The Official AVS Antenna and Related Hardware Topic! - Page 506

Well, I relocated the antenna, and have gotten up to 33 channels. I'm satisfied with the channel selection (even when we only got 14), but on some we have to reposition the antenna ever so slightly. Will an amplified antenna (like the leaf plus or Radio Shack Amplified HDTV antenna) be better in any way?

I live in NE Atlanta (zip 30096) and get decent to very good reception using a Terk Indoor HDTV antenna in my attic. Its attached to a channelmaster pre-amp currently. My only significant problem is ABC, it doesn't come in at all. Directionally, ABC is in line with the other Atlanta stations, but it must be just outside the range of my current antenna.

After reading reviews, store ratings and forum posts, I'm considering a few antennas:

Channel Master CM 4228HD
Winegard HD7698P HDTV
Winegard HD7694P
RCA ANT751
Antennas Direct ClearStream4 HDTV Antenna

Any thoughts or recommendations?

~B


Sign Chan  (Chan) Name (mi) Path NM (db)
 WGTV-DT  8  -8.1 PBS 11.6  2Edge  48.1
 WGCL-DT  19  -46.1 CBS 16.7  2Edge  47.2
 WPCH-TV  20  -17.1 ____ 16.7  2Edge  46.3
 WXIA-DT  10  -11.1 NBC 19.0  2Edge  45.8
 WAGA-DT  27  -5.1 Fox 16.9  2Edge  45.6
 WATL-DT  25  -36.1 MyN 16.7  2Edge  43
 WUPA -- 43  43_ CW 16.7  2Edge  42.7
 WSB-DT  39  -2.1 ABC 19.7  2Edge  36.2

ROW25, an amplifier will not help you.

If you're okay with moving the antenna around for different stations then you may be fine. Most people aren't. You'll have to see how reception is over the long run. A lot of people in the North Bay report variable reception, especially when we get strong high pressures. Looks like we may be a week or so off from the next one of those.

Preamps are used primarily to overcome loss in long cable runs. You don't have a long cable run so a preamp won't make much if any difference.

You might want to consider visiting the San Francisco OTA thread to find more people local to you if you have other questions.

Chuck

DigiAir Pro and Pro 2 have been updated to Emitor DigiAirPro (with RED case) ATSC Meter:
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/S/DigiairPro-ATSC-OTA-digital-signal-meter.htm
http://www.dtvgreendish.com/alignment-tools/digiair-pro-atsc-signal-meter.htm

I couldn't find an on-line User's Manual for the NEW ATSC version, so here is old Manual that should be close:
https://www.perfect-10.tv/PDFs/EquipmentManuals/DIGIAIR%20Pro%2005.pdf

BTW: Only a few CECBs have Signal LEVEL display in addition to Signal QUALITY, and only
the fol. have been CALIBRATED against a professional Meter:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/381623/the-official-avs-antenna-and-related-hardware-topic/10320#post_16166929

I'm new to OVA. I put an RCA ANT751R in my attic, 100ft non-quad shielded cable that runs into an RCA Amp $15 Wal-mart version then into my HDHomerun broadcaster. Signal quality is so-so and I get only half the channels available reliably. On antennaweb.org there are signals from every direction so that makes it a little difficult. Plus to the east there is a house that is higher than my attic.

I have a 15foot massive antenna from the 80s on my roof. Has 300ohm flat cable I believe, I wasn't sure what it was so I bought the ANT751. Can I connect that big antenna leads to the terminals on the RCA antenna? Or should I, when the snow melts, run up another coaxial to the big antenna and somehow combine them before it hits the amp.

Thank you.

Quote:

Hi,

 

Well, to me, you need a bunch of understanding and lots of information passed on to us to help you.

 

1) Go to http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29 enter your location and provide a link to the results in a new post. Look at what others have provided, if you can't figure it out send me a PM and I will help you.   

