I made one of these today for under $15. I had been using a $80 store bought antenna that picked up 18 channels. To my amazement the Stealth Hawk picked up 36 channels. Holy cow!! Thanks for posting this video.
I was skeptical but thought this would work for camping or a radio if nothing else, I built it in less than an hour and hung it on a nail in my attic and now get 3 channels crystal clear hd from towers over 60 miles away, THANK YOU!
I built one of these for my pop-up camper, except I used only two bolts (with nuts and washers) in the whole construction. Everything else is gray rigid electrical PVC. For the mast, I used two 6' lengths of PVC with male/female threaded couplings cemented on. This allows me to break down the mast for easy storage/travel. For the antenna head, I used a weatherproof electric box/housing, which threads onto the top of the upper mast pole. The balun goes inside the housing and attaches to the backside of the two bolts that secure the copper wire to the outside of the housing. The great thing about this set-up is that the coaxial cable and the balun are completely enclosed in the PVC, with the cable running down the mast and out the bottom. Set this mast into a mount of your choosing, and you're good to go. My mount is another gray electrical box with a quick-mount that attaches to the side of my camper. The whole thing cost me about $30 in materials, and it works great. HD quality reception on at least 25-30 channels in most places.
I read about this little magical antenna, but it took some extensive research for me to learn about it. I do not know why the Stealth Hawk and it's big brother; the Super Stealth Hawk, are not better documented. Your video is the first I come across which actually shows people how to create one from scratch. Thanks for sharing it.
Great design works as well as my store bought with an amplifier, using on a bedroom TV . About 12 ft off the ground and the closest station to me averages 32 miles. Tried a lot of these home built that I've seen here on You Tube and this is by far the best! Thanks
Yeah, I'm late to the party, but still want to thank you (& OTA-Canuck) for providing plans for this antenna. I just today built one and installed on my travel trailer (easy to fold up & down). The little jewel pulls in 69 channels, and the closest to my place is in the 50 mile radius. It also pulls in lower VHF, Ch-2, and performs admirably on Ch-69. Thanks again!
I made mine with the lower legs bent perpendicular to the main loop. Each leg was offset from each other. Bent a stainless clothes hanger with a square diamond loop main area. This way there is always a capture corner no matter where the loop is pointed. You could call this a Folded Stealth Hawk antenna. You know? I get more channels now! No need to aim the antenna, no digital signal interruptions. Only mounted indoors on the 2nd floor.
I tried a store bought rabbit-ears type with no luck (1 channel- 2 sometimes). tried this build....Great antenna. I had to experiment a bit with the radials but it does work well now(over 30 now) without rotation. plus as a ham I love to build antennas, and this one was real easy. Thank you both pilesofplenty and Dennis. bring on the larger and more powerful versions of this that you speak of I'd love to give them a shot. Thanks again, Bill
The antenna does surprisingly well but I made the lower horizontal elements longer in length about 22inches each side to bring the antenna resonance closer to the FM band. since all the TV channels in my location only use the UHF spectrum
Just a FYI to people. I made his design then another and doubled it. So 12.16 and so on... I ran them in a + pattern smaller one in the middle then the larger one over the top. I live 100 miles from my North Station and South station. I pointed the smaller one towards the better signal. Now I don't need a rotor because it picks up both South and North now using the double design. I connected them together with a piece of insulated trailer wire (12 gauge) on top of the antenna..Using 2 antennas I now pick up both. With the one he made if I didn't add another I would of had to rotate it like he does. Thank you for the video though! A+++
Actually I received more stations on a single bay coat hanger, but I had it on a 35 foot tower and the mast was another 8 foot, so 43 foot. Yes I do pick up stations in both directions, but I am actually sacrificing a few right now to pull in a local one. My tower blew down a couple years ago, I'm just now fixing it. I will try to do an antenna shoot out when I get it back up. The more complicated stealth hawk designs will do better! I will make one of them at some point also.
Thanks. My goal was to conceal the balun and RG6 quad shield coax within the structure which holds the antenna up, thus making them waterproof. I was able to achieve this using a 1/2" PVC conduit, and 1/2" PVC pipes. The only functional parts which are exposed is the 8 AWG copper wiring for the antenna itself, and the #10-32x1/2" screws, #10 washers, and #10-32 bolts, which all happened to be stainless steel.
