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  4. How to Boost a TV Antenna Signal With a Phone Jack

How to Boost a TV Antenna Signal With a Phone Jack

March 31, 2015
By: Edwin Wilson
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Antennas are used to capture signals that have been sent out by broadcasting towers and transmit them to your television. An antenna can be as simple as a wire coat hanger inserted into the cable connector of your television set or as detailed as mounting an external antenna and wiring it to your house. The basic idea behind using a phone jack to boost your antenna signal is "the bigger the better." This is not, necessarily, the case. Phone lines are not created to be signal receivers, and as such can either boost strength through combining multiple signals, or lessen strength by having multiple signals cancel each other out. Which is more likely to happen is almost purely up to chance, depending upon location in respect to local broadcasting towers.

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Use a phone cord to boost antenna signal.

Step

Remove one connection from the phone cord, using the wire cutters.

Step

Strip from one half inch to one inch of the plastic away from the phone cord at the end where the connector was removed.

Step

Remove one connection from the coaxial cable, using the wire cutters.

Step

Strip from one half inch to one inch of the plastic away from the coaxial cable, at the end where the connector was removed.

Step

Gently separate the exposed wires of both the phone cord and the cable by slowly pulling apart individual wire strands. This process should not be rushed, due to the fact that individual wires can be extremely fragile.

Step

Intertwine the now separated wires of the phone cord with the separated wires of the cable. Gently twist together by hand, being sure not to exert too much pressure or twist too far.

Step

Wrap the exposed wiring in electrical tape, being sure to use a continuous motion from at least one half inch above the exposure point of either cord. Continue to wrap until all wire is concealed, to at least one half inch above each point of exposure.

Step

Plug the unaltered end of the phone cord into the phone jack.

Step

Plug the unaltered end of the coaxial cable into the television cable receptor.

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