 

Also I find http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90 to be useful, be sure and click on the "Show lines pointing to each transmitter" box. A link to that map is not available.

 

2) What stations are you interested in, just the major networks or do you want all that you can get. See this post to have the HDHR scan for all channels: http://www.avsforum.com/t/369015/san-francisco-ca-ota/9000#post_22721399

 

3) If you have a massive antenna on the roof from the 80s, my experience with the winter weather suggests a) it may not be in good shape. b) A massive antenna might be necessary. c) The 300ohm cable suggests a VHF only antenna, your need for high VHF reception is possible. (RF Channel 4 is low VHF)

 

---

 

Your result for 1) should look line this:

 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dc84f808aed0eca is for Lincoln, NE. I am not an expert in reading the TVFool and cannot tell if you need a rotor (Is there one on the roof antenna now?).

 

The answers to 2) really drive our understanding of your needs.

 

SHF

Edited by SFischer1 - 1/3/13 at 1:43am

Hello,

Thank you for the help. It is very appreciated.

1. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dc84f3a3b85a40d

2. I'm interested in getting all the channels I can get. I think there are duplicates coming in from Omaha though. I get most of the channels, just they go in and out too much. CW on Channel 15 is not available at all. I have my little ANT751 pointed to the West and a tiny bit South.



I'm not quite sure what a rotor is in this context, could you explain please? I could probably somehow attached my ANT751R to the big antenna when the snow is gone.

I'll take a picture of the antenna when I get home from work.

Thanks again,
Ben
Edited by beastyben1 - 1/3/13 at 6:36am

Get rid of the amp! KFXL has a stunningly strong signal and is certainly overloading the amp. This is probably why you aren't receiving it.

I think you're going to be limited to the stations in green since even the yellows are 2 edge paths (2 hills to refract over) but they are mostly duplicate network stations. I don't recommend indoor or attic antennas if you have an outdoor option. I think you'll be able to split the difference in direction and point the antenna at about 15 degrees. Your ANT751R mounted in place of your old antenna should work for you. You won't need an antenna rotor for stations in vastly different directions.

If you really want to receive those stations in yellow then we need to discuss a more complex antenna setup. The stations in gray are not likely to be received with any antenna.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I'll unplug the amp and see what happens. Can I mount the ANT751R on the old antenna? I think it'd be easier for me to just lay the ANT751R on top of it and secure it, rather than removing the old antenna from the pole and putting the ANT on. I'm ok with only the green channels.

You can mount it on the same mast. A couple feet of separation at least is required but it would be best in the long run to remove the old antenna.

Chuck

Hello AVS forum antenna enthusiasts

I’m a bit out of my PC hardware/software technical element with this antenna stuff. We recently got a Roku among some other home entertainment upgrades are ready to ditch the cable. But first, would like to procure a good antenna. I would like to mount in garage to make easy access of the existing coaxial network. So, with that in mind the quality of the antenna and coaxial comes seems to into play.

Here are a few questions I thought of.



http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dc84f5f9601a768

Would kindly accept any other references on antenna selection. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi,

 

Others can give you better information, but you have Fox on VHF RF 9 and NBC on VHF RF 11. The antennas you list are UHF only.

 

I think that the DB8 may well be overkill but my similar CM4228HD which also is a UHF antenna does quite well for me for VHF RF 7 and VHF RF 12. (YMMV)

 

You are intending to mount on the garage roof?

 

SHF

The stations you care about all have very strong signals. You don't need a preamp and using one might be detrimental. You should get an antenna with both UHF and VHF elements. I'd recommend one of the smaller antennas in the Winegard HD969xP line. I never recommend an indoor antenna if you have an outdoor option. DTV was designed to be received with outdoor antennas. Multipath becomes an issue with indoor antennas. TVFool recommendations for antenna location only consider signal strength and do not and cannot consider multipath issues. You pays your money and takes your chances with an inside antenna.

Your coax should be fine. Is it one piece from the antenna to the TV or are there splitters involved?

