Make Your Own HDTV Antenna For Your Mac/PC

How To Make Your Own HDTV Antenna
(Great For PC / Mac HDTV Setups)

Post originally found at http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613 and the original poster’s username was pitman2. Put together by Digg’s supermanred as a PDF, but I take no credit for this instructional. I can however say this damn antenna works, and I am doing it a second time to make a smaller collapsable version I can keep in my macbook bag and take with me on the road.

Original post follows:

I thought that I'd pass this along for anyone looking to buy an OTA HD antenna. I purchased a DB2 antenna a while back, and for $40 + S/H (@ the time) it looked exceedingly simple. So I took some measurements and built one from stuff that I found around my house.

Materials: (what I used)

1 piece of card board cut to 18" x 12" cost : 0
1 sheet of tin foil also cut to 18" x 12" cost : 25 cents
1 strip of wood 1" x 1" x 12" cost : use scrap, 0
2 blocks of wood. Each cut about 2" off of the end of a 2x4 (1 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 2") cost : 5 bucks or use scrap
2 wire hangers cost : check your closet.
6 screws (I used 2") cost : 25 cents cents
4 medium sized washers (don't recall the exact size) cost: 25 cents
2 smaller washers cost : 10 cents
1 UHF matching transformer (or balun) cost : 7 dollars or find your old atari 2600 it had one...seriously.
scotch tape
hot glue stick (optional)

Shouldn’t cost you more than 10 dollars, it’ll be under a dollar if you can find an old UHF matching transformer. Ask your grandpa he might have had one for his old wooden box tv.

Tools:
Screw driver
Pliers (heafty enough to help bend the hanger wire)
Dykes/wire cutters (heafty enough to cut the hanger wire)
Hot glue gun (optional)
Sand paper, wire brush, or a file.

Assembly:


1: Lay the tin foil over the cardboard and use the scotch tape to kepp it in place. Then draw a line down the center of the front and back of the reflector along the 12" width.



2: Lay the 12" strip of wood on the center line on the back side (not the foil side) of the reflector and temporarily secure it with a couple of dabs of hot glue.



3: The other two blocks of wood will be attatched to the front as in the following drawing.





4: Insert screws into the blocks of wood attatched to the front of the reflector. Each block receives two screws and two medium washers. The screws on one of the blocks will also have the smaller washers ontop of the medium ones. Do not tighten the screws down all the way.



5: Straighten out the two wire hangers. You want four pieces of wire each 14" in length, and two pieces 6 1/2" to 7" in length. (I will now refer to the wire as rods)




6: Bend the four 14" rods in the middle to about 24 degrees or until the two ends are about 3" apart.




: Using the sand paper or whatever you have, clean the coating off of the rods at the points circled in the drawing (above). While you are at it make sure that your washers are capable of making a clean contact with the rods.

8: Place the two straight rods on the blocks as shown. (EDIT: The rods in this picture are shown to be on the "inside" of the screws. But they should be placed on the other sides.)



9: Place the bent rods on the blocks as shown, and tighten the screws. Only lighly tightening the screws with the small washers. (EDIT: As in the edit above, the rods in the top part of this picture are placed incorrectly. However they are correct in the drawing in the lower part of the picture.)




10: Connect the UHF matching transformer to the antenna using the screws with two washers each and tighten to secure. (EDIT: Again, rods bad, I suck.)




COMPLETE!

In my un-scientific tests this antenna seems to hold it's own against the DB2 as an indoor antenna . In outdoor tests it performed almost as well as the DB2. Although I wouldn't use this one outdoors, being card board and having a solid reflector. One good gust of wind and it'll fly away. But there is no reason why you can't build one with higher quality materials to be used outside. Like a cooling rack for a reflector so that it doesn't catch the wind.

