What to they have inside ? Just a piece of wire in a prettier piece of plastic ? A piece of foil ?
They stay in the back of a television to receive over-the-air broadcasted channels. There is a couple of brands, look like :

----> http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/162396533203-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

But cannot find any x-ray picture or autopsy on the web.

 

It's just an aerial. It may have a loading coil to match it to the TV input. Some indoor aerials also have an amplifier but then they a power supply too.

 

If you only need UHF a simple bow-tie will usually work better.
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/tag/indoor-tv-antenna-review/

 

I've bought a couple of the "leaf" flat blade antennas and they work surprisingly well. I have to get the versions with amplification, but they're still cheap. Maybe $15 on sale?

 

My nephew got fairly good results with a 1 foot square antenna taped to an interior wall, but I'm not going to take down my 35 foot antenna pole until I get one and test it.

 

If you only need UHF a simple bow-tie will usually work better.
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/tag/indoor-tv-antenna-review/

I agree with the spook. If you need to have an indoor antenna, a simple bow-tie will be one of the better you can get.

 

If you need to have an indoor antenna, a simple bow-tie will be one of the better you can get.

I used to install antennas. A "bow tie on a screen door" at 15 feet up would pick up Chicago stations nicely from 122 miles away.

 

@#12 The Hoffman antenna (as shown in your picture) is a very good UHF - but AFAIK, you have to build it yourself.

 

http://www.solidsignal.com/c.asp?c=3870&d=TV-Antennas-Indoor

 

@#12 The Hoffman antenna (as shown in your picture) is a very good UHF - but AFAIK, you have to build it yourself.

That's only an image found on the internet. You can purchase several kinds of bow-tie antennas at the retail level regardless of the most convenient image I happened to find in 5 minutes.

 

Oh look! Here come a couple now!

 

Hi,

One place where i lived it was hard to install an antenna on the roof, so i bought a regular TV antenna (the big kind you mount on the roof) and installed it in the attic. Picked up stations much better than rabbit ears. It had to be aimed too though, so it had to rotate to be able to point in the right direction for best operation.
A rotor would have helped too but never got one.
The attic idea might not work if your rafters have the metalized insulation in them, the kind with the foil overlay.
Years and years ago i also used rabbit ears and two amplifiers. PIcked up stations better with the two amps, better than one amp, but when someone transmitted on their CB or other type of radio it would get some bad interference for a few seconds.

 

One place I lived needed a 6 foot aerial on a 12 foot pole on the roof and a masthead amplifier but the picture still had ghosting and snow.
Where I am now, good reception can be had by connecting a yard of feeder cable connected to nothing

 

Thanks, guys. The ones in post #11 are the ones seemed to have better performance and sales.

But that was not the point... What is inside these not-amplified 'rods' ? ----> https://www.dhresource.com/0x0/f2/albu/g5/M00/AC/B3/rBVaI1i445WAO6VnAAPn4ZSWXBc521.jpg

It's just an aerial. It may have a loading coil to match it to the TV input. Some indoor aerials also have an amplifier but then they a power supply too.

Yes, an aerial. Can you explain 'loading' coil ? Loads what ? To match what ? At what frequency ?

 

Hi again,

Some of the rabbit ears have a coil inside and a rotary switch on the outside you turn to get the best reception. I dont remember the exact operating principle but you could find it on the web i bet.

I used the two amplifier set up for a few years actually, until the Towers went down in NY and then i could not get any station clearly no matter what i did, so i was forced to order Cable service or else no TV.

 

Thanks, guys. The ones in post #11 are the ones seemed to have better performance and sales.

But that was not the point... What is inside these not-amplified 'rods' ? ---->

About 25 cents worth of plated metal on plastic most likely. Fixed length 'rod' antenna.

It's a little too late for this great device.
TV antenna

 

Yes, an aerial. Can you explain 'loading' coil ? Loads what ? To match what ? At what frequency ?

It probably has a 300-75 ohm balun at the base. The intrinsic impedance of a rabbit ear antenna is 300Ω. The input impedance of all new TVs is 75Ω, so for a proper match, the balun is needed. A good balun will work across the entire TV frequency band.

 

Yes, an aerial. Can you explain 'loading' coil ? Loads what ? To match what ? At what frequency ?

Read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_coil

 

Oh look! Here come a couple now!

Reminds me of a favorite movie quote:

"LOOK! There comes one of them now!"

 

What is inside these not-amplified 'rods' ? ----> https://www.dhresource.com/0x0/f2/albu/g5/M00/AC/B3/rBVaI1i445WAO6VnAAPn4ZSWXBc521.jpg

A balun at the base and essentially some copper tape in a specific pattern on a flexible base laminate encapsulated in plastic..

Its very easy to make your own as shown here already..

I made a "fractal" one for shits and giggles which is essentially "stars" and I picked up stations from 30+ miles away..
It was similar to this..
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_UiD8F79jssM/Sy64wPoJ0dI/AAAAAAAABkM/2pEfvP2rtgY/s1600/IMG_1332.JPG

Between that and Kodi I haven't paid for cable in years now..just internet..
Not many know that there is "Free HD" floating all over the place..