If you are watching a television and your cable goes out, there is only one thing that you can do--pull out the old portable that you have stored down the basement. Somewhere through the years, the antenna has disappeared. With a few simple things around your house, you can improvise a homemade antenna.
Instructions
1. Check the back of the television. If it's an older portable, it has two screws where the antenna attaches.
2. Loosen the screws as much as they will go without coming out. Go slowly on this process. You don't want the screws out of the back, you just want as much room as possible to hook your homemade antenna.
3. Open a metal coat hanger with wire cutters. You do this by cutting the wire before the bend where the two ends of the coat hanger are braided together. You now have the coat hanger with just two bends left in it, one on each side. The hook has been cut away.
4. Bend the bottom middle of the coat hanger with a pliers to form a right angle and open the side bends to a right angle. Now you should have an almost square piece of metal.
5. Bend the wire with the pliers about an inch from each end to form a small loop on each end. About 2 inches above the point where the wire ends in the loop, make a bend toward the outside of the wire square so the loop has a stem. The angle of the bend will be about 120 degrees.
6. Slip the loop on one end over the loosened screw on the back of television so that it cradles the screw. Tighten down the screw. Do the same with the other loop, connecting it to the remaining screw. Make certain that both screws are tightened securely.
7. Turn on the television and enjoy the reception from your homemade antenna.
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