Austin, TX - HDTV - Page 4

Most likely the metal sheathing will cause some reception issues, especially if it is grounded somewhere.

And also, external antennae are ALLOWED, no matter what you communist homeowners association. See this FCC article:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

You might have to fight the HOA, which is more than some people want to mess with (like me), but it is "legal".

Well, I won't say with 100% certainty (only death and taxes are that certain ) that you'll get better reception, but you are VERY likely to get good reception with an outdoor mounted antenna.

If you mount your antenna 10' above your roofline, that gives you more elevation to receive, as well as nothing impeding reception, such as trees, other houses, etc (assuming you aren't in some very low lying area).

What you might also want to try is a good low-noise preamp with your attic mounted antenna. That might give you enough gain to alleviate the dropouts and stuff.

You might start with a 10dB amp from Fry's. It's in-line (you mount one part right at the antenna, and the other at the HD reciever). The item looks a bit cheasy, but it does work. Not necessarily the best amp in the world, but it might be all you need. Otherwise, I'd recommend a more "professional" model such as the channel master 7777 preamp. It has 26dB of gain. It allowed me to get Fox at my house (in Scofield Farms - about 8 miles from the towers) with a CM4228 antenna, which I have since gotten rid of b/c CBS upped power and I don't really care about fox at this point.

Adding an amp may very well help the digital stations, but may hurt any analog reception your receiving with that antenna -- for example, ghosting and multipath may get worse.

Ok... I'm rambling... just ask more questions if you need any more help. Some of this HD reception thing is just trial and error, especially while some stations are low power and some are high power, etc.

Rajiv,

It took all that antenna to get those channels? I had that exact same setup (despite my previous post in which I wrote the wrong model number), and I downgraded to a $15 antenna and the above mentioned 10dB amp from Fry's ($12), and I get all those same stations. I'm by Fry's, but I'm in a much less hilly situation than the Great Hills area, and I don't have the metal things on my roof. Also, if I stand on my roof, I have pretty much line of site to the towers.

EDIT: oops forgive me... I just reread your post. YOu did the same thing I did... got all that antenna for back in the time when the stations were low power. That's what I get for skimming messages.

Well... when all the stations go digital, you won't have to worry about ghosting, snow, and double images!!!

Oh, and I think if you have the space and the $$ (aobut $100-$120 shipped), I would suggest trying the CM4248 and CM7777 in your attic. Heck, maybe you can con Rajiv into selling his? I just sold mine a few months ago to someone in Georgetown, otherwise I'd unload it to you.

It is UHF ONLY, but the CM7777 had different UHF and VHF inputs, so you could use some rabbit ears or your existing antenna for VHF.