Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna: Better Than Store Bought! AMAZING!

THIS VIDEO IS THE BOMB! i love the part where he says "put it in the back where nobody can see it, its not the best looking thing in the world"

This is awesome I’m gonna try it... thanks man

I had a RS omni directional in my attic with decent results. It quit working so I built this coat hanger antenna instead of buying one. It took about 1 hour to build and works better than the RS amplified did. I'm about 15 to 20 miles from the stations in Orlando. Thanks for the great tip!

i bought a 10.00 walmart hdtv antenna got 3 channels 1 hd and 2 regular built this coat hanger antenna and got 3 channels what a waste of time

I made this out of coat hangers, as directed, and it works fine. But has anybody ever made this with copper wire and done a comparison? I'm wondering if copper wire would make an even better antenna.

...that needs to be interposed between the coat-hanger structure and the cable?

Can't I just strip one side of the cable and solder its connectors directly to the two coat-hanger endings? If the transformer is a must, how to I specify it when I purchase it, and where do I purchase it?

Thanks a million to whoever will help this kompleat 'lectronics iddiot...

Amazing how good it is. 1000 times better than my normal Rabbit Ears with amplifier etc. It did not cost me anything to make. Somehow I found a 75-300 Ohm transformer I forgot I had, and after a couple of hours work I had an antenna that brings in 8 digital stations in stead of 4, and very, very clear . One has to be careful though to see that there is no loop in the Enjoy coaxial cable as otherwise through interference you may lose a signal from one of the TV stations.
Moreover one has to direct the antenna in absolutely the correct direction, as otherwise the images get scrambled. I managed to do all that and every evening it is a great pleasure to watch TV and to know that it does not cost me anything, no dish subscription etc. Enjoy!!!

I now all but one hd channels here in Sydney but have not finnished tweeking it yet, my wife was laughing when I started to make it didn't say much when I got it to work. It only cost $5 all up, very pleased

The video says 5 3/4" between each pair of screws, but it dosen't say how wide to space each pair of screws from each other.Thanks for the video it looks great.

No big deal, but I'm wondering why he says 12.

Just a mistake, I guess.

Wow. I finished making mine a few days ago. I'm 40 miles from the nearest TV towers in Dallas and this antenna gets them all! It is outstanding! I'm a now believer. I'm working on a second unit with a reflector for added gain.

I live in a second floor apartment, surrounded by 3-5 story buildings in a major city. I duct taped this outside to the fire escape and it works great! (didn't work as well inside) With a digital converter box I'm getting all of the local VHF, and all but two of the UHF channels - plus those extra stations on each. With only rabbit ears, the few channels I did get were always snowy.

I didn't have any wire coat hangers or screws and washers around, and didn't want to wait until tomorrow for the local hardware store to open, so I used some 18 gauge wire I had around and regular thumb tacks (luckily, did have a balen from some old rabbit ears). Because it works so good with those items, I'm going to redo it with some thick copper wire, screws and washers and I bet I'll be pulling in a lot more.

Many thanks!

This Really Works!!!!!!!!!

However I did no minor chnage. Instead of using coat hangers I userd #10 Copper Wire! I get better reception and more channels with copper wire than I did with Clothes Hangers. Other than that everything works great!

Thanks for the cool antenna hack!

You Da Man ;)

Great UHF antenna! After trying quite a few different antennas, this one's the best for my digital converter box.

is this a directional antenna. i live right inbetween two markets, chicago to the west, and south bend to the east. would one of these positioned on the rooftop get all the uhf digital channels?
tnx

I did build one today but some how I did not work at all, I try to scan for channel but it say zero found... help what did I do wrong. Can some one give me some advise. Thank you.

all i can say is wow!! this really works. i made this in about 5min. added it to pc tuner card and i'm enjoying great hdtv thanks.

I live in the Chicago area. The antenna works well 25 miles away in the western suburbs. Only CBS does not come in, but that's because CBS is on VHF or something like that.

I used large washers to help keep the coat hanger wires down, otherwise they were slipping out.

I tried it in downtown Chicago at my condo, and you get every channel. Works awesome. Thanks!

nice work! You've saved me some money indeed. It took me about 15mins or so to finish making it. It got me 38 Super Clear and Crisp channel. My rooftop antenna only gave me 21 channels for some reason ;(. I guess bigger is not always better in this case ;P. Cable, transformer, screws, washers, hangers, and wood totals up to be about 5 bucks (wood and hangers were around the house already) :D

THis is great! It even works in our basement. Totally kicks butt over the rabbit ears.

does it matter if the cross touches,wont it cause a short and not work or does it not mater since the vhf isnt used?

built one, but using electrical wire and soldered connections; pulls in UHF stations (channels 14 ) better than original antenna. HD channels crystal clear, rock solid. Finished antenna small enough to be hidden easily.

i do not doubt you but why arn't comercial antenna made like this. then people would buy them

This antenna totally worked on my hdtv

are the longer wires supposed to be cleaned off where they cross, and could someone tell me how to test the antenna with an ohm meter after it is assembled, i.e. across which locations the wires should be conducting?

