this suggest that it is also strictly UHF, passive, and might be very similar to the classic bow tie. In a week or so I should be able to write up a direct comparison of the two designs.

Stat tuned LOL!

For now, I am pleased with how well the old antenna is working!

• SuperSonic HDTV Digital Indoor Antenna   (Open in New Window)