The end result is what matters. How many channels are you getting ? Is it any better than what you can get at radio shack. A few yrs. ago I made one. It's a bow type, with a channel master booster. Appox. 30 feet in the air. I get some 30 channels. I am in the N.E. Atlanta area.
Cool antenna. What I'm curious to know is the formation of the wire. Does it have to be separated in a certain manner or not because I can build everything else.
Did not think of printing out tv fool.. very nice. I will try your design. Does it work better then the "4 bay" coat hanger design? are you able to get Omni direction ... receive from many towers around the compass?
TheMereanaEffect That's what's amazing about this little antenna; it's so simple, yet performs as good and in some cases better than antennas which are a lot larger.
88s10Durango pipe? Looked like # 4 grounding wire to me just like he said. did you see the pliers crimp the wire when he bent it. If it were pipe or tube it would collapse and flatten where he squeezed and bent it.
if your TV is newer ( 4 or 5 yearsold ) it will have a tuner built in to pick up the digital signals. if not you'll need a receiver box to tune them. and yes it's free and legal.
+Gac Events = Ebay sells the balun outdoor tv transformer for $6 with shipping. The balun is the outdoor version of the transformer which has a rubber cover to waterproof the coax cable connection.
the only issue that i see... even before you hammered the 1" section flat it appeared to be larger than one inch used for that section, hammering it makes it more ,antennas are finely tuned to specific frequencies and anything over the specified 1" might render it less functional, I'm going to make one today and see what i can get 30klm away from the closest city in my area as were in the country on a farm
The Stealth Hawk is quite multi-directional and was designed to eliminate the need for a rotor and tuned specifically for the core channels used in the new over-the-air digital spectrum. Channels: UHF 7-13 and VHF 14-52
bullsballs The length of copper you need for this antenna is rather small. How much are you going to save: $0.75 maybe? It's not like you are rewiring your entire house (I have - so I know about the cost of copper wire!). There's not enough copper there to make cost of any practical significance unless one is dirt poor! The cost consideration would be significant if we were talking a 8 foot solid copper 5/8" grounding rod of course , but not this tiny length of wire, even if it is 10 or 12 gauge. The only real advantage I see in aluminum is the ease of working it: 10 or lower gauge solid copper is rather stubborn stuff and work hardens fairly quickly (ask me how I know). However I would hope most people would at least have a small drill press (not to mention a small set of drills and countersinks) and a bench vise in their garage or basement, which simplifies basic tasks like this one in the video. (It's amazing to me how many don't, and they are homeowners!). I spent 10 years as an electronics tech in the Navy and commercial/industrial world.
this thing must be very arbitrary since no angles are given, does any one have the angles for each leg ? the graph lines don't match the dimensions shown, regards
This would b a great idea if i had fully stocked workshop to make one. Lol. Show me an antenna that i cn make with a screwdriver, hammer and a wrench..only then would i b impressed! But judging from the comments it looks like it works pretty good. Nice job!
+Iromearound Seven bends on a 60" piece of 12 gauge wire,, wire tie it to a piece of PVC and wire tie the balun connectors to the antenna - done with no tools. (bend the wire back and forth to break it at 60")
+Iromearound who cares if you would be impressed or not. You ought to have, and learn how to use, more tools than a screwdriver hammer and a wrench. My wife can do way better than that. Jeeze how incredibly lame.
I've made two of these that are actually weatherproof and nicer quality than this using the following "high-end" tools: - Phillips screwdriver - Pliers - Wrench - Hacksaw - PVC cement My design is made entirely from 3/4" gray PVC schedule 40 electric conduit, fittings and joint boxes. I built a base out of a five-way PVC junction box with four 12- inch legs that extend out from the center. This creates a very stable base for the mast. The mast then screws into the top of this junction box and is comprised of three 24-inch sections that screw together using female/male fittings. The fittings add strength and also make the antenna easy to disassemble and transport. At the top of the mast is a t-shaped junction box with two 1/4 x 3/4" stainless steel bolts with fender washers securing the copper wire to the front plate of the box. On the back side of the plate are nylon lock nuts connecting the balun to the bolts/antenna. The plate then screws securely to the t-box with a water-tight seal. The balun is fully enclosed in this weather proof housing and easily connects to a coaxial cable that runs down the mast and out the bottom of the base. The antenna is free-standing and can be moved into any location (to whatever distance the coaxial cable will allow). I built this for camping purposes, and it works great. I get about 35 channels in most locations. Total cost was about $50, which includes the PVC, ballun, copper wire, and all hardware. You can subtract about $15 from that if you don't need the base or sectioned mast. My first design was just a long length of PVC conduit that was secured to the side of my camper.
