[1]
My incredibly simple homemade HDTV antenna.

Next February in 2009, we’ll no longer have UHF and VHF analog signals. All broadcasts will be digital and people with older television sets will need a simple A/D converter. Of course my fancy flat screen is HDTV ready, so all I need is a better antenna.

I enjoy not having cable and only use my TV/DVD setup for watching my plethora of movies [2]. But I do miss PBS shows and Nova on Sunday nights, as well as the local news. So I thought all I’d have to do is connect a set of bunny ears to the TV via a coaxial cable and I’d be set. That didn’t work out so well, I barely got Channel 29 and that was it. So every once in a while I could watch Family Guy reruns that looked more like the scrambled Playboy channel.

[3]
The 42” flat screen running of the antenna. :)

Then whilst net-surfing I come across the description of an easy to build, low cost, HDTV antenna. (That HDTV simply means “digital signal” which in and of itself will be better quality - not “high-def”.) Anyway it’s all radio waves either way, you just have to have the correct aerial configuration to pick them up.

I made my own and hooked it up and immediately was able to get all the local channels. Not like a cable signal, but certainly clear enough to watch. Yay! — it worked!

There are certain orientations that work better than others. Maybe if I get ambitious, I’ll mount the thing on my roof and get crystal clear reception. (It’s in the basement now.)

Of course the first thing that comes across the airwaves is “Celebrity Apprentice”. Good God, what the hell has happened to prime time television programming. Friggin’ retarded “reality shows”. I’ll hold out for “This Old House” thank you very much.