First I tried elevating the antenna. No joy. It seems the extra wire is a big negative. It might be worth looking into a signal amplifier to drive the extra cable.
Went back downstairs and connected with original cable. Now have 26 synced channels.
Tried putting some AL foil on the back as a reflector. The board is 3/8 thick and there is NO reason to expect that the reflector spacing is in any way appropriate. Hung from light valence (about 10' off floor on second floor). With elements facing N, re-scan got 19 channels.
Turned antenna so the elements were facing S. Re-scan got 17. This is not looking like an improvement.
Took foil off. Re-scan got 23.
It looks like foil at 3/8" isn't helpful.
Next I made another version using AL foil tape. Got 26 channels. Of these there are 18 that have good reception and are in English! Here's what the unit looks like:
 |
| AL foil tape antenna: 26 channels! |
- 2-1 WGBH-HD PBS: 6PM NewsHour and other adult content
- 4-1 WBZ-TV CBS: 6PM Flashpoint and other adjult content
- 5-1 WCVB-TV ABC: 8PM Shark Tank
- 7-1 WHDH-HD NBC: 8PM Friday night lights
- 7-2 This TV
- 25-1 WFXT DT FOX:
- 38-1 WSBK-TV IND:
- 44-1 WGBX-SD PBS:
- 44-2 WGBH PBS World:
- 44-3 WGBH PBS Create:
- 44-4 Kids
- 44-5 WGBX-HD
- 56-1 WLVI-DT CW:
- 56-2 TCN (country network)
- 62-1 WMFP SAH:
- 68-1 ION
- 68-2 qubo (kids)
- 68-3 IONLife
This is what Antennae Web says I should get. I got most of them but decided not to keep the Hispanic language channels. I also got many others.
| DTV | Antenna Type | Call Sign | Channel | Network | City, State | Live Date | Compass Heading | Miles From | RF Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | yellow uhf | WHDH-DT | 7.1 | NBC | BOSTON, MA | 125° | 12.3 | 42 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WGBX-DT | 44.1 | PBS | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 43 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WGBH-DT | 2.1 | PBS | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 19 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WCVB-DT | 5.1 | ABC | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 20 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WBZ-DT | 4.1 | CBS | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 30 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WBPX-DT | 68.1 | ION | BOSTON, MA | 128° | 12.4 | 32 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WMFP-DT | 62.1 | SAH | LAWRENCE, MA | 127° | 12.0 | 18 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WSBK-DT | 38.1 | IND | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 39 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WYDN-DT | 47.1 | DAY | WORCESTER, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 47 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WUTF-DT | 66.1 | TFA | MARLBOROUGH, MA | 303° | 2.7 | 27 | |
| * | yellow uhf | WLVI-DT | 56.1 | CW | CAMBRIDGE, MA | 128° | 12.4 | 41 | |
| * | green uhf | WFXT-DT | 25.1 | FOX | BOSTON, MA | 128° | 12.4 | 31 | |
| * | red uhf | WTMU-LD | 32.1 | TEL | BOSTON, MA | 127° | 11.3 | 42 | |
| * | violet uhf | WHDN-LD | 26.1 | IND | BOSTON, MA | 108° | 19.6 | 26 | |
| * | violet uhf | WUNI-DT | 27.1 | UNI | WORCESTER, MA | 275° | 14.1 | 29 |
Here's the TV fool list. It's a better match in some ways but difficult to interpret.
I'm going to write this one up as a success. On air certainly provides plenty of content.
Next up I'm going to try a 'bow tie' antenna (a more sophisticated one is here and another rather interesting PVC version here) or perhaps a large fractal. It may get a few more channels.
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