Best Outdoor Antenna Installation Tips

Antenna Installation Guide - Hints Tips - Electronics Notes

-Looking for more guidance or want to educate yourself before cutting the cord? Here are some tips tailored to safely installing your outdoor TV antenna.
Please note: Every time you move or reconnect your antenna, you must scan for channels on your television. Consult your television owner's manual for more precise guidelines. We include Quick Start guides with all our TV antennas and also provide them here on our website for free.
Installation tips:

1. Before installing an antenna permanently on a roof or in your attic, test reception in that area and other locations prior to installation. To perform a test, connect the coaxial cable from the antenna to your TV. Then, place your antenna in the desired location. Turn on your TV using your TV and, using your remote, complete a channel scan. Once complete, flip through your TV channels and watch for signal interruptions. Make sure your antenna is installed where you get the best signal and the highest number of available channels. Check It Out
2. Higher is always better. Mount the antenna on your roof or in the attic for optimal performance. These locations are more likely to experience fewer obstacles which cause signal interference between the antenna and broadcast towers.

1. Face the front of the antenna toward the broadcast towers. Even multi-directional antennas require this to achieve the best possible reception. Don't know where your towers are? Visit our transmitter locator or download our free Antenna Point app. 
2. Check your outdoor antenna regularly for secure coaxial cable connections and signs of corrosion. Sometimes debris or humidity can interfere with reception. Where possible, cover all connections and use waterproof sealant when installing an antenna mast. (See our included sealing pads for reference.)
3. Installing your antenna near power lines is dangerous. The antenna must be at least 20 ft. (6 meters) away from all power lines. If any part of the antenna or mast assembly comes into contact with a power line, call your local power company. Do not remove it yourself.

Note: Unfortunately, sometimes antennas are returned to us in perfect working order but were returned due to faulty installation techniques. Continue reading for troubleshooting tips.
Troubleshooting tips:
Spotty reception with accessories:

1. For the best reception, make sure the coaxial cable is the correct length for your installation needs. Similar to getting your antenna up high, terminating your coaxial cable at the right length will provide better reception to your television. 
2. If you are using a splitter, diplexer, or your cable run must be longer than 100 ft., consider using a preamplifier to boost weak signals. 

Spotty reception:

1. Reflected signals are also called "multipath interference". For those living close to broadcast towers, signal loss can occur when strong signals bounce off nearby buildings and other surfaces in the area. Aim your antenna in different directions, even sometimes away from the towers, and scan for channels. If this doesn't improve your reception, your installation may require an attenuator.

1. Do not install your antenna near metallic objects or reflective surfaces, as this could also cause signal interference.
2. Since the switch in 2007 from analog to digital signals, receiving TV signal is "all or nothing". You won't see "fuzz" or "snow" on your TV screen if the signal is weak or there is no signal. When a digital signal is received, it will display crystal-clear on your TV. If the signal is interrupted, your TV screen will be blank.

Combining multiple antennas
When combining multiple antennas on the same mast, keep at least 4 to 6 feet of vertical separation between the two antennas to prevent interference. If you want to combine signals from a UHF antenna with a VHF antenna so there is only one down-lead going into your house, use our UHF/VHF signal combiner with a channel filter for each antenna, designed not to pick up out-of-phase signals through the other antenna. For the best results, use equal lengths of coaxial cable from the output of each antenna when connecting to the UHF/VHF combiner.
Optional grounding information
For outdoor TV antenna installations, grounding the coaxial cable will protect your equipment from voltage surges created by nearby lightning strikes but will not protect from a direct strike. Check your local electrical codes to make sure your installation is in compliance. We recommend calling a professional electrician to advise or install your antenna. We have an educational page with suggestions for grounding your antenna.
Safety precautions:
If you are installing an antenna on the roof, assemble the antenna on the ground. Installing an antenna on windy days can be especially dangerous and even slight winds create strong resistance when attempting to set up an antenna or mast. 
Antennas that are improperly installed or mounted on inadequate structures are very susceptible to wind and weather damage. This damage could become life-threatening. The owner and installer assume full responsibility for the installation and verification that it is structurally sound to support all loads (weight, wind, ice, etc.) and is properly sealed against the elements and leaks.

