Thoughts on this antenna

8bit · 15-Aug-2020, 6:18 PM

A guy up the road from me put this out by the street with a sign that said FREE. I snagged it of course and would like to hear from you all what your thoughts are about it. At least half of the arms are broken (plastic connectors so the arms can be folded backwards.

I currently use an RCA ANT751R which is about 36" long but this one is more than twice as long.

Would I gain a better and stronger signal from this larger antenna than my RCA or would the benefits be negligible? See image below.

Thank you,

https://ibb.co/5YhK0Fd

OTAFAN · 15-Aug-2020, 11:16 PM

Hey 8bit:

The longer the boom and more elements on a TV antenna, the greater the gain in signal strength typically.

If you can repair that antenna you picked up for free, it might improve your TVs reception over your current workhorse, RCA ANT751R. However, if you're already in a strong to moderate signal area and your current antenna is picking up your market stations reliably, you may not notice much of an improvement as far as dBs go. Here's a previous TV Fool thread on your current antenna:

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=16264

If you don't mind sharing your market information from RabbitEars.info, I'm sure the forum could give you more specific help.

Anyway, that "wounded" antenna you picked up for free could be an interesting project for you and perhaps give it a new lease on life for your TV!

Also, to get the lowest insertion loss and increase your signal strength out of your balun, here's an excellent tip from a previous thread by rabbit73, that you might find of interest:

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.p...ed=1#post58266

Take care and keep the forum posted on your progress, please.

8bit · 16-Aug-2020, 1:55 AM

Thank you for the quick response OTAFAN!

That was my thinking too and is why I grabbed the antenna. The small 'arms' are attached with small plastic clips that allow them to be moved but all of them are connected with a wire that zig zags along the length of both sides of the center of the antenna. It shouldn't be too difficult to repair it.

See my rabbitears info below. Getting stations has been tough and even more so since spring arrived with tree foliage. I recently increased my antenna height which has helped with reception.

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...tudy_id=136058

Thank you again for your help. Cheers!