The Official AVS Antenna and Related Hardware Topic! - Page 228

Yep.
Uploading?. That is the scan process. It has to 'see' the channel, then ID that channel, then ID all of the sub channels. It takes awhile.
These aren't your fathers (grandfathers) TV's anymore.

BTW, where are you and welcome to the forums.

The term "HDTV antenna" is just a marketing gimmick. Digital TV (including HDTV) is broadcast in the same frequency bands (VHF and UHF) as analog TV. An antenna cares only about the frequency of the signal that it's receiving: a VHF antenna usually can't pick up UHF very well, and vice versa. Whether the content of the signal carried on that VHF or UHF channel is analog or digital doesn't matter until it gets to the TV's tuner (or set-top-box's tuner, for people using a standalone HDTV receiver).

Most of the so-called "HDTV antennas" have designs that are decades old.

Don't forget to also specify "Color Approved".

wow... this thing rocks! I get all the HD stations clear - no artifacts. Huge improvement over the hyped up indoor Phillips I was using.. and it was just sitting on the floor in front of the tv.

Now i need to find where to mount it. Whats a good place to find a mounting kit for roof antenna?

Radio Shack is good for mounting supplies. They are also good because, so long as you don't screw the item up too badly, you can return it.

I have a 10 foot mast, attached to another 5 foot, mounted to my chimney with a wall mount. I got it all from Radio Shack. Oh, and this was all for my CM 4221.

Yes, it does rock! It depends how far you are from your stations (and terrain). I have my CM4221 mounted in the attic at the top at about 28' above ground. I'm 20-25 miles from all transmitters (flat) with a 8 degree spread and I get a signal 98 on all didital stations except one and it's at 90 degrees to the side (it's an independent that we don't watch anyway).

I used a simple PVC plastic pipe and a U clamp mounted to the very top roof rafter. Works like a dream!

> Whats a good place to find a mounting kit for roof antenna?

Lowes, Home Depot, ...

You will need a UHF antenna. Also a HD TV with a digital tuner. Some TVs don't have a tuner. I know allot of people who thought they got a good deal a TV with no tuner. Or a set top box with an antenna input. I have my antenna run into a coax splitter then to my TV and the other to my DT receiver so I can use picture in picture. Once you have it connected go to menu on tv and scan for available channels. As asked before where are you located. Others here can tell you what you can get as far as channels and what kind and size of antenna to get. If you live in a city you may get away with a small indoor one. I do mine is this one. http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Phili...oductDetail.do

Has anyone looked at the Terrestrial Digital PF7 Picture Frame Antenna? I am about 18kms (11 miles) from my tower signal source. I am only looking to pull down my local OTA HD signal.

Thanks in advance!

CPCAT & RICK0725 About that 91GX you guys recommended.

When it arrived the box was not impressive, upon unpacking, it looked like a toy from K-tel (that was a long time ago). All those gold plastic looking elements, man ....I felt like Mr. T on a pole.
But all is well!!!!

It will not be mounted in its proper place until this week-end, but in it's present position it is very impressive. I am holding three Atlanta day time signals, and in the evening two more channels join the steady stream. These stations are 80 miles away. I have pretty good elevation and a cm 7777 in line. I am adding a rotor and going up another 10 ft this week end, hopefully I will not screw it up. Thanks for info on the 91gx.

Update, I got my replacement PR 8800 from Winegard in the mail yesterday. It was in much better shape than the one I bought locally. Based on the paint and the packaging, I now think the one I bought locally, might have been a return, oh well.

So, I put it on my mast, 40 feet in the air, and hooked it up. Unfortunately, I had similar results. Good reception on WPMT analog (channel 43), Solid signal on Digital Channel 49 (some independent station, I had previously pulled in), and no Digital WPMT (Channel 47). The only difference was I could also pull in WBAL with a solid 60% signal. Weird since the tower is 180 degrees from where I was pointing.