Bad weather does not degrade TV reception but a layer of snow on the roof above your antenna will.... another reason to forget the indoor antenna.

Chuck

Hi,

 

Two people in a row needing to put antennas on roofs. In January, I do not think so. Wait for Spring.

 

I checked the Minneapolis weather expecting -25 F like when on Christmas 1968 my car would not start.

 

Climate warming sure has come true.

 

Lincoln, NE I only visited in the Summer but Creston, NE at Christmas time was almost as cold as my childhood home in Wisconsin (-10 F).

　

 

People, plan now, put up antennas in the spring!

 

SHF

 

Good advice. But what about California. Does winter even exist in California?

 

But seriously, are there many professional antenna installers around anymore?

Or are people doing their own installations? You can bet that the pros won't be getting up on a Minneapolis rooftop in January!

Hi,

 

Yes weather does exist in California, Winter rain starts ~ October 15 and ends ~ April 15. Usually no rain other than that period but in the year leading up to a three years of little rain it rained in each month.

 

There are at least two installers working in the San Jose area, I paid one ~ $700 for a new antenna system when my attic antennas were put into a faraday cage. ( 7 ATSC tuners in  my HTPC).

 

OTA is less than 15% used due to the multipath hell here in the San Francisco bay area. Xinfinity, AT&T, DISH flood my mailbox and stores know no nothing about OTA.

 

I receive 91 streams, one from ~ 97 miles.

 

 

SHF

Edited by SFischer1 - 1/5/13 at 1:39pm

Thanks everyone for there great feedback. I particularity like those thinking about my safety on an icy roof in MN in January.

I’d prefer to mount in the garage attic as I have limited impedance besides the roof and whatever snow may be on the roof 3-6 months of the year (more like 3 lately). Yet sounds like the preferred way to go is an exterior mount. Might have to try inside and see how that works. A safety conscious exterior mount isn’t out of the question for me this winter as my 10ft step ladder would easily reach an ideal spot both aesthetically and technically speaking to aim at 113° Again, thanks to those keeping safety in mind first!


Good call out on making sure my antenna supports both UFH and VHF as I’d like both. Any strong opinions on these more compact models? Looks like the lava 2805 has better range, but I’m well within 40 miles supported by the "higher reviewed" RCA ANT751R.

Good to hear my existing coaxial network should work. Yes, I have some splitters. Understand I’ll need to make sure they support 1000 MHz, is that correct? I have more reading on that yet.

New antennas under consideration:
RCA ANT751R Outdoor Antenna
LAVA HDTV Antenna with Remote Control HD-2805

I forget much of the country can't do much antenna work in the winter. I'm in California too and I work on antennas any time of the year but I prefer winter as long as it's not too cold. Summer is too hot where I am.

Splitters attenuate the signal. If you have just one 2 way splitter you're probably okay. If you are cascading splitters you should consider a distribution amp.

Will probably work for you since your signals are strong.

It has an amplifier. That's not a good idea with your strong signals. An overloaded preamp can make reception worse.

Chuck

Beastyben1 needs to buy a channel 14, 15 or 16 jointenna and install it as a channel block to knock down KXFL by about 20 dB,as it can overload a tuner even without amplification. While he might similarly benefit from a tuned Winegard UT-2700, they cost about $70 now and are sold untuned and are nearly impossible to tune without special equipment.

JTBell

Thank you very much for this information. I am definitely in the shadow of Paris Mountain. Any suggested antenna?
Thank you for your time.

Interesting. I said I didn't get channel 15, but its not what TVFool is saying Channel 15 is. I don't get KXVO CW and WOWT NBC. My antenna is pointing to the West, while these are coming out of the NorthEast towards that direction there are trees and I'm kind of in a low area.

But! I snapped some pictures of the antenna setup from the previous owner of the house. All I could find coming into the attic is that flat brown cable. Shouldn't I be able to use this? It's freakin massive. Snow is almost gone so I can get up in a few weeks hopefully.

