This 4 bay bowtie antenna has been improved in the last few years. The past whisker length used to be 7 inches for the old frequency spectrum (channels 14 to 69). Since the HD cutover in the US, that range has been narrowed from channels 14-69 to 14-51. The old whisker length was to accomodate channels past 51 as higher frequency channels require lesser length whiskers. The smaller length however came at the expense of the lower UHF channels. The new model typically has 9.5 inch whiskers with 9 inches spacing between each bay. This newer 4 bay model actually rivals the 4228 eight bay in performance while being smaller and lighter! As well the 4 bay, while for UHF, actually does a good job on VHF.
I’ve since built a 6 bay for my situation. Instead of wood, I used a cheap PVC pipe for $2.
Plans for the new 4 bays are here:
http://m4antenna.eastmasonvilleweather.com/Drawings/PDF%20Drawings.html
One can construct a powerful antenna for less than ten bucks! BTW a reflector can add as much as 10-15% more signal strength. I built a reflector using cardboard overlaid with a kitchen roll of aluminum foil. Talk about building a powerful but cheap antenna from materials lying around the home…