98 Questions Unresolved in LOST

1. What are the Others/Dharma doing on the island?
2. What is the smoke monster?
3. Where is the island?
4. Why do all the characters seemed to have run into each other before the flight?
5. What is the "sickness"?
6. What's the deal with the 4-toed statue? Who were the original inhabitants of the island?
7. Why is Hanso (from LE) trying to infect people from a virus? (from the Sri Lanka video)
8. What/who is causing the whispering?
9. What are Walt's special powers? Why was Walt talking backwards? Why did he appear soaking wet?
10. What is causing all the hallucinations on the island?
11. Why is Desmond able to predict future events?
12. What happened to Michael and Walt?
12. Did Desmond really travel back in time, or was it just another different type of hallucination?
13. What is the big construction project that the Others working on?
14. Who is "him"?
15. What exactly was the Incident?
16. How did Locke, Eko and Desmond all escape the hatch before certain death? Why was Desmond naked, and how did he get from the hatch to the jungle?
17. How did Locke regain use of his legs? What caused Locke to briefly lose the use of his legs on the island?
18. Why are the others unable to conceive children?
19. Who is Jacob? Why does the video refer to Jacob in the past tense?
20. What caused the Nigerian plane to crash on the Island?
21. What is the significance of the eye close-ups?
22. Why did Juliet want Ben dead?
23. Why were they brainwashing Karl? What is the purpose of the clockwork orange video?
24. How did Locke become paralyzed?
25. Why did 'Fenry' say he'd come for Locke?
26. Why are there Polar Bears on the island?
27. What is the Dharma Shark?
28. Is Alex Ben's biological daughter?
29. Why did Radzinsky make the blast door map? Did he really kill himself? Why?
30. Who was the man with the eyepatch? And where was the video feed coming from?
31. What is in the vaccine that is/was being injected into Claire?
32. What happened to the the Black Rock? How did the Black Rock get so far inland?
33. Why was Penelope looking for an electromagnetic anomoly? What will she do now that she has found it?
34. Was Libby sent by someone to give Desmond the sailboat?
35. Why were there so many survivors from the crash?
36. Why was Libby in the mental hospital? Did Libby recognise Hurley from the mental hospital?
37. Who spoke with Jack via the Intercom to try the door? Why was he hearing his father through the intercom?
38. Why did the smoke monster kill Eko?
39. Why did the Others want to take Kate and Sawyer?
40. Are Hurley's numbers really cursed? How?
41. Why did the entire sky light up when Desmond turned the failsafe?
42. Who was Libby's husband David? Any connection to Hurley's Dave?
43. What is the relationship between the Valenzetti numbers (or Valenzetti equation) and the Swan hatch?
44. Why were so many Dharma stations abandoned?
45. Why did the Others burn Kate's clothes? Why did they burn Colleen after she died?
46. Is Rose's cancer really cured?
47. Lift up your eyes and look North - What will be found there?
48. How was Walt communicating with Michael at the Swan computer? Was it really Walt?
49. Why was the Swan hatch under quarentine?
50. What happened to Jack's father's body?
51. Who removed Yemi's corpse from the Nigerian plane?
52. What were the surgeons in the medical hatch going to do to Claire?
52. Why is Alex helping the Survivors?
53. Why were the Numbers broadcasting on the transmitter?Who originally broadcasted them and why?
54. Can Jin now have children? Is he really the father?
55. What is the purpose of the Flame hatch?
56. Why was Locke so curious about the origin of Sawyer's name?
57. Why was Desmond in the Army prison?
58. What happened to the real Henry Gale and why?
59. Why did they take Michael's blood?
60. What is the cable used for they find on the beach that led them to Danielle?
61. Why did the psychic lie to Eko about being a fake? Why did he buy Claire a ticket for flight 815? What did he see?
62. Was Locke really "immaculately conceived"?
63. Are Dr. Candle/Wickman the same? Why did his name change?
64. Was someone in the Pearl hatch just before Locke entered? What was the stuff we saw on the side table?
65. Who is Brennan? What are the keys that he has?
66. Did Fenry do something other than enter the code?
67. Why was the orientation film edited and why were the missing parts in the other station hidden in the bible and simply not destroyed
68. Who/what brought the girl in Australia back to life?
69. Who was Sawyer talking about when he said I love her while recovering from his infection?
70. What happened to the replacements for the Swan? If it's so important, why was it left to fend for itself?
71. Who were Adam/Eve,the bodies, found by Jack in the caves?
72. What has Juliet been doing on the island? Does it have something to do with the pregnant male mouse?
73. Was Hurley's Lottery rigged?
74. Why was there a glass eye in the arrow hatch?
75. Why have so many people lost their arm (Montand, Wickman/Waxman, Ray Mullen)
76. What was the "Hurley Bird"
77. What was meant be "The computer must'nt be used for anything else". What else could the computer be used for?
78. What is the significance of the mark they put on Juliet?
79. Why was there a pile of unopened logs from the pearl in the middle of the jungle?
80. Where does the Dahrma food drop come from?
81. How did Kelvin know Desmond had arrived on the island? Is Kelvin really dead?
82. Why were there blast doors and a huge stash of guns in the Swan?
83. If the Swan hatch imploded, why did the hatch door go flying out to the beach?
84. Why did the monster kill the pilot?
85. What happened to Locke's Helen? Did Locke take the $200,000?
86. Was Edmund's death an accident?
87. What was the purpose of the Arrow hatch?
88. What was Ethan doing at Rachels, Juliet's sister?
89. How come Walt looks at a picture of a bird and one turns up dead and then he reads a comic with polar bears and they turn up?
90. What did Fenry mean by "We already got more than we bargined for from Walt" on the dock?
91. Why were the Others wearing costumes at first?
92. Where was the radio signal playing "Moonlight Serenade" coming from?
93. How did Mr.Paik know Jin & Sun were planning to run away?
94. What was in the pit Locke was being dragged into? Why was the monster trying to drag Locke into it?
95. Why were all the hairbrushes gone after the crash
96. How did such a rare bottle of whiskey make it to the island? Is it from Widmore's stash?
97. What happened to the passageways on the blast door map? Are they still there?
98. Who did Hurley kill?


