Wall Wart Antenna :)

[johnodon]

Thought some of you would find this interesting...

I found this on youtube and immediately laughed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ9_YveIPhc

I figured this guy probably had the towers right next to his building. And then...curiosity got the best of me.

I grabbed a wall wart from an old router, put it near the window and connected it to the coax coming out of my bedroom TV...LIFE! lol I played around with it a little more and was actually able to get anywhere from 75% - 100% signal for NBC (10.1) from the towers in Philly which are 30 miles away. I got 100% pegged on Fox (29.1). Honestly, I was astounded.

What's stranger is that the window I say the wall wart next to is on the opposite of the house from the direction where the towers are. Signal has to pass through 4 or 5 walls to reach it from that direction.

Also, I performed the same test on the TV in my family room (1st floor) and didn't have nearly as much success.

Anyway, maybe I'll drag it up to my attic with me and give it a go.

(fyi...as expected it had no impact on VHF channels).

John

[ADTech]

Any piece of wire, no matter the length, can serve as some sort of antenna.

TV signal meters that display only a percentage are not measuring power, they are measuring quality. The only important number on this scale is the one at which reception fails. Knowing that number and keeping the signals above it are all that is required, there is no need to chase numbers trying to get to 100%. As long as reception is unimpaired, the number is good enough.

As far as indoors go, some buildings are about as predictable as a carnival fun house or a house of mirrors.

[Stereocraig]

I'm guessing that the results would be the same, even if you clipped off the power supply.