anyways…

There was an old antenna in the attic, so I ran a coax to a boster splitter in the basement, one line to the HTPC, and one to the upstairs TV. 

we got all the local channels in with good signal strength, 90%+, but one channel, FOX seemed to want to bounce around the 55%-85% range.  this would cause some irritating dropouts during programs.

i figured it was the signal strength, so i added another booster up by the antenna. this helped a bit, but dropouts were still fairly common. 

so i happened upon a couple “how to build an antenna” posts on youtube and avsforum and figured i’d try to build my own.

we didn’t have any wire coat hangers, so i got 4 3 foot wire rods at home depot for $1.88 each, for a total cost of $7.52+tax. i had the washers, screws and a 2×4 laying around the garage, so that’s all i needed to spend.

here’s some photos of the final result:

and believe it or not, it actually works. now i’m getting all local channels at above 90% signal strength, CBS, PBS and ABC all at 97%. no more dropouts for us.

the wife thinks it looks like some sort of junk art, but it’s in the attic, so who cares what it looks like, as long as it works.

p.s: you can see the old antenna that was there when we moved into the house in the background of that middle photo.

another p.s.: I know that there’s no such thing as an “HDTV” antenna, or a “digital” antenna.  an antenna is an antenna. but it just sounds cooler to say i built an HDTV antenna

The basement casino is open for business.

Breif history:

When we moved into the house, there was nothing down there. Just a big open box with the concrete foundation walls on all sides. Staircase coming down in the middle, furnace & water heater on one side, laundry washer & dryer on the other.

This last spring, I, with the help of my dear ol’ pop, put up drywall walls to create some rooms. Walled off a furnace room, and also a laundry room.

These photos were taken Sept 25, 2006.

I posted those, so you can see what has happened in a very short time span, considering it’s only been one mere mortal working on it.

So, without any further ado, chadd’s new basement casino:

Welcome to the k2 Lounge!

Bar

New Bottle shelves (added Nov 22 2006)

Beer Tap (added july 2007)

Blackjack table

Craps

Poker

Entertainment center

Home Theater PC (added march 2008)

Jukebox (added april 2008) [update: now with backlit display art]

Random shots

There’s still a lot to do. Need more art on the walls, need to add kegerator behind the bar [update: wall beer tap added], add a sink behind the bar, add a couple bookshelves, trim out the drywall, start/finish the downstairs bathroom in the laundry room. Should keep me occupied for a while.

In the meantime, it’s done enough to be usable, my own little piece of Vegas in my basement. And, after the first party we had down there last week, I think it will work out well. But, i think i might have to initiate taking a rake from the poker table, or else i’m going to have to send back that volcano for the front yard and the flamingos for the back.