Also, why is the report who covered Hurley's restaurant being hit by a meteor Asian report Trisha Takanawa from Family Guy?


:)

Frets On Fire On Your Mac!

The folks who made Frets On Fire have released a Mac version. THANK YOU!

There are some probs still, seeing as they dont own Macs they have still done a wonderful job, but there are some bugs in the current releases which make it impossible to run on some Macs. But I researched and found a way to get it going, and actually once I got it going I found that it works a lot smoother and better in OS X than it does on Vista or XP on my Macbook.

Here's the instructions with links on how to get it installed, and at the end I'll list some links of where to get songs for it.

Instructions By: Alex Yang-Nikodym (For Intel based Macs)

Step 1. Download the latest version of FoF, and the older 1.1.324.

Old 1.1324 Version Download Here

REMEMBER TO KEEP THE TWO FILES SEPERATED SO YOU KNOW WHICH IS WHICH!

Newer 1.2.451 Version Download Here

Step 2. Extract both, and go into the FoF.app (1.1.324). Now, go to Contents/Resources/lib/python2.4/lib-dynload and grab the _amanith.so . Put this in the new FoF, in the same location the older one was in. Say yes when asked to replace. Now, FoF will start up, but you'll get nothing but a blue screen and some music.

Step 3. Rename default.ttf (found in Contents/Resources/data) to default.ttf.bak . Say "use .bak" when the pop-up comes up.

Step 4. Grab Chalkboard.ttf (from Library/Fonts) and paste it into the new FoF (into Contents/Resources/data). Rename it to default.ttf

Step 5. If the game still doesn't work, or is buggy or something, grab the flame.svgs (there should be two) from FoF 1.1.324 (Contents/Resources/data) and paste it into the new FoF, into the same location you found the .svgs.

The only bug I've found is that when you change your video settings (IT WORKS FINE!) you need to press space and the game exits, when you re-enter the game you should be in full screen goodness. I cranked it up to 1280x800 with 8x anti-alias at 80 frames per second with HIGH setting and it seems to work great.

Good luck!

Oh, and as far as links to songs, try google'n "frets on fire songs" you will find tons.

I am about to try out the XBOX 360 guitar plugged into USB on the Mac and see if it works. If it doesn't I will post here a HOW-TO get it working...

Have fun! And don't forget, Guitar Hero III will be available for MAC in early November! Can't wait... Now I have to find room for a damned mini guitar in my laptop bag which is already pretty cluttered with a TV antenna, portable hard drives and such.

Hope this helps and you Macbook /pro owners can now Guitar Hero on the go!


Paul Alves,
DIGG's supermanred.

Heroes: Mr Linderman IS Takezo Kensei

It just dawned on me. Mr Linderman IS Takezo Kensei.




Although the Legend of Kensei tells of his battle against a "white beard", I believe that is just to throw us off the truth.

Mr Linderman can apparently regenerate plants, but would he truly be so powerful in the midst of super powered humans if that was his only ability?

Kensei can spontaneously regenerate himself, and we believe come back from the dead as is insinuated when Hiro says "You Can't Die!!!" just before Kensei comes back to life. Is this perhaps Linderman's ability? Has the Gaijin Kensei lived for over 400 years and now lives in the guise of Linderman?

Oh...and IS LINDERMAN dead? I didn't see a funeral. Perhaps he has come back once again, maybe this time with a little extra brain damage that is permanent?


Also, I add to this that perhaps Linderman/Kensei does in fact end up marrying the Swordsmith's daughter. Is their offspring somehow connected to the show as well? Are the Petrelli brothers his grandsons and Momma Petrelli his daughter?

It would explain why Linderman wanted Nathan as part of the organization, he was perhaps trying to bring his grandson into the fold.

It's just a theory, but it all fits so far. If you have any more to add, please comment.