The other bit of good news was there was no WBFF DT (channel 46) at all. It would appear then, the bulk of my problems are interference from WBFF Analog (Channel 45).

I tried this with both my HDP-269 pre-amp in the line, and without. The analog signal on 43, was much cleaner with the amp. It would appear, that the amp does help with the long runs.

paul

Things are not as they seem. The PR-8800 will have about the same gain and front-to-back characteristics on channel 46 as it does on channel 45. You have almost exactly the same ratio of channel 45 signal power to channel 46 signal power now as you did before, but for technical reasons, your receiver simply is unable to develop a lock on that defective channel 46 data stream and is generating a no-signal message. You are farther away from a solution than you think.

.

Not necessarily. with channel 43, you are trying to sustain an analog channel at about 30 to 40 dB above the thermal noise floor. With channel 46, you may be trying to either boost this much weaker signal above the receiver's input threshold or to at least maintain a S/N ratio of 16dB without qualitatively degrading it through intermodulation distortion. While the preamp visibly improved the analog channel 43, it may be helping or hindering your reception of digital 47.

At this point, you either have to erect a hundred foot mast or try phase canceling. The quarter wave stack solution does not require any sophisticated test equipment to implement.

Good info, Don, I hope you'll let us know how it works once you get it put up.

Yesterday I again was fiddling with my 4228 and once again, I was disappointed in its performance. An old Radio Shack U-75 (or whatever the $24.95 Yagi was called) does almost as well, and the XG42 I have seems to do better. I'd almost think something was wrong with the 4228, but it looks perfect -- nothing bent or anything of that nature.

I actually tried ordering that Jaycar version that's very similar to the 91XG, but the transaction failed twice. They may have finally caught on to that super-cheap shipping from Australia. I hate to pay close to $100 for a "tinkering" application, but if the XG91 is really that good, and really that much better than the PR-9032 from Winegard, I may do it anyway.

I prefer the 91xg over the pr9032 and would intall one anyway.

Yep, I've been super happy with my 91XG. Much better for UHF than the CM 3671 I was using.

Yeah, I'm working on a quarter wave stack solution. I'm going to try a Jointenna (that I already ordered) first, and if that doesn't work, I plan to pull apart my PR-8800, essentially making it 2 PR-4400s and stack them. I already cut the wires to the proper length, in preparation!

[quote=ChocoLab]Good info, Don, I hope you'll let us know how it works once you get it put up.

With a lot of help from my brother-n-law, the XG is in its new location. It continues to deliver good results. I wanted to get more height, and in order to do that, a lateral move of about 15ft. was needed in order to guy the new combo.. The combo includes the XG91, a Winegard YA1713, cm preamp, and cm rotor. With addition of another 10 ft. I had hopes of increasing signal strength, but none improved. I believe the original location is the sweet sport, but no way to guy the now heavy load. The XG is about 30ft. above gound.
Both TV fool and Antenna web indicate Atlanta would be a challenge in my area, so I am very pleased with the results. I live on one of several ridges that run through my county.
The YA 1713 ads NBC dt ch 10. Their signal strength is not the strongest but very stable, all the other stations are uhf, with signal swings depending on atmospheric conditions.
My previous attempt to pull in these stations was with a cm 4248, which resulted in two fairly steady signals. The XG91/YA 1713 combo gives me four daytime signals on a regular basis, and up to seven at night. Of course all are subject to break-up from time to time. That can be expected at an 80 mile distance.
I am sold on the XG91.

Dumb question here: Is it possible to combine a cable feed (sd & hd) with an antenna feed (HD), using a diplexer, to a single cable outlet to the TV?
Thanks

After many hours of experimentation with different models of indoor antennas, I wanted to mention that best low cost amped traditional style (loop & rabbit ears) antenna I tried was a $10 model at Big Lots. I tried a bunch of junk from Philips, an RCA, and a few other brands including a $40 outdoor Philips model, and the best one in terms of both reception and amplification clarity was the Big Lots model. It's a generic brand in a red and black box for $9.99, and I believe the amplification is 24 db. Anyone looking for a cheap indoor antenna to improve marginal local signals should give this one a go first. Hope that helps somebody.

