DIY Gray-Hoverman antenna promises better OTA reception

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 6th 2008 at 8:31AM

With pay-TV prices headed nowhere but up and programming quality getting dodgy in spots, we've got just the thing for those looking to go OTA. The Gray-Hoverman Antenna for UHF Television Reception is an improved version of the original Hoverman antenna, and thanks to a little help from computer modeling, users are reporting some fairly amazing pickups. Best of all, the creators have made the instructions for assembling one yourself totally free and available in the read link, and just in case the 0 to 60 mile range of the single bay edition isn't enough for you, the double bay model can purportedly fetch stations from 20 to 100 miles out. We'd love a little confirmation if any of you are courageous enough to put one together and give it a spin.

[Via RetroThing]

Filed under: DIY, Tuners, OTA

Tags: antenna, diy, Gray-Hoverman, ota, ota antenna, OtaAntenna, uhf

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Yubastard @ Apr 6th 2008 10:47AM

oh I'm sooooo going to sell this at the flea market!

Neutral

why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 6th 2008 12:04PM

It's enormous. Yes, when you make an antenna bigger it captures more signal.

Neutral

timmy @ Apr 6th 2008 12:35PM

I think the point is that it functions better than other high-quality antennas of the same size. Read the source articles before criticizing.

Neutral

why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 6th 2008 1:36PM

I read the source articles before critizing. This isn't exactly the first article about this thing.

Yes, the double bay Gray-Hoverman outperforms a ChannelMaster 4228 significantly, by roughly 3dB. Being twice the size, it would of course pick up twice the signal. 3dB, by the way, is double the signal.

If you can get the parts cheap enough to save some money or if you really need an antenna larger than ChannelMaster can supply you, then build this thing. Otherwise, you can get a ChannelMaster 4228 or 4221 (depending on what you need) with a lot less hassle and it'll serve you well.

I use a ChannelMaster 4228 to receive HD signals from 45 miles away, despite mountains (multipath) and my refusal to put it on a tower on my roof ike I should, instead putting it in my attic.

I putting in a splitter (which attenuates 3dB plus) showed me I could even do this with a 4221. Too bad I didn't know up front, a 4221 is cheaper, easier to get into the attic, and easier to reorient in the confined space of my attic.

The single-bay Gray-Hoverman is 32"x40" and performas similarly to the 36"x40" ChannelMaster 4228. But they don't do this comparison in the article. They compare the 20"x40" CM4221 to the 32"x40" single-bay Gray-Hoverman. And they compare the 36"x40" CM4228 (which is basically a double-bay 4221) to the 75"x40" Gray-Hoverman. The Gray-Hoverman picks up twice the signal in both cases, by virtue of being twice the size.

Neutral

ID10T Control @ Apr 6th 2008 5:29PM

And please remember that if you will use this antenna outdoors, consider wind-load. The bigger the antenna, the more wind-load. plus home made antennas are usually less sturdy than commercial ones. (Atleast mine are) But if you have the room to shove this in an attic then, this is great. more power to you.

Neutral

Lakeonaut @ Apr 6th 2008 12:52PM

Since it has no gain in VHF spectrum, it's not useful for my region, where at least one of the HD broadcasts is, and will remain, VHF.

Neutral

why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 6th 2008 1:40PM

Here in the SF Bay area, people have reported success using a CM4221 or CM4228 (both UHF-only bowties setups) to pick up KNTV-11, which broadcasts in VHF channel 12.

Perhaps if your local VHF station is also on 12, you can use a UHF antenna to receive it too.

Note that I don't use a 4228 to pick up KNTV-11, I actually find that they are on VHF to be a huge advantage. I use a Yagi to pick up KNTV-11 and use a VHF/UHF splitter reversed (in combiner mode) so that the yagi picks up KNTV-11 and my 4228 picks up the UHF signals. This is advantageous because KNTV-11's transmitter is in a different location than some of the others, and this lets me aim each antenna better.

If your channel is in VHF-Hi (7-13), you can use a much smaller yagi than you think. This is helped by the better signal propagation of VHF over UHF.

Neutral

DogT @ May 8th 2008 9:27PM

At least you could give me credit for the picture. If you read my post at digitalhome.ca, I compared it to a RadioShack corner reflector (they call it a yagi) which is about 6' long. I got consistently at least 5db and sometimes more gain with the DBGH at the same antenna location. The antenna is not that big. 70 x 30 inches. I made it out of 1/2" PVC and had some wire laying around, so the whole thing cost me about$30USD. I am over 2 ridges and about 50 miles to DC and now I nearly always can get any of the UHF channels, including the digital ones where before, TV was not worth watching.

Dave (DogT)

Neutral

Zak @ May 30th 2008 10:13AM

DogT,

Do you have instructions on how you built yours? Material, parts list, etc. Did you use the dimensions on the sketch at the link?

Neutral

rydnek @ Jun 11th 2008 11:52AM

RetroThing should have given more credit to the folks who have worked to bring back an improved version of the Hoverman antenna which goes back to to fifties. They have put a lot of time and effort into bringing advanced technology to the DIY community AND putting it into the Public Domain (an area where our government has failed miserably). This design works and there are several people from different countries who have attested to it's efficacy. You can find several exact plans and directions (with pictures, including DogT's version) on their forum: http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/
Charles (rydnek)

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