Tag Archives: tinfoil

Make Your Own Antenna

Antenna built from cardboard and tin foil
I built my own antenna!

This week we upgraded to the flat panel, digital age and got a new TV with some Christmas money (yes, our family celebrates multiple Christmases between Thanksgiving and New Year; one down, at least two to go). We finally replaced the old school 21″ TV we got as a wedding present and got a fancy LED HD 720 something or other.

As fancy as the new TV was, it didn’t get actual TV.

This wasn’t really a problem. When we rearranged, the TV was on the opposite wall as the cable outlet and we never  cared. That’s how little we watch regular TV.

But with a fancy new TV it seemed like we should be able to watch regular TV (without draping a cable across the room). Apparently you need an antenna to get regular TV, even with a fancy new TV. As I started researching antennas online I stumbled across some instructions for a DIY antenna. The site claims it works as good as the fancy ones you can buy in the store, so I figured why not.

A cardboard and tinfoil antenna? That sounds cool.

And it totally works. I bought the required $1.78 part this morning and slapped it together this afternoon. And we’ve got regular TV! Not just regular TV, but HDTV with all kinds of weird extra channels. Cool. It comes in great. I’d wager just as good as anything we bought at the store.

Gotta love the juxtaposition of the high tech TV and a piece of cardboard junk. Sometimes spending more money isn’t always better. Now I just need to find a place to hide the cardboard antenna so it doesn’t look as ridiculous as a cable strung across the room.

My last cardboard project worked pretty good, too (until somebody threw up on it). For my next cardboard project, I’m thinking of tackling this.