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Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna

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Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna

Based on a commercial design program, this antenna has amazingly good reception. Quit paying your cable company when you can get HDTV for free! Based on a commercial design program, this antenna has amazingly good reception. Quit paying your cable company when you can get HDTV for free!

Step 1: Prepare The Coat Hangers

First, cut off the tops of the coat hangers. Use the pliers to straighten them out into long sections.
Next, measure down fourteen inches and make a cut. Use this first piece as a template for the second one. The leftover is too short, so we'll throw that aside.
Now clean off the center section so it's nice and shiny, like this. Wire strippers work good; you can even use a knife.

Step 2: Prepare The Board

Once all eight sections are done, measure about two inches down from the top of the board and make a mark across. Now measure about five and three quarter inches down, and make marks at each side of the tape measure. Move down, measure another five and three quarter inches and make another mark, and then one more five and three quarter inches, with marks on both sides. Now make X's on each of those marks, so you have four sets, side-by-side.

Step 3: Create The Shapes

Now we'll take one of the long sections, and we're going to bend it. Starting at the upper-right-hand corner, and then crossing over to the second one on the left, the third one on the left, and the fourth one, back across on the right. Mark that off and then cut it with the pliers. You'll have a shape that looks like this. Use this one as a template to bend the second one.

Step 4: Clear The Hangers

Once you're done doing this, we're going to clean off some parts. First we're going to clean off both ends, and then the sections where the bends are, and then a section right in the middle between the two ends.

Step 5: Create The V-Shape

Now we're going to take the eight pieces that are fourteen inches, measure halfway down, which is seven inches, and we're going to take the pliers and bend that down into a V-shape. You want the ends of the V to be about three inches apart. We're going to do this with all eight pieces.

Step 6: Attach The Hangers

Now we start putting it together with the screws and washers. Take one of the V sections and stick it underneath and screw it almost all the way down. Now take one of the long sections and slip it under the V, and tighten it all the way down. You're going to want to make sure that this is good and tight. It will look like this, with each of the clean sections making good contact with one-another.

Step 7: Attach In The Opposite

Now move on to the second one, which is across and on the left, then the third one, which is directly below that one on the left, and finally the lower right. Once we're done with this, we're going to do the same with the other piece, but in the opposite.
When you're all finished it will look like this.

Step 8: Attach The New Antenna To The TV

Now what we have to do is attach the VHF/UHF transformer to the centers; first one side, then the other. When you're finished it will look just like this. Now we attach the end of the cable. Disconnect that old one; just throw it away. Now attach your new antenna to your television. Set it back behind, where nobody can see it. It isn't the best looking thing in the world.

Step 9: Watch The Results

Now the moment of truth: And here we are; every HD channel coming in absolutely perfectly. No artifacts, no skips, nothing! You'll even find you can pick up some of the weaker stations that you couldn't before. In fact, the FCC is mandating that all local stations switch over to high definition television by the end of 2008. So why pay cable for something that you can get for free? Just build a simple antenna for next to nothing. Again, you don't have to pay your satellite provider or Cable Television Company for this at all. It's 100 percent free over the air, and all you have to do is take a little time, build this antenna, and you've got it made!

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Tips & Comments
  1. ekiesan

    GOOD VIDEO and yes, this absolutely works ... been using this particular and other variations for years and this design has been in use long before I was born ... but if it doesn't work for you it may be because of your distance from stations or the location of your antenna, you may have to go higher. I use copper electrical wire with the insulation stripped off, hangers I need for the closet and having to strip them is a pain ... but they do work. You can simply cut off the hanger before the twist, clean ends, attach the Balun and use it just like that ... it's a simple dipole. And you can always add a signal amplifier if you think that may be helpful. The antenna I made I put on a base so it would stand up and rotate as some stations require a very small correction. Also, not explained in this video ... IF YOUR WIRES ARE NOT INSULATED, MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT TOUCH EACH OTHER WHERE THEY CROSS. I found that a simple loop of copper wire 56" in length performs just as well as this antenna. Attach the Balun to each end of the loop and hang the loop. You can create a dream catcher out of it. Each time you make a change, perform a rescan of your channels. BTW ... this will also work for radio reception.

  2. wb8erj

    I recently built a larger version of this hdtv antenna. I live 70 miles away from two large cities. Between the two of them, I pick up 35 HDTV stations. Having to cover that distance, My hdtv antenna has to be outside. As such I couldn't use coat hangers, so I used copper wire. Here is a link for my HDTV antenna I built

  3. fennec56

    Sorry!!! didn't work for me....

  4. posttemp

    I made this to exact specs on the video. I went to antennaweb.org. I'm only 12 miles from the local aerials. This antenna does not work well at all. Snowy picture. I even ran a cable up to the top of the roof and walked around the roof with my son on the cell phone in the house. He said the best picture I got had snow and you coudn't tell it was HD. I'm doing this for the local CBS station in Milwaukee refuses to allow Direct TV broadcast their HD signal. March Madness is days away. I guess I will watch it in regular definition.

  5. washington2009

    Thank you! Very educational video. Love it when he said "throw it away" at the end. Well love to make one like this but I already bought one at Walmart and it works ok.

  6. kzolady

    Could I get an educated opinion on an idea for this antenna, please? I would like to install this horizontally in a north facing window (this is the direction that most of my channels are located.) The space is 4" deep, 20'' high 63'' wide and about 12' above the ground. I thought maybe I could add more antenna wires and use copper wire. Also if copper wire is coated with a thin sealer to prevent corrosion, would this cut down a lot on the reception? Thanks

  7. markdavidburger

    After adding the digital converter box to my old analog TV, I received hardly any channels using the old rabbit ear antenna. With the antenna I constructed per your instructions, I now receive 23 digital channels. Thank you so much for your excellent idea. Do you have any suggestions now on how to improve the programming?

  8. tke248

    Here is my take on building one it works pretty good http://www.combobulate.com/FreeHDTV.php

  9. smacannon

    Awesome! I spent two hours on mine (I'm kind of a perfectionist) and it works great. I put the screws through nuts first because the washers were too big for the screws. We got rid of cable to save money and were ready to get it back because messing with our amplified antenna (Philips MANT510) was such a pain. Some channels worked better with the thing turned off! Note to others... you need an ATSC tuner to receive digital broadcasts over the air. New T.V.s have them built in. There are boxes available for old T.V.s, but why bother? Get a new T.V.

  10. Lindy769

    Hi thank you very much for this video it was very informative and I would like to try this..can you tell me please does it work in England?