I cannot find 4 guage solid copper wire in Toronto area. Any ideas? anyone got 6" they wanna sell? Thought of using 1/4" copper tubing instead, can get it from HD. Any comments on using this instead? Thanks all ...
Go to Metal Supermarket. I use 1/8" aluminum rods to build mine. Straight pieces, I think then come in 12' lengths. Which they will be happy to cut for you to size. They cost maybe 5$ for the 12'
It would be a better video, if you showed us you actually getting the channels inside, I would not expect showing all channels, but show some, like scan through some, like other build your own antenna videos do. Just sayin.
You will get all local channels in your area. Do some more homework. There are websites that tell you the local channels, heights required to receive them, and anything else you need to know. Many channels are duplicates. The local stations parrot the others.
I get 21 channels with a 25.00 store bought antenna and I'm 20 to 30 miles from transmitters if your getting 50 or 60 channels its probably a bunch of duplicate networks I get NBC, MeTV, CBS, CW, Weather radar,ABC,MyTv2,Ant Tv,PBS1,2,3, FOX, Get TV, GRIT Tv,Ion, Ion life, ion health,Shop,QVC, HSN,TBN
+Robert Reed No. Probably not a bunch of duplicates.. If you do the research on this type of antenna designed by ota-cannuck you will find it generally outperforms almost any store bought antenna - particularly a $30 one (a cheapo). You just happen to be lucky to live in an area where a cheapo works fairly well. There many many places where the cheapo won't do diddley.
Bonjour très bonne antenne, est possible de avoir les dimension en cm Métrés merci. Hello very good antenna can have the dimension cm Metres thank you.
I made one and tried it out........... IT SUCKS!! I live in mid Georgia, and the performace of the Stealth Hawk is piss poor. I took it down as soon as I put it up. I will stick with my homemade Gray Hoverman with reflector. Which pulls in 24 crystal clear digital channels.. The Stealth Hawk only pulled in 3 channels..
I had that one up also, its very location dependent. My GH was busted up in a windy storm so I made that one real fast. It pulled the same number of channels so I stuck with it.
I made one of these today for under $15. I had been using a $80 store bought antenna that picked up 18 channels. To my amazement the Stealth Hawk picked up 36 channels. Holy cow!! Thanks for posting this video.
Made one of these about 5 years ago, still working great. Best economical diy antenna out there thanks for the video!
I was skeptical but thought this would work for camping or a radio if nothing else, I built it in less than an hour and hung it on a nail in my attic and now get 3 channels crystal clear hd from towers over 60 miles away, THANK YOU!
I built one of these for my pop-up camper, except I used only two bolts (with nuts and washers) in the whole construction. Everything else is gray rigid electrical PVC. For the mast, I used two 6' lengths of PVC with male/female threaded couplings cemented on. This allows me to break down the mast for easy storage/travel. For the antenna head, I used a weatherproof electric box/housing, which threads onto the top of the upper mast pole. The balun goes inside the housing and attaches to the backside of the two bolts that secure the copper wire to the outside of the housing. The great thing about this set-up is that the coaxial cable and the balun are completely enclosed in the PVC, with the cable running down the mast and out the bottom. Set this mast into a mount of your choosing, and you're good to go. My mount is another gray electrical box with a quick-mount that attaches to the side of my camper. The whole thing cost me about $30 in materials, and it works great. HD quality reception on at least 25-30 channels in most places.
Thanks for stopping by, I'm very appreciative of your hard work.
I read about this little magical antenna, but it took some extensive research for me to learn about it. I do not know why the Stealth Hawk and it's big brother; the Super Stealth Hawk, are not better documented. Your video is the first I come across which actually shows people how to create one from scratch. Thanks for sharing it.
