Need Indoor Antenna for Chicago for CBS

Rabbit ears and a UVSJ should fix it if it is even fixable, VHF reception indoors often just doesn't work.

 

No.

 

If it does at all, it won't be anywhere near reliably.

If you're insistant on an indoor antenna, good luck even trying to get WBBM-TV. Not many people can get VHF reception reliably indoors (VHF-LO is impossible with indoor antennas). You might be lucky if you can get the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 antenna to work indoors. Someone on here from 2 or 3 years ago tried that antenna in an apartment in Hammond, IN, & was lucky to get WBBM-TV with it, in the apartment. That's the only suggestion you could try. The other thing would be to try the rabbit ears outside.

Paul:

Please post a link to your tvfool report. You will find the link in bold type near the top of the report. Your exact address will not show.

If you live near Elk Grove Village, CBS WBBM-TV is NOT on real channel 2, it is on VHF-high channel 12; 2.1 is the virtual channel number, not the real channel number that is used for transmission. The real channel number determines what antenna is needed.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1dda57ec34fedc

The DB2 is primarily for UHF. A simple test to try would be a folded dipole for CH12 and a balun combined with your DB2 with a UVSJ as previously suggested. If the folded dipole doesn't have enough gain for CH12, because of the buildings in the way, then you will need to try a VHF-high (7-13) antenna, like the AD C5 which comes with its own UVSJ:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=c5&d=antennas-direct-c5-clearstream-5-high-gain-digital-vhf-tv-antenna-(clearstream5)

The twin lead folded dipole would be about 27 inches long from end to end using the formula 5540 divided by the frequency in MHz (207).
http://hf-antenna.com/003/ fig 2
ATTACHMENT=66678]folded dipole.JPG (14k. JPG file)[/ATTACHMENT]Paul:http://users.wfu.edu/matthews/misc/dipole.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=twin+lead+folded+dipole&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-zEEUcQlkbXRAafIgLAB&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=997&bih=574

If you have trouble finding 300 ohm twin lead, you can cut down a Radio Shack FM antenna at each end. Don't forget to allow a little extra at the ends to short the wires together.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062691

If messing with twin lead is tedious, you can make the folded dipole out of heavy gauge copper wire like #8 and attach it to a piece of plastic like Lexan. This could be mounted above your DB2.
folded dipole_1.JPG 17k .JPG file
Edited by rabbit73 - 1/26/13 at 7:08pm