Antennas

bcltoys · 4G Newbie Joined: 01 Oct 2008 Posts: 1

Since verizons LTE is going to be 700mgz will a tv antenna be all you need.

VettePilot · 4G Newbie Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 4

I would think that a UHF TV antenna would work since it covers the 700 MHZ range but apparently they do not like to discuss anything that they do not sell in their stores Sad

htsmd · 4G Newbie Joined: 20 Dec 2010 Posts: 1

Some info and a question:

I live in a "fringe" area in central Florida. My UML290 modem gets 1 bar on 4G, 3 bars on 3G/EV. My max download so far has been 2.2 m/s, which is "okay", but I would like more, and I KNOW it will do A LOT better - Took my laptop to the VZ store, where they had 4 4G bars. Speedtest showed 22 m/sec ! I'll take that...

So, I ordered an external antenna connector cord for the modem - it's a micro coaxial connector.

Now, the question: can I connect the antenna to a UHF amplified desktop antenna and improve my signal? Could I connect it to my rooftop UHF antenna (old tv setup) and get a stronger signal?

Gonna find out, for sure. Have to wait until after the holidays, as I am out of town currently. Any engineers out there who might know the answer to this issue?

I do know that some VZW engineers had to ride around in cars in some neighborhoods and ask some folks to turn off their tv antennas - so I would think this would mean that the amp'd antennas might overcome the VZW 4G signal with a local tv broadcast signal - is my thinking - correct here?

An answer to this question, rather than a flaming - would be nice.

Happy Holidays to all

ptrubey · 4G Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2011 Posts: 9

Guys, I'm pretty sure a UHF TV antenna would NOT work. Although they cover, kinda, the same frequency band (they have more stacked elements to pull in lower frequencies than 700MHZ, something we don't need for LTE), the big problem is that they are designed for 75 ohm impedance cables. The Pantech modem is expecting a 50 ohm impedance cable. I'm not enough of a radio engineer to know what would happen if you plugged a UHF TV antenna with a 75 ohm impedance into a 50 ohm cable (but good luck even finding an f-type 75 ohm connector to a N type 50 ohm cable connector!), but I suspect it wouldn't work very well.

Too bad, since I've got a bunch of UHF TV antennas cluttering up my attic.

SlyFerret · 4G User Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 35

A TV antenna is designed to give decent reception for a wide range of frequencies.

TV antennas are not designed with transmitting in mind at all.

If you're going to connect a transmitter to an antenna, you need to make sure that it is designed to transmit on the frequency (or reasonably narrow frequency band) that you're going to be using.

Transmitting through a TV antenna will almost certainly give you a terrible impedance match, causing a standing wave ratio that will likely damage the transmitter in your air card.

-SF