Autonomous power supply for antenna with amplifier from solar battery

Almost all good modern indoor antennas have a signal amplifier built inside. And this is another hanging wire, in addition to the antenna cable. Because the amplifier inside the antenna requires electricity to work well. This can be either a power supply that is installed in an electrical outlet, or a USB cable that supplies power directly from the TV itself, or from the receiver. The goal of my idea is to get rid of at least this wire to supply power to the antenna. And so the whole room is hung with wires, like a cocoon! If computer wires can be somehow hidden and disguised, then with the antenna cable and power wire the situation is more complicated; an indoor antenna, as a rule, is placed somewhere in the open so that the signal can be caught better. This could be a window sill or a tall cabinet. Accordingly, the wires stick out in the most visible place.

And if I have somehow gotten used to the antenna cable as something inevitable, then for some reason I just can’t come to terms with this power cord.Although, maybe I'm too picky... The idea of how to get rid of it came when they brought me a non-working external charger with a solar panel for spare parts. The batteries of this device were completely “dead”, they would not even charge. The case was cracked and the charging board itself worked intermittently; constantly turned off every 5-7 seconds. In general, out of all this rubbish, only the solar panel turned out to be intact and working. In the open sun it produces a little over 8 volts. In cloudy weather, as well as indoors - 4 Volts. This is quite enough if you put this voltage through a converter. I had to use two boards. One converter - with an input from 1 to 12 Volts, it produces a stable 5 volts and 460 mA at the output.

Almost like a USB port, from which, according to the instructions, an indoor antenna is powered. The second board is a charge controller for the battery.

If such boards are not available for sale, you can always buy them in an online store. The assembly itself did not take much time.

Will need

Soldering iron, with tin and flux.
Heat shrink insulation.
File.
18650 battery.
Short USB-Micro USB cable.
18650 battery box.
Solar panel, at least 3-4 volts.
Double sided tape.
Clothes pin.
Plug for the power connector in the antenna.
Charge controller for 18650, with output to the device.
Converter, from 1 to 12 volts, to 5 volts.
The wiring is thin (black and red).
Secondary glue and baking soda.

Manufacturing an autonomous power supply

First you need to solder the output wires of the solar panel to the contacts of the converter. In accordance with the polarity, of course.

Next, we solder the wires to the charge controller, to the battery outputs.Then the same wires are connected to the contacts of the battery box.

Now you can connect both boards with a cable to check.

If your boards do not have connectors, as in my case, then you need to connect the output of the converter to the input of the charge controller using a soldering iron and wires. We solder the plug to supply power to the antenna, to the output of the device on the charge controller.

All that remains is to attach the resulting circuit to the antenna. To do this, you need to glue some piece of plastic to the inner upper edge of the antenna so that the clothespin holder does not jump off it.

Next, using a file or engraver, we file a notch at the clothespin from the edge with which it will be pressed against the smooth side of the antenna. Like this:

Now, using glue and soda, glue the clothespin and converter to the solar panel.

Also, using double tape, we attach the battery box to the antenna stand. Now we install the solar panel on the antenna, and connect both boards with a short USB cable, like this:

As soon as I connected both boards with a cable and installed the antenna in a more or less bright place, the red battery charging indicator on the charge controller immediately lit up.

But, since my battery had just recently been charged, the indicator immediately changed color to blue, which indicates that the battery was fully charged.

However, there is no need to disconnect anything - the charge controller will prevent the battery from overcharging and deteriorate from the constant connected state. Moreover, in the dark it will not charge, but will transfer energy to power the antenna. Some percentage of charging (albeit a very small one) comes even from the electric lighting in the room.The energy that the battery accumulates during daylight hours, even in cloudy weather, is more than enough to watch TV all night long! The signal from the antenna is stable and good, as it should be when the signal amplifier is operating.

I repeat once again: the purpose of this idea is to get rid of unnecessary wires. At least from one! This circuit can only be connected to an indoor antenna. It will not be suitable for street use due to the aggressive environment. Rain and wind will not allow this circuit to work for a long time, and with the onset of cold weather, it will not last a day outside, like any other electronic device.