I'm looking for recommendations on an indoor antenna. My situation from antennaweb is:

yellow - uhf KWKT-DT 44.1 FOX WACO TX 195° 9.8 57
yellow - uhf KWTX-DT 10.1 CBS WACO TX 193° 9.1 53
yellow - uhf KWBU-DT 34.1 PBS WACO TX 202° 9.8 20
green - vhf KCEN-DT 9.1 NBC TEMPLE TX 161° 12.4 9
red - uhf KXXV-DT 25.1 ABC WACO TX 193° 8.0 26
red - uhf KNCT-DT 46.1 PBS BELTON TX 209° 38.4 38

I'm currently using an old Radio Shack rabbit ears antenna 15-1864. My typical signal strengths (as reported by my HR20-700 DirecTV DVR) are:

Channel 9.1 = 65% to 70% (generally good but occasional pixelation)
10.1 = 100% (always good)
25.1 = 100% (always good)
34.1 = 50% to 80% (quality bounces around a lot, moderate video/audio dropouts)
44.1 = 40% (the quality is actually pretty good, with only occasional dropouts)
46.1 = 0%

My major problem is 9.1 vs 44.1. If I tweak to get a better 9.1 I lose 44.1 entirely. If I tweak to get a better 44.1 then I either lose 9.1 or it gets really bad. To get all of them I'm right on the razor's edge. I had to tweak for an hour to get reception on all channels and even then I still have the 9.1 and 44.1 problems that come and go. I would also like for 34.1 to be more stable. It would be nice if I could get 46.1 but it's not critical.

I'd prefer an antenna that's sold by Amazon, given their liberal return policies. In my situation, does anyone have any thoughts about the

Terk HDTVi or HDTVa
Philips PHDTV3 or PHDTV1
Jensen TV931

I wish I could go with a pure UHF antenna but, if I read antennaweb correct, 9.1 is their final landing spot.

Thanks!

Ok, does your current antenna have a loop, or just poles?

I have been in a similar situation here in Richmond VA where I live near the towers but reception is affected by my altitude and treelines. My final solution after a lot of experimentation is "cheap antenna, quality amplifier".

If you have a Big Lots nearby, try the $3 unamped loop n pole antenna they sell. Being multidirectional. it can be positioned to grab channels from a few different angles. And I have had the best luck with these cheap, simple models of generic Big Lots antennas than any of the name brand trash made by Philips, RCA etc sold at retail.

My final solution has been to gang a Zenith Silver Sensor together with a cheap Big Lots loop and pole together with a $4 GE splitter/combiner, and run it through a Leviton 25 db amp to clear up a few of the weak signals. I got the amp, which has an FM trap and a variable gain dial, new off ebay for $20. The two antennas have been positioned just right to prevent mulitpathing.

The reason I went through all this was because only one TV in the house is digital, with two remaining old analogue TVs. I wanted to run it all through the currently unsused cable box, to avoid antennas in the house. Of course, the analogue towers are all over town, with one being 180 deg from the rest. The digital towers are all clustered to gether. So the Silver Sensor, which is a great unidirectional antenna, picks up the digital towers, and the other handles the off-angle analogue ones. I have 90+ signal strength on the digitals, and good reception on the analogues with a touch of ghosting.

BTW I have an XBR970 too. Nice set isnt it.

NO!!!!! You would need to use an RF Switch.

Cable systems populate EVERY OTA channel position, which would swamp the weak OTA signal in the combiner.

There isn't all that much reverse isolation in the combiner, so the high level cable signals
could ALSO leak out via your OTA antenna, which is an FCC violation,
and could result in your neighbors receiving a duplicate, delayed version (i.e. ghosting).

And BTW, there are ALSO cable frequencies outside the OTA TV bands.....oops....
and the intermods and harmonics are EVERYWHERE....

