Inside ac wiring suitable for antenna?

[gpat]

I know Ill get blasted but in experimenting with my new Zenith 901 converter box I tried all the rabbit ears I have and none compared to the cheapo ac wiring to coax box thingy. I picked up 4 stations
over the best powered inside antenna I have. Hoax or not this thing works. Yes Im alittle concerned with a fault in a cheap Chinese item smoking by putting 120v ac thru my coax. Anyone have any success with these?
Keep in mind with digital signals we dont care as much about the frequency that an antenna is "tuned" to just the signal strength.

 

[Peter Parker]

If it works it works. I think that you could do still better with ab outdoor anttenna but if you are happy more power to ya'

 

[navychop]

Ditto.

 

[dish_in_the_sky]

AC wiring antenna

1. This is similar to a random-length wire antenna of many wavelengths. It's performance is very unpredictable and may be affected by people walking around the room or by other moving objects or pets.

2. Do consider safety. A wire stuck in the coaxial jack and wrapped around the power cord (clock radios often do this for FM radio, using the cord as a (poor) antenna. This may be safer than a plug-in gadget without UL approval. If the gadget shorts your coax to the AC line, it is DANGEROUS because it then is a shock and electrocution hazard!

3. If it's safe and works well enough for you, enjoy!

4. An outside antenna (even an indoor antenna placed outside) will perrform better than that same antenna inside, especially on RF Ch 14 and up.

5. There are no shortcuts and no free lunches for signal reception. Signal strengh is one part (big antenna). Multipath (think of fuzzy FM radio sound) must also be low, and is often minimized with directional antennas. Usually the bigger the antenna, the more directional it is.