Great design works as well as my store bought with an amplifier, using on a bedroom TV . About 12 ft off the ground and the closest station to me averages 32 miles. Tried a lot of these home built that I've seen here on You Tube and this is by far the best! Thanks
Michael B
Yeah, I'm late to the party, but still want to thank you (& OTA-Canuck) for providing plans for this antenna. I just today built one and installed on my travel trailer (easy to fold up & down). The little jewel pulls in 69 channels, and the closest to my place is in the 50 mile radius. It also pulls in lower VHF, Ch-2, and performs admirably on Ch-69. Thanks again!
I made mine with the lower legs bent perpendicular to the main loop. Each leg was offset from each other. Bent a stainless clothes hanger with a square diamond loop main area. This way there is always a capture corner no matter where the loop is pointed. You could call this a Folded Stealth Hawk antenna. You know? I get more channels now! No need to aim the antenna, no digital signal interruptions. Only mounted indoors on the 2nd floor.
I tried a store bought rabbit-ears type with no luck (1 channel- 2 sometimes). tried this build....Great antenna. I had to experiment a bit with the radials but it does work well now(over 30 now) without rotation. plus as a ham I love to build antennas, and this one was real easy. Thank you both pilesofplenty and Dennis. bring on the larger and more powerful versions of this that you speak of I'd love to give them a shot.
Thanks again,
Bill
The antenna does surprisingly well but I made the lower horizontal elements longer in length about 22inches each side to bring the antenna resonance closer to the FM band. since all the TV channels in my location only use the UHF spectrum
Thanks Dennis, but the video was actually done by "Pilesofplenty". I truly appreciate the effort you put into designing the Stealth Hawk.
Just a FYI to people. I made his design then another and doubled it. So 12.16 and so on... I ran them in a + pattern smaller one in the middle then the larger one over the top. I live 100 miles from my North Station and South station. I pointed the smaller one towards the better signal. Now I don't need a rotor because it picks up both South and North now using the double design. I connected them together with a piece of insulated trailer wire (12 gauge) on top of the antenna..Using 2 antennas I now pick up both. With the one he made if I didn't add another I would of had to rotate it like he does. Thank you for the video though! A+++
Mike Theune
Actually I received more stations on a single bay coat hanger, but I had it on a 35 foot tower and the mast was another 8 foot, so 43 foot. Yes I do pick up stations in both directions, but I am actually sacrificing a few right now to pull in a local one. My tower blew down a couple years ago, I'm just now fixing it. I will try to do an antenna shoot out when I get it back up. The more complicated stealth hawk designs will do better! I will make one of them at some point also.
Great work on the antenna and editing the video! Thank you!
I made one of these already, but came back to make another....THANKS!
Thanks. My goal was to conceal the balun and RG6 quad shield coax within the structure which holds the antenna up, thus making them waterproof. I was able to achieve this using a 1/2" PVC conduit, and 1/2" PVC pipes. The only functional parts which are exposed is the 8 AWG copper wiring for the antenna itself, and the #10-32x1/2" screws, #10 washers, and #10-32 bolts, which all happened to be stainless steel.
The end result is what matters. How many channels are you getting ? Is it any better than what you can get at radio shack. A few yrs. ago I made one. It's a bow type, with a channel master booster. Appox. 30 feet in the air. I get some 30 channels. I am in the N.E. Atlanta area.
Nice build Tony, great view as well! A wiki on the antenna would have been great.
Cool antenna. What I'm curious to know is the formation of the wire. Does it have to be separated in a certain manner or not because I can build everything else.
Great vid. What frequencies does this antenna recieve? IE, what UHF and VHF channels/frequencies?
And that is how a Tutorial, step-by-step, has to be. Thanks a lot.
Did I miss where/how you attached the co-ax cable to that antenna? Is it down the center of the pipe or?
Did not think of printing out tv fool.. very nice. I will try your design. Does it work better then the "4 bay" coat hanger design? are you able to get Omni direction ... receive from many towers around the compass?
Can you tell me how much gain this antenna actually has ??? Looks cool but does it perform ???
I need omni distance, nothing here. Where can I find the signal patterns and plans for the SuperStealthHawk3 mods?
LOL-yet another antenna design! I love it!!
