I have recently wanted to start watching HDTV without paying for the special HDTV channels on Cable TV. I read on the internet that it was possible to build a simple antenna to go on the roof that would get in the UHF channels that make up the bulk of the HDTV channels.
I was surprised how easy it was to make a Bowtie Dipole antenna. All I need was a 2×4, a piece of plywood, aluminum foil, and some stiff wire. I cut the wire into 14 inch pieces and then folded them in a v shape. I put 4 of them 7 inches apart on the 2 by 4 and connected them with wires to 300 ohm antenna lead.
The results were awesome. It was no problem getting all of the local channels once I mounted it on the side of the house.
I’m an old, crusty, retired electronics engineer and my experience has been that just a couple of wet fingers will get you a UHF signal if you are close to the station. I live up in the mountains plus having tall trees all around and am a great distance from the new HDTV transmitters, so it looks like the high gain, dedicated antenna designs will be best for my fringe area signals. I am going with either miniature Yagi units or parabolic reflectors behind dipoles. Each must be carefully pointed to its station and digital signal alignment is not easy because the circuitry wants to tell you that you either have a useable signal or don’t. An analog signal strength meter would be very handy.
Good luck to us all.
Larry