Heres my antennaweb info - help me find my antenna?

I bought a 40" Radio Shack "outdoor" antenna that I have in a bedroom right now basically laying on the floor. It pulls in Los Angeles stations from 50+ miles away with 90-100% signal. This is with no amplifier.

I'm sure this model will work from Chico pretty well and it could go in an attic real easily.

I'll update this post with the model number later tonight.

The antenna was $29.95 plus $7.95 for the 300-75ohm matching transformer and sales tax.

The antenna is Radio Shack model U75R (cat# 15-2160)

For FOX, CBS and NBC, I think you would do well with a Channel Master 4221 bow-tie antenna.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...?prod=SCM4221A

For indoor purposes, the smaller 4220 may also be sufficient.

Just keep in mind that if you also want to receive KRCR/ABC and KIXE/PBS, you will probably need to add a VHF antenna next year. The larger CM4228 would probably work for those, but it's got quite a bit more heft to it.

You may want to run a TVFool.com plot as well. I ran one for the Chico area and the prospects look good, even out to 70 miles. Antennaweb is very conservative and the fact you are getting something with an omni-directional antenna is encouraging.

I have the larger 4228 in my attic and it works great. I also tried a 4221 and it worked well, but the 4228 was already installed by then.

Attic installations are a roll of the dice. Do you have metal siding and/or stucco siding? Attics have lots of dead zones and plumbing, flashings every everything else comes into play. Be prepared to move it around until you find a good spot.

How is your view to the North?

Kevin, the matching transformer is commonly called a balun (?). It's basically an adapter that takes the two leads and converts it to a coax cable connection.

You've seen them, you probably have one hanging around somewhere. I was too lazy to dig in the junk box so I bought a new one.

The antenna is Radio Shack model U75R (cat# 15-2160).

-Bill

kevzik,
- a balun is a transformer for matching balanced, 300 ohm antenna cable with unbalanced (i.e. shielded) 75 ohm coax (balanced-unbalanced=balun) The need depends on the antenna; most good antennas come with one.
- ditto Falcon_77
- I have a CM4221 clone and it works very well. ~$25 new (with balun) or build it.
- stucco usually needs a wire lath on the wall, and that wire lath blocks signals. You need to get around it, or use a big antenna to see through it. Or try the attic, unless you also have a metal roof!

Have fun,
Frank

wblynch, can you get ABC-HD consistantly with your 40" antenna?

Crystal clear as a bell.

When it goes up in the attic it will be another 10-15 ft. higher so that should help too.

I'm thinking of building one of the home-brew Gray-Hovermans just for fun to see how it compares.

From my experience, attics aren't much better than bedrooms (or family rooms in my case) for reception. It's higher, but roofing materials are quite dense and combined with a longer coax run, you could actually see lower signal; I have a short coax run and see about the same in the attic. If you see the same, you're all set!

And you won't trip over it ...
Frank

PS there's a danger to making antennas - they may work better than what you bought.

I am not familiar with your tuner or the software you're using but when I swapped antennas I had to manually enter ABC 7/53 into my tuner. A channel scan didn't detect it for some reason.

But after I added it in, I could check the signal strength and aim my antenna to get ABC. I then lost CBS. I moved the antenna to split the difference and now pick them both up.

You may want to try manually editing the channel in your tuner and re-aiming the antenna.

Yeah, I'd like to just leave it on the floor of the bedroom but Wifey complains too much as it is...

wblynch, would she find it under the bed?

kevzik,
Consider running a TVFool.com reception forecast (or reviewing what you already ran). It includes "Rx," an estimate of available signal at your location for each receiveable station. That estimate is spot-on for me; only an 8 dB range across the 5 stations, but the strongest I can't degrade without really trying, and the weakest needs everything in the right place. This across multiple antenna designs and configurations.

It will also let you compare today to post-transition, when many stations are changing channel and power level. You might decide to live without NBC for the next 11 months if it looks like it'll come back then.

Frank

PS is this your antenna?
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/VU-75XR.html
If so, check out this for more on antenna chracteristics.
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

Mine looks like the tail end of that thing. No vhf section.

The one I have wouldn't fit under the bed without poking her in the butt !! (I'm sure she'd find it then )

Thus the "U75X" designation ... but I was asking kevzik. Glad to see I'm not the only one confusing you two guys.

What do analog 7 and 9 look like? KRCR is moving back to 7 next year and KIXE is scheduled to move back to 9 in August. I don't expect that antenna has any VHF performance, especially at 75 miles.

KNVN is in an odd spot and as a result the Eastern part of Chico is in a shadow. Are you West or East of the 99? How does analog KNVN 24 look? The DTV antenna for KNVN is almost 200m lower than the analog antenna, but that disparity should disappear when they move back to 24.

I would suggest tying a pre-amp, but the close stations, KHSL, etc., will make this tricky as overload is likely. A small 10dB distribution amp may work.

The U75X is a UHF-only antenna, it won't do you any good in VHF. The only UHF antennas with any usable VHF are the big, 8-bay arrays. I'm using a homebuilt 4-bay in the attic to get UHF stations down to -77.9 very well.

The U75X should have enough gain for KNVN's channel and signal; but you report poor reception. Any environmental factors affecting reception? A pre-amp will help, because in addition to giving a stronger signal, it locks in the best signal/noise ratio you can get. Oddly, if you get overload as Falcon_77 notes, an attenuator may be needed to cut down the strong station, but the improved s/n may let the ATSC decoder lock onto a signal.

UPDATE:

I got the U75X antenna mounted in my attic and I noticed I receive VHF analog channels 7,9,11 and 13 perfectly with this antenna.

I know it isn't supposed to get VHF but it does quite well for me. (obviously their digital and HD sisters are much prettier to watch)

As several Los Angeles digital stations will return to VHF after Feb. 2009, it is comforting to know I will still be able to get them without climbing back up into the attic.

I am about 53 miles from the transmitting towers.

The U75R is UHF-only.

The VU-75XR is designated as VHF and UHF, but is really designed better for Hi-VHF and UHF, and is a very good choice for after 02/'09 (albeit a little on the flimsy side).

And your point is????

I get 7-13 VHF perfectly from this UHF-only antenna. Not bad, huh?

Having done "DTV" since 1997..and was involved with the USSB/CEA antenna testing done back then which led to the info you reference..

There is no concrete answer,you may have to try several antennas, even moving them vertically or horizontally. I'd do two things:

1) Plot your location at www.tvfool.com
2) Check in with your local area in the: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45

You should then have a good starting point.

I'm glad you get the analog stations because that probably means you'll get VHF 7 when ABC cuts to digital. I suspect you owe a lot to Mt Wilson ...

I know. I get VHF 7 now and digital 7.1, which is currently on UHF 53.

Someone said if I tilt the antenna up a few degrees it might improve reception even more due to the elevation of the towers. I'll give that a try.