Clearwater, FL: Attic Antenna Advice

Either should work providing your attic doesn't feature disqualifying features such as a metal roof or radiant barrier insulation or complications such as HVAC or plumbing equipment up there.

As much as possible.....and NOT between the antenna and the desired broadcast towers.
And A/C ducts may use METAL (vice Plastic) spiral insides....and METAL foil insulation....

Search around the attic for a "hot spot".....Location, Location, Location.....

I don't think the HVAC would be an issue ( you can try it with the unit off and on to see) , but more importantly you are 32 miles away from the towers. which is kind of at the outer limits for an attic antenna. You can try out the ANT 751 which I think is available at most Walmarts. You can test it out in the attic, point it to the ESE and see if you get all the channels. Try to run a short piece of RG6 to the nearest TV. If you have trouble receiving stations, you may need to put the antenna outside, which is always better, but keep in mind in your neck of the woods where lightning storms are frequent, you must ground the antenna properly. Obviously you don't have to worry about grounding if the antenna is in the attic.
If you don't like the results, you could always return the antenna.

The ANT751 should do the trick, but may require lots of experimentation with mounting locations.

I installed an ANT 751 just inches above the drop ceiling of a commercial building surrounded by foil wrapped HVAC ducts, flourescent light fixtures & the ceiling support wires. With about 1 hour of experimenting, I found a good spot & reception is very satisfactory with this TV Fool report.

The C2v would likely be better on UHF while the 751 would likely be better on high-VHF. Your call.

Advertised ranges are just estimates, usually from a marketing department. There is nothing that ties them to actual technical performance, either real or calculated.

Agreed. Since the antenna is going in the attic, I would lean toward the ANT751 because it's better VHF performance will really pay off inside a VHF unfriendly attic environment.

No, you CANNOT mix OTA with Fios on the same coax. A separate cable run is required to connect the ANT751 to your TV.

Glad to hear the good news!! You may add a few channels by adding an amplifier, but the only way to tell is to try. How far down the TV Fool report are you receiving stations? Are you planning on connecting more televisions in the future?

Should be more like ESE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_the_compass
Edited by rabbit73 - 2/9/13 at 6:25pm

I would try raising/lowering the antenna in 6 inch increments if only 1 station is missing. It may be sitting in a dead spot for that one channel.

Either the Winegard 8700 or Antennacraft 10G201 would be good pre-amp choices if one is truly needed. If 3 or more sets will be connected in the future, I would use the Channel Master 3414.

Maybe there's multipath interference on WXPX? You might need to try different locations (both elevation and floorplan) for the antenna.
If you have a tuner that can display both signal strength and signal quality, then locating/aiming the antenna would be a bit easier. (Multipath would show as a strong but low-quality signal.)

BTW my attic-mounted antennae can receive all the green-colored channels of my tvfool chart, which includes a station 36 miles away with a power level of -60dBm (whereas your WXPX is at -40dBm). I do use distribution amps to split the signals.
Depends on the quality of the coax cable (premium coax is Belden 1694A which I was able to get a while back at 56 cents per foot), and if it has been properly handled (no kinks, no sharp bends, no hard pulling, proper staples).
BTW WXPX is at a much higher broadcast frequency than WEDU (638MHz versus 210MHz), and the coax loss could be almost double. So even though the predicted signal strength are similar (at the antenna), the tuner will receive different power levels.

Regards
Edited by blue_z - 2/10/13 at 6:09pm