We recently got a new LCD TV when our old CRT TV died.

The old TV got a bunch of stations, analog, sometimes snowy.

I made a 4 bay antenna from instructions off the internet, using aluminum wire, stuck it in a window.
I live in a basement, and can not mount an antenna outside.
The Toronto stations come in quite well, even Hamilton comes in a little.
Buffalo, nothing, nada, not even the more powerful Buffalo stations. 

I wonder if adding a reflector to the antenna will help, if so, how far back does it need to be from the antenna itself?   I'm still working on the antenna, and will try a couple of other things.  One thing of note, the lower channels do not come in well, like 18-24 or so, 20 does, but it's so powerful.  Where I am located Buffalo is almost directly behind the CN tower, so the antenna is aimed there.  I am going to take the antenna apart and try sanding the connection points, maybe there is a little corrosion or a sealer in there that I need to remove.  I think if I spend more then another couple of hours on it, the wife will get mad though.

Any other ideas.  I am near Bathurst and Sheppard, one of the higher points in the city. 

Updated  below here

I rebuilt the antenna, sanded all the connections, made a couple of other changes, and no change, Starting to wonder if I should change the balun, I have another one, maybe the one I used is bad, don't remember, maybe that's why I have two.....   Still wondering about the reflector though, and whether I should go begging to my landlord to let me put the antenna up higher outside... How do you weather protect these things????

wogster, make sure you use RG-6 cable (or better) from the antenna to the TV. Basement apartments kinda stink for these types of things. Perhaps your old tenant had a satellite dish; you could use that satellite "stand" for your antenna and use the existing cable.. . Worth a shot!

I think the cable I have is RG-6, there are some other cables floating around, so I may try a different one.....   I think I have another Balun here, if I can find it, I may try that as well.  If not, there is a variety store near here that has all kinds of wires and other stuff, if they have a balun, I may just get another one.

I seem to keep replying to myself, as well as others, going to give myself a complex :-)

Okay, given that 7" wires on the antenna peak at channel 69, I decided to put longer ones on.  Found I didn't have enough wire left to do them all.  So I now have 10" on the top and bottom, and 7" in the middle.  Still no Buffalo though.

My current strategy is to build another antenna using copper wire instead of galvanized wire (I though it was AL, but on rereading the spool, turns out it's gavanized.)...   Thinking of building a wood box to go around and behind the antenna then putting some aluminum foil on the inside of the box, as a reflector.  My SO can paint the box so that it looks nicer then the rather ugly antenna. 

I am wondering though, what guage wire would be best, I used 14 guage for the first attempt, because I had it.  I need to buy some, so wondering what guage works best for this?

I used 14 gauge "hanging basket" wire that was purchased from the local hardware store for the latest "creation". A 50 foot spool was $5. East to work with, easy to bend, and it is cheaper than romex.

Make the bowties 10 inches and the feed wires between the bowties 9 inches. Be sure to cross the feeds between the top set and second set as well as the bottom & third set. Use a 2 by 4 piece of wood that about 1 meter long to attach/screw the wire to (use skinny side). Attach the balun between the 2nd and 3rd bowties (right in the middle). Lastly, find a cardboard box, cut a 1 meter by 1/3 meter piece, glue aluminum foil on it (glue stick works great for this), and tack it to the back of the antenna. Point it out a south-facing (Toronto location) or north-facing (WNY location) window and volia!

Once I figure out how to upload photos here I'll put up some pics of the antennas that were made and work really well.

Does an antenna need to sit with the board in a vertical position, or would it work just as well in a horizontal position?  Just worried about the height of an antenna that size, frankly the window is only about 65cm high, so a 1m high antenna isn't going to work.....  :-(

Doing that might weaken performance a little, but you should be OK.. .

No it should not be ok unless the OP reorient the dipoles.

the "board" or in this case the reflector is not the problem , the problem is the orientation of the dipole and the director elements. I am assuming the reflector is not a 1 or few elements thing but rather a big surface. In your case there are no director elements therefore the orientation of the bow ties or dipoles determines the polarization of the antenna , either horizontal or vertical . All commercial TV station use Horizontal polarization therefore the dipole element or elements should be horizontal or paralell to the earth plane , obviously an antenna is designed so the directors have the same orientation of the dipole system.

For the amount of US Programming that the canadian stations carry and living in bathurst and sheppard I would not ven worry about the major US networks from buffalo. Get an indoor Non Amplified VHF/UHF antenna and try with that one , from a second floor in St Clair/Oakwood a 5 cad version works like a charm althought you have to rotate it manually for CityTV but who cares!. It is your TV and this is a free country so you do not have to follow my advice , lol.

Well, the reason we ask questions and seek advice in forums such as this, is that we have the advantage of vast pools of knowledge from different areas. 

So the debate becomes do you build an antenna slightly smaller, maybe instead of 10" wires, go with 8 1/2" and maybe use 8" spacing making the whole unit about 30" high instead of 39" high, which will not fit the space. 

Or orient it the other way so that it fits the space.

Or build effectively a 2 x 2 bay antenna side by side and add and extra wire to connect the 2 together effectively making one antenna. 

Or make a deal with the landlord and put it in a weather proof box on the garage roof.

No need to quote the previous post. Are you trying to build an antenna to fit into a particular space or rather to get some particular TV signals?. If the second , then get an antenna modelling software to calculate the proper dimensions. There are plenty over the internet.

A bit of both.... :-)

I would like to get Buffalo, but do have space constraints.   

Just an update here, for those who wondered what I eventually did...

Version 3 of my antenna was an abject failure, next is version 4.

Wire for ties was 18 guage aluminum, way too thin, could barely bring anything in.  Will try 14 guage copper for the next one.  Wires at 9" were too long, while bottom end stations 9 to 25 came in excellent, 64-66 became hit and miss.  Will try 8 1/4  for the next one.  The idea is to have the antenna peak at around 40, but still strong enough for both 9 at the bottom at 66 at the top. 

Used aluminum plates as a reflector, this didn't work, I have some aluminum window screening from trying to protect indoor plants from the cats,  the piece is quite large, so will use either wood or wire to make a frame to fit the back of the entenna, with the screening attached.  This should make the antenna work better and look better as well. 

If this does not work, it will need to be moved outside.  Anyone know how to waterproof the connections?

Wog, I just had an idea.. . I'm picturing your basement window and I'm guessing it's the same dimensions as an HDTV.. very wide but not too high. Not tall enough for a 4-bay antenna unless you put it in sideways.. . So try this; make two 2-bay antennas and tie them together like an 8-bay (two 4-bays). Make sure the reflector is not farther than 4 inches away from the elements. Make the "bows" 8-1/2 to 9 inches. Hope this post makes sense.. .

I was thinking about that, how do you tie them together, is this before or after the balun? 

After the baluns using a coupler (splitter). However, using a coupler/splitter will cause a 3dB loss of signal, so try this....

Tie the two 2-bay's together with a chunk of 300ohm wire, then connect a balun in the middle of that 300ohm wire. Hope that makes sense.. .