I saw this video and thought why not I've got all the components lying around the house. Well today I assembled my coat hanger antenna and hooked it up and was blown away. I let my tv do an auto scan for channels an it found 21 channels all the local networks, several pbs, and I am finally watching HD on my HDTV set. Thank you, zero dollars spent and I am about to kiss the cable company goodbye. By the way I live 30-35 miles from the nearest broadcast towers in my location and picture quality is excellent.

we only picked up one additional channel, but the picture is actually clear now. If nothing else it was fun to make and it's better than what we had!!

To omit the hanger "stripping" step, can I use all metal uncoated hangers? or will it cause more noise and/or interference? also I'm about 28 miles from the antennas, is this strong enough to be used as an indoor antenna? I'm currently using an amplified RCA ANT200B loop/dipole (much like yours) and only get the UHF channels (FOX/WB), no VHF channels (NBC,CBS,ABC,PBS). RCA has a 20-25dB gain....

I built this antenna on Saturday prior to the Superbowl and was able to enjoy the game in HD. Friends at the party were so impressed that they all wanted the link to build their own. Great job!!

Thanks to you, we're watching the Super Bowl in HD! After purchasing two different HD antennas that seldom worked, it seems that we finally have a solution! Thanks again...

I built this little antenna in less than 30 minutes and it gets a better picture than the satellite dish. I don't have an HDTV dish yet. The picture is crystal clear and it even found stations here in Atlanta that I had never heard of before.

i give it a 5 this is great and simple

..and as he says, it works better than the one I bought from Radio Shack for $80.00! I did have to run it through an amplifier because of no fault of the antenna, but because the terrain around here is very mountainous. I currently have the antenna facing east-west in my attic. I'm going to make another and run it north-south and join it with the other with a splitter to see if I can get even more stations. I'm also going to experiment by adding another set of reflectors to the existing antenna as well. I'll let you know if there is any improvement.

I dont have cable for my TV, cant afford it right now. I have a really old bunny ears antenna on top of the tv, and I am able to get 2 channels with pretty good reception, and like 3 that are terrible. Would this allow you to get most of the local channels withOUT having a cable subscription. Or is this just for the extra HD capabilities.
Thanks alot.

can't you just strip the end off of a short piece of cable, instead of buying a balen? you can split the inside wire, away from the 300 ohm cable to seperate the signal? or will that not work? i love your videos btw...

Thank you very much for posting the video. It was very helpful. I built the antenna and it works great, but I only gets 3 channels may be because that is all we get in Iowa city, Iowa. Is there a way to get other basic channels using same antenna or do you have any other information about other antenna that can be built to get basic analog channels? Thanks!

This is a SWAN antenna and is older then you think!!!!

A GREAT VID !
I had tried commercial antennas , even one with a rotor.. all were poor at best for stations I wanted ( 60 miles )
I built this but did not add the reflectors as a test.. it works so well I do not need to pull it down to add reflectors.. I used a 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe instead of a 2x4 and brass coat hangers.. IF you use pvc pipe, be prepared to solder the connections as the curve will pull the connections apart when you try to bend the wire to be in a horz plane with each other... Looks good though.. I monted mind with hose clamps on my ols antenna mast which is about 25 feet high.. pulls in staions 60 miles away and analog and HD work great.. no booster needed.

Great job.

Also, good choice of Game Consoles; the Wii rocks!

this is the improvised version of what we have in the philippines. we use aluminum pipes arranged like fish bones attached with cables and connect it to our tvs. it gets clear signals if placed on higher elevations. too bad we only have a few local channels. cnn and bbc fox are for cable tvs only

What next a hi def tv made from a garden shed.Pity we dont get hi def for a few years in the uk.

well done and hey finish the wood or paint for a cleaner look,tell everyone its a art project

ill try that.. i will get back to you soon..

i made one but i only got a few channels and i think its not HD.. i wonder why.. what should i do then?

Does this work BETTER than something I can just pay $50 for at Sears? Or does this work about the same, but saves you the cost of paying retail for an equally good product?

man i thought that only asians and south asians (hindu Yeah you guys) would think of something like this....

has a wii.

I will try this out. If it works well. I will recommend to some of my friends.

My son and I built this per your instructions and it was quite easy. We will take it downtown Chicago tomorrow and see what pictures it can pick up. Thanks, we had just purchased a $39 HDTV antenna at Sears and can return it. Perfect Timing!

Dont ALOW me to DOWNLOAd this thing WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WH YWHY WHY WHY DOES IT FUCKIN STOP! at 93%

F**k i cant Download this thing it stops on 18.6 mb and doesnt wana Move Help!

The transformer costs $4.99 at Radio Shack. I made this antenna and it barely works. Channels are staticky and ghosty. I quickly put back my good old rabbit ears antenna.
If anyone wants my transformer, board, and bent-up, ruined hangers, I'll happily give them to you and you'll see for yourself that this doesn't work. But I'm keeping the washers and screws because I can use them for something that does work.

Fake!!!!!