Hi.

I am working on building a TV antenna to receive channel 5, and I was
wondering if plugging two 3 foot wires into a 2-way splitter would
essentially be the same thing as rabbit ears in terms of
functionality.

The splitter I am considering is on the right at:

http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...1%5F006&Page=1

Also, just out of curiosity, would it be any better if I used a 4 way
splitter? I could have four 3 foot wires coming out of it to possibly
improve the reception?

Thanks for all the help.

mfc wrote:
http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...1%5F006&Page=1

Anybody ever count how many cookies the Radio Shack site sets? I quit
at 50.

73, Jim AC6XG

No. The two "split" terminals are in phase. You need a balun. Get one of
the 75 to 300 ohm transformers & build a folded dipole.
Steve
k
9
d
c
i

"mfc" wrote in message
om...
Hi.

I am working on building a TV antenna to receive channel 5, and I was
wondering if plugging two 3 foot wires into a 2-way splitter would
essentially be the same thing as rabbit ears in terms of
functionality.

The splitter I am considering is on the right at:


http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...1%5F006&Page=1

Also, just out of curiosity, would it be any better if I used a 4 way
splitter? I could have four 3 foot wires coming out of it to possibly
improve the reception?

Thanks for all the help.

"mfc" wrote in message
om...
Hi.

I am working on building a TV antenna to receive channel 5, and I was
wondering if plugging two 3 foot wires into a 2-way splitter would
essentially be the same thing as rabbit ears in terms of
functionality.

The splitter I am considering is on the right at:


http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...egory%5Fname=C
TLG%5F007%5F002%5F001%5F006&Page=1

Google on "wilkinson combiner"

These splitters are lossy. Loss is not what you want in an antenna.
The device that closest matches what you're thinking of, is called a balun.
(balanced to unbalanced transformer)
With a balun in hand, you can use two 1/4 wave wires with the balun in the
middle to form a dipole
ntenna.. --------------------B----------------------
You'll have a hard time finding a 1-1 ratio balun for TV though. Most are
4-1 so you want to do a folded dipole, which matches the resulting 300 ohm
impedance fairly well.. (75 * 4 = 300)

/-----------------------------------------\
\-------------------b---------------------/

Like that.

Again, google is your friend.
Antenna designs can be scaled by frequency.
A 300 MHz version of a 100 MHz antenna design, is 1/3 the size.

mfc,
You're just making an easy job much more complicated
than it needs to be. Build the antenna as suggested.
'Doc

So, where can I get a balun? Radio Shack doesn't seem to carry them.

'Doc wrote in message ...
mfc,
You're just making an easy job much more complicated
than it needs to be. Build the antenna as suggested.
'Doc

mfc,
Why do you need a balun?
'Doc

"mfc" wrote in message
om...
So, where can I get a balun? Radio Shack doesn't seem to carry them.
Yes they do. Have the guy look up part numbers 15-1140, 15-1230, or 15-1143.

Tam/WB2TT

"'Doc" wrote in message ...


mfc,
Why do you need a balun?
'Doc


Somebody told him to build a foldeddipole. The balun is to presumably match
it to RG6.

Tam/WB2TT

Okay. I got part number 15-1140 at Radio Shack. I haven't really
tried it out yet, but I have a quick question about it. How do most
people connect wires to those two metal "horseshoes" that are coming
out of it? I was thinking of just taping some wire to them, but I'd
like it fastened more securely if possible.

Thanks for all the help.

"Tarmo Tammaru" wrote in message ...
"mfc" wrote in message
om...
So, where can I get a balun? Radio Shack doesn't seem to carry them.
Yes they do. Have the guy look up part numbers 15-1140, 15-1230, or 15-1143.

Tam/WB2TT