How many channels do you get with that custom built antenna
Will this pick up both UHF and VHF channels?
That thing is a piece of wire itself; how can you get that many channels?
88s10Durango
...Still pretty thin.
TheMereanaEffect That's what's amazing about this little antenna; it's so simple, yet performs as good and in some cases better than antennas which are a lot larger.
Tony U.
I actually attempted to make one a while back-it didn't work very well.
88s10Durango pipe? Looked like # 4 grounding wire to me just like he said.
did you see the pliers crimp the wire when he bent it. If it were pipe or tube it would collapse and flatten where he squeezed and bent it.
Does this connect directly to the TV or a tuner/receiver through coaxial cable? No need for converter box or anything because it is free tv, correct?
if your TV is newer ( 4 or 5 yearsold ) it will have a tuner built in to pick up the digital signals. if not you'll need a receiver box to tune them. and yes it's free and legal.
Here in Los Angeles we get more than 130 most of them HD channels free!
how stations from san dieco sf and santa rosa ?
I have clear tv I cant get abc here
again no testing hopefuly if you do this project pls show us before and after the antenna is done...
BTW,.. the Stealth Hawk #SH289 model it the premium Stealth Hawk design for overall performance....
I've built many antennas in the past and throughtout them all I found all requires some type of a signal booster.
i have built several antennas,,this one works the best,,still kinda directional
Can you provide details for the Balun required for this antenna?
+Gac Events = Ebay sells the balun outdoor tv transformer for $6 with shipping. The balun is the outdoor version of the transformer which has a rubber cover to waterproof the coax cable connection.
the only issue that i see... even before you hammered the 1" section flat it appeared to be larger than one inch used for that section, hammering it makes it more ,antennas are finely tuned to specific frequencies and anything over the specified 1" might render it less functional, I'm going to make one today and see what i can get 30klm away from the closest city in my area as were in the country on a farm
+Charles lakins made it and get 10 channels now over the none before
static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/3/9/6/1/0/4/a8920074-174-HDTVANT1.jpg
Can you use any other type of wire besides copper? If not what is the function of the copper wire? "Thanks
Robin McCain Yes you can, but copper has excellent conduction, and is relatively cheap.
thanks for the response...I have a lot of wire in the shop but no copper...
im going to make a video of that good job
Build a reflector and receive more stations.
Is this an omnidirectional antenna?
It's bidirectional, has a figure 8 pattern. It will have nulls off the ends. But it's fairly broad because it has low gain.
The Stealth Hawk is quite multi-directional and was designed to eliminate the need for a rotor and tuned specifically for the core channels used in the new over-the-air digital spectrum. Channels: UHF 7-13 and VHF 14-52
surely 14-52 is UHF and ch 7-13VHF !
can we use aluminum?
+IAmAHobbyist I wouldn't. corrodes and has poorer performance than copper. Not much poorer. But poorer.
bullsballs
The length of copper you need for this antenna is rather small. How much are you going to save: $0.75 maybe? It's not like you are rewiring your entire house (I have - so I know about the cost of copper wire!). There's not enough copper there to make cost of any practical significance unless one is dirt poor! The cost consideration would be significant if we were talking a 8 foot solid copper 5/8" grounding rod of course , but not this tiny length of wire, even if it is 10 or 12 gauge. The only real advantage I see in aluminum is the ease of working it: 10 or lower gauge solid copper is rather stubborn stuff and work hardens fairly quickly (ask me how I know). However I would hope most people would at least have a small drill press (not to mention a small set of drills and countersinks) and a bench vise in their garage or basement, which simplifies basic tasks like this one in the video. (It's amazing to me how many don't, and they are homeowners!). I spent 10 years as an electronics tech in the Navy and commercial/industrial world.
this thing must be very arbitrary since no angles are given, does any one have the angles for each leg ? the graph lines don't match the dimensions shown, regards
This would b a great idea if i had fully stocked workshop to make one. Lol. Show me an antenna that i cn make with a screwdriver, hammer and a wrench..only then would i b impressed! But judging from the comments it looks like it works pretty good. Nice job!
+Iromearound Seven bends on a 60" piece of 12 gauge wire,, wire tie it to a piece of PVC and wire tie the balun connectors to the antenna - done with no tools.