It looks like Channel Master is closing out the JoinTenna. An alternative is the Tinlee semi-adjacent notch filter:

http://www.tinlee.com/MATV-Bandstops.php?active=3

I have one I use for channel 18 here and it knocks it down by about 25 dB.

Chuck

The manufacture of the UHF jointennas stopped about 20 years ago and the VHF jointennas probably a decade ago. What people have been buying since then is "new, old stock". The antenna business has lots of new, old stock. I think the last Videocipher module was manufactiured in 1992, but you can still buy new ones... as long as someone replaced the 10-year lithium battery.

You're confusing virtual channels with the real RF channel. What counts for the antenna is the real RF channel.


Okay, so you do want to get one of the yellow channels.


In light of this, you will want to use that mast and get your antenna as high as possible.


Three antennas pointed in 3 directions and only one cable? Unless they're combined correctly, you can't just connect 3 antennas together. They'll interfere with each other. It's not possible to tell from the picture what is going on. You should connect the 300 ohm downlead to your TV and see what happens. You'll need a 300:75 ohm transformer in reverse to try it.

The antenna on the top is a combo antenna; RF 2 thru 69. The next one down is a UHF only antenna. I don't recognize the lower one.

You have stations in many different directions which usually calls for an antenna rotor. It appears that the previous owner tried to get around that. I'm finding your situation a little confusing. Would you list the call signs of the stations you want to receive? That would make it easier to decide what sort of antenna you need.

Chuck

Hi,

 

Something does not compute!

 

My memory of 300 ohm flat cable is from ~ 1960, the dressing of the cable in the lowest antenna picture looks much more like coax than than flat 300 ohm cable.

 

And to my eyes there are two round cables coming down from the top antennas at least as far as the lower antenna.

 

Go outside and try and determine where the cable from the massive antenna enters the attic.

 

You have not said if you or the previous owner had cable, fiber optic or coax.

 

What do you find where the TV set(s) may have been located.

 

I can accept that a cable installer upon seeing the massive antenna wanting to insure it never was used again and cut the cable(s) to it.

 

I cut the mickey mouse dual cable TV  flush with the wall when I left. (That cable is still in use as well as what was preinstalled in my new {~1974} house.) All my attic antenna cables were / are coax.

 

The antenna cable may also have been cut to stop any water getting inside the house.

 

That antenna system is just too good to have been connected (badly) with a single 300 ohm flat line.

 

SHF

I apologize for the confusion. Thank you for helping me out.

Channels I want to receive and corresponding perception of reception:
WOWTDT – very poor reception
KETV – very poor reception
KLKN – perfect reception
KOLNDT – perfect reception
KOLNDT2 – perfect reception
KUONDT, KUONDT2, KUONDT3 – perfect reception
KXVODT – no signal
KFXLDT – perfect reception

Winner winner, chicken dinner. While doing the duct-work for a bathroom vent this past weekend, all I found coming into the attic was the old brown flat lead. Snow is still on the roof, so using the zoom on my camera, I found the lead is cut on its way down the antenna! To address an earlier question, I think the previous owner who remodeled the house put in all the coax outlets in all the rooms in 2009. The prior owner to him was an old lady who likely didn't have coax setup. Time Warner Cable did do some cable work to add additional coax outlets in 2009.

Step 1 - Put a connector on that cut coax, add a length of cable to get to your TV and see if you receive what you want. If not, come back.

Looks like all those antennas are no longer made Channel Master antennas.

Chuck

Will do. Thanks again for the help.

-Ben

Well, snow is gone, and about 20F. Had to try that huge antenna. I didn't even have to put a connector on that cut coax, just unscrewed it a little higher and connected the cable that was going to my ANT751R. Pulled the coax up through a gable vent so no drilling nada. Excellent signal strength and I get ALL the channels it can find perfectly!!!!

This is so awesome. Thanks everyone for the help!