The cable company would also be upset if you re-distributed their extra-cost analog tier.

If this is you;
http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/maps...onf=mapnew.con

Then this is what you get;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/defaul...=Show+Stations

Looks like you are either too close or too far away. The five networks you should be able to receive with just about anything.
If you want the distant stuff, you will probably have a problem (if it is even possible which I doubt, at least because of overload from the locals).

Too bad you have that oddball VHF station (NBC 9.1) to contend with. Most UHF antennas will receive the high band ok. Since they are not in the same direction you really need to be able to turn the antenna. Do you have a attic or crawl space (or access to) where you are? How about a large closet with a open ceiling area where an antenna could be placed?

It's best to use the actual channel numbers (another reason I don't like antennaweb). The only VHF you have is the one I mentioned;

25.1 ABC
9.1 NBC
53.1 CBS
57.1 FOX
20.1 PBS

The only other VHF stations are; 13.1, (Univision) 63 miles away, a low power 12.1 (72 miles) and another 9.1 (86 miles low power).

Bang for the buck, this is still my recomemded choice (and at the same price for the SS clones, under $20);
http://www.eagleaspen.com/products/products_1.php?id=49

It looks like CC is dropping this antenna? If so, that is sad, considering how well it works for its size.

I have still been able to find it in Fry's, though it is harder to find in some of those as well. The San Marcos, CA store had a bunch when I drove by there last. Other than that, they have been very hard to find in any retail store.

I certainly hope it is still being produced. It is a very handy test antenna and works well enough as a regular antenna for a few locations.

Does anyone have insight on what is happening to the Silver Sensor?

It's agreat antenna, assuming your towers are lined up a few degress from each other. I know Philips still makes it, and even if CC drops it plenty of online retailers still carry it. A bunch of independent retailers still sell it on Amazon. I just bought the Zenith model brand new from soembody off ebay, so the Philips manufactured ones should still be in warehouses for a while even if LG/Philips discontinues them.

Thanks for your response. I'm showing my ignorance here but what's an RF switch?

RF = Radio Frequency. It's a common shorthand for the signal from an antenna or cable. What you need is a box with two coaxial-cable inputs and one output (screw-on connectors), and a switch that selects the input you want to use. You can get a small manual switch at Radio Shack or Wal-Mart for a few dollars, or you can spend more for a remote-control switch.

I own a 4228 and a 91XG antenna. The 91XG Blows away the 4228 in my situation. Also very light. Have heard 2 91xgs side by side works great for mulitipath, but I have enough money invested in these antennas!

Don F. and dxernut -- Thanks!

In a way, I'm almost disappointed because just late Friday afternoon, I found out that a local wholesale electronic outfit sells CM 4248s for 40-something dollars. After several internet/mail orders and road trips to Frys a hundred miles away to pick up different antennas, I couldn't believe that someone in my small city had some good ones right under my nose!

I was really tempted to try one, except that I guess the 4248 and 4228 are pretty comparable... Or at least, most posts I've read seem to think that. Is that what people here have found?

Hate to pay almost double the 4248's price, but if the 91 is that good, I guess I'll end up doing it...

By the way, Don F.: If you see see this post, how far away again is the channel 10 you're getting with the YA-1713? I have a far-off channel 11 I wish I could get, and that might be a cheap way to try it. (I'd love to try that huge Funke, but I'm not sure I have room for it.)

Thanks again, guys. Good stuff.

The performance XG91 is excellent. Because of it's "X" directors, expect a couple of db more gain than the 4248 on the upper end of the UHF spectrum. But, those "X" directors add more weight and wind resistance.

The 4248 has a larger and wider corner reflector than does the XG91, so that could make the 4248 stronger on the low end of the UHF spectrum, but probably not by much, maybe one or two db.

Personally, I just like the looks of the XG91, but suspect it's performance to be very similar to other manufacturers high gain antennas.