(bend the wire back and forth to break it at 60")
Nice! Thanks guy that hates google. U rock!
+Iromearound who cares if you would be impressed or not. You ought to have, and learn how to use, more tools than a screwdriver hammer and a wrench. My wife can do way better than that. Jeeze how incredibly lame.
I've made two of these that are actually weatherproof and nicer quality than this using the following "high-end" tools:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Pliers
- Wrench
- Hacksaw
- PVC cement
My design is made entirely from 3/4" gray PVC schedule 40 electric conduit, fittings and joint boxes. I built a base out of a five-way PVC junction box with four 12- inch legs that extend out from the center. This creates a very stable base for the mast. The mast then screws into the top of this junction box and is comprised of three 24-inch sections that screw together using female/male fittings. The fittings add strength and also make the antenna easy to disassemble and transport. At the top of the mast is a t-shaped junction box with two 1/4 x 3/4" stainless steel bolts with fender washers securing the copper wire to the front plate of the box. On the back side of the plate are nylon lock nuts connecting the balun to the bolts/antenna. The plate then screws securely to the t-box with a water-tight seal. The balun is fully enclosed in this weather proof housing and easily connects to a coaxial cable that runs down the mast and out the bottom of the base. The antenna is free-standing and can be moved into any location (to whatever distance the coaxial cable will allow). I built this for camping purposes, and it works great. I get about 35 channels in most locations. Total cost was about $50, which includes the PVC, ballun, copper wire, and all hardware. You can subtract about $15 from that if you don't need the base or sectioned mast. My first design was just a long length of PVC conduit that was secured to the side of my camper.
I cannot find 4 guage solid copper wire in Toronto area. Any ideas? anyone got 6" they wanna sell? Thought of using 1/4" copper tubing instead, can get it from HD. Any comments on using this instead? Thanks all ...
+Gac Events - Home Depot & Lowes sell 4 gauge solid copper ground wire for $1.44 per foot.
Go to Metal Supermarket. I use 1/8" aluminum rods to build mine. Straight pieces, I think then come in 12' lengths. Which they will be happy to cut for you to size. They cost maybe 5$ for the 12'
It would be a better video, if you showed us you actually getting the channels inside, I would not expect showing all channels, but show some, like scan through some, like other build your own antenna videos do. Just sayin.
You will get all local channels in your area. Do some more homework. There are websites that tell you the local channels, heights required to receive them, and anything else you need to know.
Many channels are duplicates. The local stations parrot the others.
hubbleISS so useless info
Is this not how cable co's receive their sigs? Only on a grander scale
las medidas totales. en español por favor.
ota?
+Julio Villanueva OTA= Over the air.This antenna is for over-the-air broadcast
I get 21 channels with a 25.00 store bought antenna and I'm 20 to 30 miles from transmitters if your getting 50 or 60 channels its probably a bunch of duplicate networks I get NBC, MeTV, CBS, CW, Weather radar,ABC,MyTv2,Ant Tv,PBS1,2,3, FOX, Get TV, GRIT Tv,Ion, Ion life, ion health,Shop,QVC, HSN,TBN
+Robert Reed No. Probably not a bunch of duplicates.. If you do the research on this type of antenna designed by ota-cannuck you will find it generally outperforms almost any store bought antenna - particularly a $30 one (a cheapo). You just happen to be lucky to live in an area where a cheapo works fairly well. There many many places where the cheapo won't do diddley.
*****
I agree. And also:
direction, direction, direction (although most people know that, I guess)
Bonjour très bonne antenne, est possible de avoir les dimension en cm Métrés merci.
Hello very good antenna can have the dimension cm Metres thank you.
perfect
Hey, there's a cat on your chimney.!!!!!!!!
It only cost you 39.99
I made one and tried it out........... IT SUCKS!! I live in mid Georgia, and the performace of the Stealth Hawk is piss poor. I took it down as soon as I put it up. I will stick with my homemade Gray Hoverman with reflector. Which pulls in 24 crystal clear digital channels.. The Stealth Hawk only pulled in 3 channels..
I had that one up also, its very location dependent. My GH was busted up in a windy storm so I made that one real fast. It pulled the same number of channels so I stuck with it.