Hi Guys!
As part of my emergency set-up, for
when there is no power, I have a
small hand held HDTV. It has a
5 inch screen and runs off of
rechargable batteries.
Hi Guys!
As part of my emergency set-up, for
when there is no power, I have a
small hand held HDTV. It has a
5 inch screen and runs off of
rechargable batteries.
It is a TERRIBLE performer by itself.
However, I added a 12 dB "HDTV" amp
and an FM trap. With a commercial
indoor UHF antenna, it is starting
to be useful. I can get some local
channels now. (A good friend added
an external antenna jack on the back
of the unit.) This whole thing is
still a work in progress, though.
The commercial UHF antenna has to go
back into the living room for the local
TV channels on the "big" TV. We have no
cable. If that antenna isn't where it's
supposed to be, my wife will run me over
with the car. (Only kidding.) But you
get my point anyway.
I have the formula to make a discone
antenna. For reasons that would take
too long to mention here, I wanted to
try a discone with this little TV.
For $$$ reasons, of lack thereof, I want
this antenna to cost nothing. I have
no choice, actually.
People have built solid discones out of
copper sheets, and hardware cloth.
I wanted to try aluminum foil mounted on
poster board, which could be cut to the
correct shapes for the disk and the cone.
But paper and aluminum foil together have
an internal capacitance, I guess.
I was thinking of a bottom freq. of 400 or
450 MHz. I have made solid discones before,
but never this way.
What do you guys think?
Bruce, SLUG 88.3
Never having actually tried a discone, I have read about it wherever it gets mentioned.
I very much believe the discone is a fabulous way of receiving a broadband of signals, up in the region you are talking about.
I had a homemade discone for
the 2 meter ham band. (144 to 148 MHz)
You probably know what frequencies I'm
talking about, but somebody else might not.
Anyway, the discone was made out of hardware
cloth. I had a 2 meter FM rig, running
10 watts. This was about 1977. Zowie!
It was the perfect indoor antenna.
Well, I will probably try this anyway.
It doesn't cost anything, and it will
either work or it won't.
Now it's time to go listen to Low Power
Hour #51. I had tried before, but was
interrupted.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, SLUG 88.3