My neighbor and I collaborated on testing a very simple OTA antenna for my new Samsung LCD HDTV to see how many digital channels I could receive. His background is in ham radio and I have an electronics background. I have previously run RG6 cabling inside the house walls to multiple TV locations and connected them to an RG6 distribution switch.

I am located approximately 12 miles south of Washington, DC.

We used 12 gauge electric wire and regular RG6 shielded cable to connect to a RG6 distribution/amplifier. We measured/cut two identical length 36-inch 12-guage wires. They are set at 180 degrees to each other. The two interior ends are soldered to the RG6 cable: one wire is soldered to the center conductor, the other wire is soldered to the shield. The other end of the RG6 cable uses an F connector. That is plugged into the RG6 distribution switch. The HDTV is connected via its antenna input.

The wires are hung in the rafters in the attic so that the wire ends point in a WNW to ESE. The 12 gauge wires are stiff enough to hold and maintain the 180 degree relationship.

Note: I did not use a balun/matching transformer for this test; future test may incorporate them to see if I can bring in the Baltimore, MD stations.

The digital signals come in very strong. The VHF are snowy but I am not concerned since they are rebroadcast in digital anyway. Most of the broadcast towers are located N to NE from my home and I placed the antenna to primarily receive those. I have 33 channels coming in with this simple OTA dipole type antenna! In comparison, my Terk amplified antenna connected to the LCD HDTV brought in about 15 channels.

Other broadcast antennas are to the NNE and the W and SW. Those channels do not come in clearly since the antenna is not placed to pick them up. If I relocate the antenna to pick them up, they come in very clearly but I lose some of the N and NE stations.

My next test is to use additional 36" wires and place them so that the four wires form an 'X'. Depending on those test results, I may consider a third set of 36" wires to test reception for the W, SW, N/NE and NNE stations.

I had some 12 gauge wiring left over from an electric project; my neighbor donated the RG6 cable and F connector. Nonetheless, not an expensive antenna! The Samsung LCD HDTV really provides a clear and beautiful OTA picture. All I can say is....Wow!

If you are only 12 miles away simple rabbit ears would work just fine. You might want to read the entire OTA topic lots of useful antenna I have an old style antenna and am picking up stations over 50 miles away of course there are not to many mountains where i live

The reception problems with rabbit ears (as well as other indoor antennas I tested) in my area is the house itself (and location of the multiple TVs within the house), the surrounding topography, many large (over 80-foot + tall) oak trees, and tall buildings within 1-2 miles of my home. I tested several different indoor antennas on every TV and the best reception I could get was 10 to 12 TV stations. Depending on which floor the TV and indoor antenna were located gave me varying reception results.

The simple attic OTA dipole antenna test I ran more than doubled the number of analog and digital stations I was able to receive. Because I already have an extensive RG6 cable distribution installed in the walls throughout my 3 level house, all of the TVs benefit from this one simple antenna I installed in the attic.

I can understand your receptivity results would be pretty good in a flat topography since your line of sight seems to be pretty advantageous. In my case, the placement of an attic antenna gave me greater height and reduced the interference caused by the physical construction of my house. The additional problem I have to overcome with additional testing is capturing those broadcast stations whose transmitting antennas are not within the capability of my very simple antenna.

Thanks for your input!

Can you give us pics or a diagram on how this differs from the "DIY HD Antenna"? I am thinking about doing this and want as much input as possible.