Who knew that a strand of coaxial cable could be so useful on its own? While we usually use these plain-looking wires to connect equipment like modems and cable boxes, you can actually make your own TV antenna using just coaxial and a couple of tools. The reception may not be as far-reaching or reliable as what you’d get from one of the best indoor antennas, but it’s still an interesting DIY project that might save you 20 or 30 bucks. Fortunately, most of us have a spare coaxial hanging around, and as long as you’re careful with it, any utility blade or box cutter will suffice.
As demonstrated by Mr. Inventor 1001 on his YouTube channel, your first step will be cutting your coaxial to length. You shouldn’t need more than 2 or 3 feet of length, and you can make the cut using wire cutters, lineman pliers, or diagonal cutters. Next, grab your blade and carefully make a circular cut around the plastic jacketing of the wire, about 2 inches from the end you chopped off. Remove the jacketing, then use your fingers to pull the braided shielding away and twist it into a pigtail. Make another circular cut around the dielectric insulator (the inner plastic shield) and pull that away to expose the copper center conductor, which should be about an inch and a half long at this point.
Note that the video below shows the process of adding a coaxial connector to one exposed end of the wire. You can skip this step by leaving one end of the coax cable intact from the beginning.
Slow and steady wins the race with this DIY antenna project, especially for the last part
Next comes the tricky part. You’ll need to make two more incisions with your utility knife, this time about a foot away from the end of the wire that doesn’t have a connector. Make the second cut about a half-inch away from the first, then slice the half-inch section open. This should allow you to rip out the half-inch of cable jacketing, leaving the wire’s braided shielding exposed. Lastly, you’ll need to bend the center conductor into a hook shape so that you can hook and crimp it to that half-inch section of exposed shielding. Once you’ve secured the conductor, you’ll be finished making the actual antenna.
Plug the end of the cable with the coaxial connector into your TV’s coaxial input. Don’t worry about the exposed metal on your DIY antenna since your TV’s input is either a power-free passive port, or if it provides any power at all, it’s typically just 5 volts. So, using your remote, change the input to “TV” (or whatever the coaxial/antenna connection is named), then open the settings menu. Navigate to “Channels,” “Broadcasting,” or something similarly named, then run a channel scan to search for stations. Once finished, you should be able to watch over-the-air broadcasts.
Overall reception and available stations will largely depend on your proximity to broadcast towers. Even if you only pick up a handful of channels, you can always combine your homemade antenna with a streaming device or smart TV that streams local channels for free using your home network. And if you’re strapped for cash, you can get a Roku streamer for as little as $30, which will give you access to more than 500 free live channels.