You can read full here : https://www.antennasdirect.com/outdoor-antenna-installation-tips.html

315/433Mhz RF Link Kit

315/433Mhz RF Link Kit - The 315/433MHz RF link kit is consisted of transmitter and receiver, popular used for remote control. It will be easy to use this kit to transmit data via RF With the suggestArduino VirtualWire library

MX-05V models
Operating voltage : DC5V Quiescent Current: 4MA
Receiving frequency: 433.92MHZ /315 Mhz
Receiving sensitivity: - 105dB
Size : 30 * 14 * 7mm external antenna: 32CM single core wire, wound into a spiral
Technical parameters emission head
Model: MX-FS-03V
Transmission Distance: 20 -200 meters (different voltage, different effects) Operating voltage: 3.5-12V Dimensions: 19*19mm
Ways of working: AM transfer rate: 4KB/S transmit power: 10mW
Transmission frequency: 433M
External antenna: 25cm ordinary multi-core or single wire
Pinout left right :( the DATA ; the VCC ; the GND )
Application Environment
Remote control switch, receiving module, motorcycle, automobile anti-theft products, home security products, electric doors, shutter doors, windows, remote control 
socket, remote control LED, remote audio, remote control electric doors, garage door remote control, remote control retractable doors, remote control gate volume, 
pan doors, remote control door opener, and other closed door control system, remote control curtains, alarm host, alarm, remote controlled motorcycles, electric remote control cars, remote control MP3 and so on.
Optional accessories
With the company supporting the use of remote control products.
Remark
VCC voltage to be consistent with the module voltage, and to do the power filter;
antenna reception module great influence, then the best 1/4 wavelength antenna, generally use 50 ohm single-core wire, length of the antenna 433M ca. is 17cm ;
antenna position also on reception module, install the antenna stretched as far as possible, away from the shield, high pressure, and local sources of interference ; 
reception frequency use, decoding and oscillation resistance 

Hardware & Program Setting

With Arduino, you can setting the hardware and program this board 

Antenna Bazooka 27 MHz

Antenna double bazooka 27mhz cable stretch rg58(5,24M) and to 11M radio, total 16.24M cable is suitable for 11 meter band radio
Very suitable for narrow or inadequate land, can be in the form of horizontal, vertical, inverted letter V and letter L
see the picture for the inverted V bazooka antenna installation

DIY miniature antenna booster

When using a good antenna amplifier for the UHF range, programs can be received from television stations which, without a preamplifier, only deliver a very noisy "snow field". The antenna amplifier described here is very simple. It can because of its small dimensions directly in the junction box of Antenna to be accommodated. The small coupling capacitance in the input protects the transistor from overvoltages that may occur during a thunderstorm. The built-in resonant circuit in the collector branch can be tuned to any frequency between 470 and 790 MHz.

Because of the extremely low retroactive effect  of this transistor is the amplifier stronger very stable, even with poor matching of the input and output. The bandwidth of the circuit is about 15 to 40 MHz.

reference : Elektor Electronics

DIY Microwave Antenna Horn Applications with Food or Coffee Can

Looking for a highly effective microwave horn antenna? Look no farther than your pantry! Food cans (empty, of course) can be just the right size to give you lots of gain-just watch out how much YOU gain by emptying the cans! 

You can turn a coffee can into a quick and simple horn antenna with 8.5 dBi gain for 1296 MHz. Its bandwidth is very broad and this horn can be used as is from 1100 MHz to 1500 MHz. It works great in SSB, CW, FM, ATV, satellite, and even SET1 (Search for Extra-Terrestrial , Intelligence) applications. Take an empty 3-pound coffee can and drill a hole for the coax connection along the solder seam 4 l/2 inches from the bot- tom (see Figure 1 for other dimensions). Now mount a Type "N," BNC, or SMA connector in your hole. Inside, solder the probe to the coax connector (the probe is the actual antenna element, generally cut to l/4-wavelength at your proposed operating frequency). You want the probe to be sort of thick; #16 copper wire, I/~-inch copper or brass tubing, and ll4-inch-wide strips of .032-inch sheet brass have all been used and have all worked well. 

One is good, so two is better, right? Yep, in this case. The probe is pretty close to the opening of the 3-pound coffee can, 

adding a second 3 pound coffee can will improve the gain from 8.5 to 10.5 dBi (see Figure 2). Just cut the bottom out of the can (I'll assume the top has already been removed and the contents have already been consumed), so you just have a steel tube. Attach the second can to the first and extend the horn. You don't have to com- pletely solder the gap between the cans. I've found 

that a couple of spot solder points work fine. I've also used that alu- minum wallboard tape with good results, and have even used duct tape once or twice. 

The super glues I tried didn't work well at all. Now, I know exactly what you're thinking (I tried it over 15 years ago). If one can is good, and two are better, 

let's go for three! Without going into wave- guide theory, I can tell you that it won't work. When I tried using three cans, overall gain dropped to only 7 dBi. 

I have taped these to poles and stuck them up in the air for "rover" contacts. I nailed one to a rafter in my roof, pointed it at a local 1200-MHz repeater and 

used it for several years. And a dozen years ago, WSDBY in Ft. Worth, Texas, worked a station near Miami, Florida, on 1296-MHz SSB. For many years, 

this 1,100-mile QSO was the U.S. 1296-MHz tropo record. And yes, WSDBY was using a 3-pound coffee can duct taped to his tribander for this record QSO.