that is huge… and the parts list is less than an equivalent commercial version. when I get my own house, I may well build one like this.

The wire mesh he used is called hardware cloth.

That’s a UHF only antenna. While most stations are temporarily transmitting their digital signals in the UHF band, many will be switching back to their VHF assignments after analog goes dark. See the following document for the allocations “after the switch” http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf

Who doesn’t have cable?

@epicelite – I have cable for most channels, but I don’t want to pay for digital for price and because I have a dvr computer that I don’t want to have to reconfigure to use a rented box just to get a few HD channels. I built a similar antennae out of stuff in my garage and I get the local HD stations for free

Wow this is one ugly monster! Nice build, great write up, but i wouldn’t want that strapped to my house!

I guess this is for the dedicated and not for a snob like me :p

@sly it works great if you live someplace that does not have wind. The hoverman is a great TEMORARY antenna. The one I built 2 years ago broke in 1/2 this winter and has been flopping around for the past month now. the Commericial wineguard antenna I got for $59.00 next to it is still working great and undamaged.

If you want to build a temporary antenna, this route is good, if you want ot put it 20 feet in the air and not have to screw with it for the next 5 years, go buy one.

P.S. these dont work for the VHF channels. I have several DTV channels that are in VHF so I still need to have a larger antenna beam up there.

@epicelite: Cable networks re-compress their HD feeds at a lower bitrate so they can pack in more channels. HD received with an antenna has a superior picture. So for people who really care about quality an antenna is often a better solution.

@sp Good luck finding self-drilling screws for plastic in brass or stainless without paying a high price. Zinc works fairly well for outside work.

@epicelite You’d be surprised who doesn’t have cable. Anyone on a farm or the outskirts of town probably won’t even have it offered to them.

This appears to be a pretty massive antenna. The municipalities around here won’t allow for such a monstrosity to be mounted on the outside of a house.

My dtv antenna is an unfolded paperclip stuck in the center of the co-ax input in the back of my tivohd. I get amazing reception, but the broadcast towers are 20 miles from me and unobstructed.

I have designed and computer modeled a vhf-hi and uhf combo version of the Gray Hoverman. Ive also design and computer modeled a fractal version of the GH too. And there is a vhf-hi and vhf-hi fractal version of the GH too. As far as it lasting and how it looks, that is the responsibility of the builder. In other words, if it looks crappy and doesnt hold up, you have no one to blame but yourself, heh. There are some very good looking lasting builds of the GH. All this info and more can be found in the threads at the home of the GH at http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=186

@epicelite “Who doesn’t have cable?”

Err… the vast majority of the British population. What a knob.