Oh, and here is the legend of Kensei from wiki:

The legend of Takezo Kensei
Hiro mentions the legend of Takezo Kensei many times in season one, though little is actually related until he trains fencing with his father in the episode "Landslide". Previously, in "Godsend" and "The Fix", Hiro mentioned that the sword -- which he was working to steal from Mr. Linderman -- helped Kensei focus his power. He also mentions that his father used to tell him stories of Kensei, presumably including the many that Hiro mention to Kensei in Season Two. When training with his father for his part in "saving the world" before the showdown with Sylar in New York, Hiro relates the story of "Kensei and the Dragon" and realizes that, if he wants to win, he must be strong enough to sacrifice himself.
In the 17th century, Japan was threatened to be torn apart by civil war; behind all of it was the warlord "White Beard." Kensei found a sword frozen in the snow. He was not, however, a good enough fighter to wield it, and, therefore, went to see the dragon of Kiso Mountain, who could teach him the sword's secrets. The dragon agreed to do this in exchange for Kensei's love. Knowing that Japan would fall under the rule of "White Beard" unless he took action, he had to agree to the dragon's demands even though he loved a princess.
After saving Japan in a great battle, the dragon came for his end of the deal. The dragon demanded the life of the swordsmith's daughter, the princess Kensei loved. Instead, Kensei cut out his own heart and handed it to the dragon, saying, "My love is in here. Take it," and he died.
According to the mockumentary "Sword Saint," presented on the official Heroes 360 website, after Kensei cut out his own heart, the dragon was touched by how much the warrior was willing to offer for his people and love, and restored the heart to him. Kensei then ran away with the princess.[3]

The Ultimate Digg Comic Strip

I was playing with Comic Life and decided to make the ultimate Digg Comic Strip based on what the average Digg user diggs and what hits the front page... Well, here goes... Hope you like it.

Heroes - Lost Connection

The creators of both Lost and Heroes TV series are good friends and have worked together, and they themselves have hinted that they would love to intermingle the two shows. Despite the fact that the shows are on seperate networks, which have yet to agree to any merging of the shows I believe the two are converging already!

I've put together a list of the links between the shows, and some of my theories on the connections. Keep in mind that LOST takes place in 2015, a few years after the events currently happening in Chapter ONE of HEROES. Also keep in mind that Chapter TWO of HEROES and every chapter (season) after that will feature a whole NEW set of HEREOS from around the world.

The mysterious island on Lost was a mad-scientist laboratory focused on accelerating human evolution that created the superpowered heroes on Heroes. Those accelerated humans are now in their 30's or so. You might know them from the show HEROES. The island is still there, and still to this day many special humans are sent there for experimentation.

Heres my list:

• The actor who portrays Matt Parkman, the police officer who can hear thoughts on HEROES played the pilot of the airliner that went down on the LOST island.

(Are both the characters the same? Since Matt lost his job as a police officer perhaps he becomes a pilot in the future? Or does Matt have a twin brother he didn't know about who was also gifted? Even Tim Kring has joked about this connection.)

• Desmond on LOST saves the world by pressing the button. As he shuts his eyes tight (a la HIRO NAKAMURA) he is instantly transported through space and time to the past, where he has a chance to live his life again. Despite his best efforts, he finds that he cannot change the past and the universe has a way of making certain events happen despite his best efforts to change things. HIRO NAKAMURA who posesses the same power to shift through space and time encounters this same phenomenon when he tries to go in the past and stop his girl friend from being killed by Syler.

(Could Desmond simply have the same or similar power as Hiro but not know it? When he was about to die, did he perhaps wish he was back in the past, therefore activating a power he didnt remember he had?!)

• The actor who plays Mohinder's friend back in India on HEROES appears in a flashback to Desmond's past on LOST.
  

• The same fictitional car rental company exists in both shows, another clue that it is the same Universe. Here are pics from LOST and HEROES. The brochures used are EXACTLY the same.

• 
  
  
  
  
• Hiro's father (George Takei) is a Japanese businessman who appears to own a large company. The Dharma Foundation (assumably a large company) instructional videos feature an Asian individual giving the instructions. Is this individual perhaps Japanese and working for Nakamura / Dharma Foundation?

• Nathan Petrelli in one scene says:

Nathan: If people knew what we were capable of, they would drop a collective brick.

Simone: Do you think they would burn you at the stake?

Nathan: Yeah, pretty much. Because that’s what I would do. I’d round us all up, stick us in a lab, or on some island in the middle of the ocean.

YouTUBE video of this scene

(Could it be that in the future, people could have their minds wiped (ala Hatian dude) and put on a plane to an island?)

• In the same episode when Nathan mentions the island, we see that Syler is staying in room 23 in a motel. 23 is one of the numbers in Hurley's lottery numbers on LOST.
  

• The OTHERS on LOST seem to kidnap specific people and bring them into their fold.

(Could they be finding those with the right genetic markers? Perhaps one of them has a talent for finding special individuals?)

• Mohinder on HEROES is looking to perhaps find a cure for the gifts the HEROES have. The others on LOST seem to give out a lot of injections of mystery shite.