AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Technical › tired of paying Directv thinking about OTA advice needed
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

tired of paying Directv thinking about OTA advice needed

post #1 of 14
2/20/13 at 4:25am
Thread Starter 
Guys I'm too the point where I'm sick of paying Directv mostly 90 percent of the shows we watch are on network TV also we use tons of online video Youtube, Netflix, and Hulu. The only thing that I need to do reserach on is if I can access Nick, Disney, and Cartoon network shows online. Anyway guys I have linked a copy of my TVFool report what type of Antenna would you recommend and where should we attach at should we do the attic or outside I've heard that the best reception is achieved from outside mounting. BTW we already run Windows 7 media centers on each tv and we also have an Xbox so I will most likely go with an HD Homerun to bring the signal back in.






Tvfool report

http://imageshack.us/f/94/radarall.png/



pulled from antennaweb.org

Stations Antenna
WABM-DT 68.1 MNT
RF Channel: 36
17 miles at 9°
Yellow
WBIQ-DT 10.1 PBS
RF Channel: 39
17 miles at 9°
Yellow
WBRC-DT 6.1 FOX
RF Channel: 50
17 miles at 11°
Yellow
WIAT-DT 42.1 CBS
RF Channel: 30
17 miles at 9°
Yellow
WTTO-DT 21.1 CW
RF Channel: 28
17 miles at 9°
Yellow
WUOA-DT 23.1 IND
RF Channel: 6
17 miles at 9°
Yellow
WVTM-DT 13.1 NBC
RF Channel: 13
17 miles at 11°
Yellow
W46DK 46 TBN
RF Channel: 46
17 miles at 9°
Blue
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 14
2/20/13 at 9:43am
We need a location in the title and a LINK to the TV fool report, not an image of it.

Thanks
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 14
2/20/13 at 10:00am
You also might get more specific information if you post to the local OTA area for your location.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 14
2/20/13 at 10:32am
Alphabanks:

Since one of your stations is on real channel 6, which is in the VHF low band, you'll need a combination antenna capable of VHF-low reception. If you can fit it in your attic, the Winegard 7082 aimed due north should receive everything on your TVFool report down to WCFT-33 just fine (no amplifier should be necessary). The 110" width of this antenna (at the rear end only) is necessary for receiving the VHF low band.

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=hd-7082
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
2/20/13 at 4:06pm
You need VHF-HI as well, as there is a channel 13 with most of the rest.

The Winegard HD-7082 doesn't have the beamwidth to go 70 degrees. (Channel 33 is at 300 degrees, while the rest are at ~10 degrees)

To get channel 33 (ABC), you'll need to put up a UHF-only antenna and point it at 300 degrees -- maybe even a little bit lower than that. Your broadband antenna will be pointed at 10 degrees. Combine them with a channel 33 JoinTenna (if you can find one. If not, they are far enough apart that a 2-way splitter might work.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 14
2/20/13 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
Ok guys so there is not just one antenna that will be able to pick up every channel I looked for those JoinTenna's and they seem to be discontinued? If you can't do the JoinTenna option what is an alternative and what are the pros and cons?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 14
2/20/13 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by egnlsn View Post

To get channel 33 (ABC), you'll need to put up a UHF-only antenna and point it at 300 degrees

His stations are rather close and all the major networks except ABC are very strong. I think there's a good chance a single good full-range antenna would pick them all up, if aimed towards ABC, especialy if it's outdoors.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 14
2/20/13 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1dda3ac17641e9
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
2/21/13 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by alphabanks View Post

Ok guys so there is not just one antenna that will be able to pick up every channel I looked for those JoinTenna's and they seem to be discontinued? If you can't do the JoinTenna option what is an alternative and what are the pros and cons?

My 28 year old Winegard (the closest model is the CA-8100) has 79 active elements (42 UHF, 37 VHF) and is roof-mounted at about 30' from ground. I have a rotor but never have to use it because I get everything in our market at about a 50 mile distance (LOS is excellent though).
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 14
2/21/13 at 11:56am
Oops (thanks for correcting me, egnlsn), I missed that your real channels 3, 18 and 33 are off at 300-302 degrees true. Egnlsn is right that the Winegard HD-7082 probably won't have the beamwidth for 70-degree off-axis reception. Since most of your northerly stations are within 20 miles, and channels 3, 18 and 33 are 36-38 miles away (as a slight variation from jtbell's advice), you could cheat a bit with the aiming and test aiming directions around 315-320 degrees (closer to 301 degrees than due north, since those are your farther/weaker stations) and see if you can find a compromise fixed aim that receives all stations well. If that didn't work well, you could add a rotator and simply rotate the antenna as necessary. Or, if you didn't care about channel 3, then you could use a separate UHF-only antenna aimed toward 301 degrees for channels 18 and 33, aim the 7082 around 10 degrees true, and run separate coax lines from the two antennas down to an A/B switch next to your tv.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 14
2/21/13 at 12:02pm
The concern here is that while most of his stations are in one direction, ABC is 70 degrees away.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 14
2/21/13 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Guys I see your point now about ABC I purchased a cheap 10.00 RCA antenna and hooked up it up I was able to pull every channel expect ABC the quality was also good. However, I would like to ask can using an amplifier improve picture quality? So it looks like I will be leaning towards an attic install. Also guys I forgot to mention I'm wanting to recieve WJSU-TV which is 40.1 we don't care about the ABC network at channel 30.1.
Edited by alphabanks - 2/22/13 at 3:26am
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 14
2/22/13 at 5:42am
The Winegard HD7082 would be a good choice for your location. Even the Antennacraft C290 would be a good choice. After looking at the rabbitears.info site, it looks like WCFT on RF 33 (vc 33.1) & WJSU on RF 9 (vc 40.1) both simulcast ABC, along with being simulcasted on LPTV station WBMA-LD on RF 40. Even WDBB & WTTO simulcast CW. So having an antenna pointed at 353 degrees makes no sense. So only 1 antenna is needed around 9 degrees.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 14
2/22/13 at 5:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave73 View Post

The Winegard HD7082 would be a good choice for your location. Even the Antennacraft C290 would be a good choice. After looking at the rabbitears.info site, it looks like WCFT on RF 33 (vc 33.1) & WJSU on RF 9 (vc 40.1) both simulcast ABC, along with being simulcasted on LPTV station WBMA-LD on RF 40. Even WDBB & WTTO simulcast CW. So having an antenna pointed at 353 degrees makes no sense. So only 1 antenna is needed around 9 degrees.
Good discovery!
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: HDTV Technical

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Technical › tired of paying Directv thinking about OTA advice needed