[mtownsend]

Originally Posted by herplace

I almost sprang for 50' of RG6 coax during some errands but priced the stuff @ $45 and thought I'd check to see if that was a fair price.

Well, Radio Shack sells 100' of quad shield RG6 with connectors on the ends for $50. The same cable in 50' lengths is $40. They have regular RG6 (not quad shield) at $30 for 50'.

If you're planning on using raw cable and build your own, then the cable itself is usually pretty inexpensive. 1000' spools of bulk cable quad shield RG6 can usually be had for about $60 to $100. But then you need to invest in tools to attach the connectors (maybe another $50-$100 expense). If you go that route, compression fittings work better than crimp-on for making clean, weatherproof connections.

Would it be crazy to try to "build ones own " antenna?

Not at all. If you're the hands on type and enjoy tinkering with these things, then it can fun and educational. I wouldn't necessarily do it to save money. For the cost of a commercial antenna, I can get very good performance in a well built antenna and save myself a whole lot of time. However, there's a great sense of accomplishment when you can make your own.

Note that most of the DIY antenna designs floating around the internet are primarily UHF antennas. You have three high VHF channels and one low VHF channel to get, so you'll want an antenna design that is strong at those frequencies.

The picture submitted is similar to the antenna that is now in the attic except the vhf elements have a forward sweep from the boom so they are not perpendicular to the boom.

OK. More like this:

As far as a "home brew" I only have vague notions of what exactly might be needed. Essentially copying something and trying to get it right. Ancient stories of making use of whatever there is around to achieve the desired result have me intrigued. What do you think?

I would not take antenna construction lightly. Your signals are not that strong, so you really do need an antenna with good sensitivity. You will not stumble upon a high sensitivity antenna design by accident. The few DIY antenna designs that actually work are based on some very real antenna engineering that has a long history behind it.

If you're just starting out, I recommend finding someone else's known working design and following their prescription as precisely as you can. Once you've had success building one antenna, you can then venture out with slight variations or other customizations.