Cheap T.V. Antenna Booster

Donna and I did a two nighter at our local 40 minute away Hoosier National Forest. One of the sites we prefer is down in a low area and we can only get 1 and sometimes 2 t.v. channels ( I like to catch news and wx ) So I used my limited knowledge of Electronics and Signal propagation learned when I got my F.C.C. Radio Telephone 2nd class license a hundred years ago. I took two pieces of 1 ft square aluminum foil and put double sided tape around the edges and stuck them to the ceiling of the pod on the inside directly below the amplified antenna. On a Rp-172 this is where the upper cabinets are. One side is inside the cabinet and the piece to the right is exposed above the netted storage area. This is basically a passive improvement of the non exsisting ground plane below the antenna. Whammo , I went from 2 channels to 10, I know this is not a fluke as we have used this site on and off for 4 years and never got more than 2 stations at night and sometimes none in the day when signal propagation is different and the power is reduced. Give it a try its cheap. I guess you could use colored foil if you don't like silver.

You increased the size and effectiveness for the ground plane of the antenna!  Next thing you'll be tuning in Rangoon!

Sweet.  Next step would be to string a cheap outdoor television antenna 20 feet up in a tree.  Or replace the pod's antenna with a Yagi.