I have an approx 1,200 square foot house, loft upstairs with an A-frame type aluminum roof. It's basically a 2-level cabin that has been added onto on two opposing sides. So the roof slopes up gradually, then at a point slopes up more sharply to the apex, then back down again sharply and then hits the point where it slopes gradually back down on the other side.

By the way, I'm new to this forum so hello everyone :)

Anyway, I want to know if it is possible to use my roof AS an antenna, either amplified or not? I have a bit of electronic knowledge and could probably create an amplifier for the system. If nothing else, buying one. But there is so much metal up there. It seems like it could pick up TV stations.

I live in the mountains and don't really want to dish out money to cable or satellite providers $50 a month for 75% crap I don't watch, I just want some local channels. Is this something that anybody has tried or could offer some insight into as to where to connect opposing wires and what kind of current or capacitance would be required to amplify an antenna which would basically be 1,200 square feet of sheet metal?

I know it probably sounds like I'd be turning my house into a giant lightning rod or something, but setting all that aside (and grounding everything nicely), is it possible this would work? The pitch of the roof is at such an angle (in 2 directions- one facing downtown) that it would catch signal on the other side of the mountain range.

Thanks for your time, looking forward to hearing all sorts of responses like "are you insane? you'll blow up your TV" or something? But I am serious about doing this.

-Andrew

It's a nice idea, but no, it won't work. Antennas have to be tuned to what they are receiving, and lets face it, your roof probably wasn't designed with television reception in mind.

If you do this, you would get a poor picture on analog, and most likely have quite a difficult time receiving digital stations (drop outs or not receivable at all). Amplifying this would just make it worse.

You need to get an antenna that is designed for television reception, and more specifically you can get one designed to receive the stations that are in your area. There is a reason that Lo-VHF, Hi-VHF, and UHF antennas all look different -- it takes a different design to receive each of the bands.

If you need help selecting an antenna for your location there are plenty here that can help with that. How far are you from the broadcast transmit towers?

In fact, that aluminum roof can cause problems with reception via normal antennas. If you try to put the antenna in the attic, the roof will shield it from much of the signal. If you put the antenna on the roof, reflected signals from the roof can interfere with the direct signals.

Thank you for the replies. I figured it was far-fetched but I couldn't help but ask. I may try it just out of curiosity. However.....

As for a regular TV antenna being on the roof and the roof metal causing interference, there is an old unused telephone pole in my yard that originally was for a garage that was torn down. I guess I could install the antenna ontop of that? Is there a loss of signal depending on how far the coax cable travels? It would be about 100Ft from the house. *edit* I also have a shed and newer garage which are about 50 feet from the house and use regular shingles but obviously they are much shorter than the telephone pole *end edit*

Also I had no idea there were different antennas for VHF/UHF/etc. Is there one I can get that encompasses all of these at once?

As far as I know, all local broadcast stations are within 10-30 miles from here depending on the channel. I'm about 10 miles northwest of Asheville, NC. Is this an acceptable distance or should I just bite the bullet and get cable/sat?

Thanks again,
Andrew

Either the pole (assuming there's no wires on it and it belongs to you of course) or the garage/shed should be fine. 10-30 miles is normally not a problem, though local terrain can make it so. You should check the results for your address at www.tvfool.com.

There is loss through the cable, but 100 feet should be managable. You can also reduce the loss by using larger cable, or overcome it by using a pre-amplifier.

Antennas are available which get UHF and VHF; these are actually the most common type.

A TVFool.com plot for your location would be helpful. I am seeing quite a few translators in the area, which are likely to remain on analog for a while and some of which are on Low-VHF. As such, you may want to consider a full-size and full-range combo antenna, such as the Winegard 8200U:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=HD8200U

Judging from what I'm seeing on a general area plot, you will probably want to add a rotor as well.

As for the roof, it might be fun to try. I wouldn't be too surprised if it receives a few channels, but I'm sure it won't be ideal for most frequencies.