I have a 40" Samsung TV that I'd like to feed OTA HDTV signals. I've checked AntennaWeb and this is what they show for zip: 40515

* yellow - vhf WDKY-DT 56.1 FOX DANVILLE KY 123° 10.7 4
* yellow - uhf WKLE-DT 46.1 PBS LEXINGTON KY 124° 10.6 42
* yellow - vhf WKYT-DT 27.1 CBS LEXINGTON KY 45° 7.7 13
* yellow - uhf WLEX-DT 18.1 NBC LEXINGTON KY 49° 7.8 39
* yellow - uhf WTVQ-DT 36.1 ABC LEXINGTON KY 49° 7.8 40
* violet - uhf WUPX-DT 67.1 ION MOREHEAD KY 98° 47.0 21

The antenna I'm looking at getting is a Terrestrial Digital DB4 HDTV Antenna and placing it in my attic on a tri-pod or J mount. From there I'd just need to run cable 40-50 to my TV.

Would this setup work well for my needs?

You will probably have issues trying to pick up your FOX station since it's low VHF. You may want to check the local info section for a thread for your viewing area to see what others are using around you.

mjones73,

Ok thanks, I'll give that a try as well.

you will not get FOX (digital channel 4) on a UHF antenna - it is difficult to get on a VHF antenna cut specifically for channel 4. CBS, NBC, and ABC (analog 27, 18, 36) are all broadcast from the same area, so the DB4 pointed towards them will work OK, good old WKYT choose VHF channel 13 for their digital signal, but many "bow-tie" type UHF antennas can receive it. The PBS station is in a different direction and the DB4 is a directional antenna - reception will be hit-or-miss, you will just have to try.

The best solution is a VHF/UHF combo antenna mounted on your roof with a rotor.

The DB4 and DB9 antennas are pricey, you will get the same reception with a Channel Master 4221 http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4221.htm

If you have the room in the attic, get the Channel master 4228, the additional gain will help overcome any losses in your coaxial feed line.

I get PBS, NBC, and ABC on a Rat Shack U-75R antenna from Georgetown, but not VHF WKYT. OTA signals are worth the effort, the networks look great over-the-air and uncompressed. It does not take too many months of not paying cable or satellite bills to pay off your OTA antenna.

I have a 40" Samsung TV that I'd like to feed OTA HDTV signals. I've checked AntennaWeb and this is what they show for zip: 40515

The antenna I'm looking at getting is a Terrestrial Digital DB4 HDTV Antenna and placing it in my attic on a tri-pod or J mount. From there I'd just need to run cable 40-50 to my TV.

Would this setup work well for my needs?

I agree with what vanmeter mentioned about the Channel Master 4221 and 4228...great antennas ( I use a 4228 myself).

But, being as you're less than eleven miles from all the major network antennas I would first try some type of indoor antenna...a simple $5 set of rabbitears from a dollar store might do the trick for you. You might be suprised at what you get. :) If that doesn't work out then you might want to try a 4221/4228 antenna or maybe even do a diy following directions from this LINK (http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613) or this LINK (http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/) .

I built the db4 clone myself and it works very well...basically a reverse engineered 4211(db2)/4228(db4) without the "finished" appearance. :)

Best wishes,
Ed

I have a 40" Samsung TV that I'd like to feed OTA HDTV signals. I've checked AntennaWeb and this is what they show for zip: 40515

* yellow - vhf WDKY-DT 56.1 FOX DANVILLE KY 123° 10.7 4
* yellow - uhf WKLE-DT 46.1 PBS LEXINGTON KY 124° 10.6 42
* yellow - vhf WKYT-DT 27.1 CBS LEXINGTON KY 45° 7.7 13
* yellow - uhf WLEX-DT 18.1 NBC LEXINGTON KY 49° 7.8 39
* yellow - uhf WTVQ-DT 36.1 ABC LEXINGTON KY 49° 7.8 40
* violet - uhf WUPX-DT 67.1 ION MOREHEAD KY 98° 47.0 21

The antenna I'm looking at getting is a Terrestrial Digital DB4 HDTV Antenna and placing it in my attic on a tri-pod or J mount. From there I'd just need to run cable 40-50 to my TV.

Would this setup work well for my needs?


Use this antenna http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com
Work great in my attic at 38 miles out for UHF only though...:D

Would this setup work well for my needs?

You need an antenna that runs from channel 4 through 13 to UHF. The suggestions to try one or another UHF only antenna is bad advice.

I certainly agree with Tower Guy concerning recommending UHF antennas for VHF reception. Yes, I am sure it may work in some situations, however it is not the proper set-up.
I have seen all the charts about the gain on VHF from various UHF antennas, but have never seen any statistics on front-to-back ratio. Here in Far West Texas we do not have any digital VHF yet, but my experience with analog is that UHF antennas pull in the higher VHF signals but with a very large amount of multi-path seen as ghosts. In the digital world I believe this multi-path would be interpreted as a lower signal -to-noise ratio.
Finally, those members who ask for advice most likely would like to set up an antenna which will work on the first attempt and are much less likely than those of us who give advice to want to experiment with alternate set-up.