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Atlanta, GA - OTA - Page 91

post #2701 of 3145
11/8/09 at 5:14pm
Not a huge deal - really found money, if you will.

I had a set of powered rabbit ears that I hooked up to my new Samsung plasma. I am about 40 miles north of Atlanta, and I wanted to see if the rabbit ears would simply pick up Atlanta channels. I have really struggled in the past pulling in OTAs, but I haven't really tried in the past year or so - not a huge need.

Well, I went through and scanned, and I pulled about six channels of which I didn't recognize the call letters. So, I googled the results and I'm getting multiple channels (e.g. 15-1, 15-2, 15-3) from places like Montgomery (AL) Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Huntsville (AL). What makes it even more interesting is that I got nothing from my Atlanta channels. The cities I hit are from as far as 200+ miles away.

Now, I have a pretty good idea why this happened as far as hitting channels that aren't local and not hitting the ones nearby - the power is too strong to hit the locals. I get that part. I guess I'm just stunned by pulling in channels from hundreds of miles away!!!

Did the digital transition have anything to do with this? Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks in advance!
Jack
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post #2702 of 3145
11/8/09 at 8:22pm
The "DX" guys talk about pulling in stations from far away when "tropospheric ducting" conditions are favorable. I don't know much about it but some Googling will give you an idea of what it is. Could be you just have weird conditions right now. I don't think you're overloading your tuner with Atlanta stations though.

Also, note that the important part of your antenna is the little circular or square hoop (UHF), not the rabbit ear poles (VHF). Most of Atlanta stations are on UHF channels (14 and above) -- only WGTV (8) and WXIA (10) are in VHF. See the "RF" number in the table in my sig for complete info. Of course, if your antenna doesn't have anything but those two long extendable poles, then you've got a VHF-only antenna and that explains why you're not picking up much of anything. But I doubt it -- those powered units usually have both VHF and UHF elements.
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post #2703 of 3145
11/10/09 at 4:31am
Well, I am starting to get poor reception on 2.1 WSB and 11.1 NBC, though not as bad as 2.1. Not sure if it is a station problem or just the leaves falling off the trees. Anyone else?
Michael
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post #2704 of 3145
11/10/09 at 5:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AtlantisMichael View Post

Not sure if it is a station problem or just the leaves falling off the trees. Anyone else?
Michael

I know that while I watched Castle last night reception was good but by the time the news came on it was deteriorating. Seemed like the weather to me.
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post #2705 of 3145
11/15/09 at 6:26pm
[quote=ChrisC47;17500024]The "DX" guys talk about pulling in stations from far away when "tropospheric ducting" conditions are favorable.


Tonight must the night for long distance signals... I am in extreme n e Ga. receiving signals from Columbus, Montgomery, and WEAR Pensacola.
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post #2706 of 3145
11/15/09 at 10:16pm
Indeed, tonight (Sunday night) seems to be especially good for tropo here in the southeast.

http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ha...ath.cgi?map=na
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post17537415
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post #2707 of 3145
11/16/09 at 3:55am
[quote=Don F.;17540796]
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC47 View Post

The "DX" guys talk about pulling in stations from far away when "tropospheric ducting" conditions are favorable.


Tonight must the night for long distance signals... I am in extreme n e Ga. receiving signals from Columbus, Montgomery, and WEAR Pensacola.

I live in Cleveland Ga and was recieving a signal from Panama city B Fla
and from Columbus Ga
like you said is the time of long distance signal
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post #2708 of 3145
11/17/09 at 4:30am
I live in Alpharetta and am having trouble with 2-1 and 11-1 as well. My reception issues appear to occur during the day; at night I get the two channels (at least that was my experience yesterday). 5-1 and 46-1 come in flawlessly day or night.
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post #2709 of 3145
11/27/09 at 5:18am
Can some one tell me if this low power analog channel still on the air
WUVM channel 4
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...UVM%26type%3dA
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post #2710 of 3145
11/27/09 at 11:57am
Yes, I saw it today over the air. It is also on Directv if you get the local Atlanta channels.
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post #2711 of 3145
11/27/09 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeachBuggy View Post

Yes, I saw it today over the air. It is also on Directv if you get the local Atlanta channels.

thanks
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post #2712 of 3145
11/27/09 at 2:32pm
I live a few miles out side of Fairburn,Ga and I bought my dad a CM3016 for his birthday. We previously had been using an indoor terk antenna with an amp that came with it. We had been getting cbs and fox most consistently but it would drop out alot.We just got around to installing the CM3016 in the attic and we are getting no better reception with it than the terk sitting on top of the tv. The CM is hooked up to 100 ft of RG-6 could the attenuation be killing the signal? Is the CM 3016 enough antenna? I bought it at fry's and was looking for a 4 bay antenna but they were sold out so i bought the 3016. According to antennaweb we are 24 miles from most stations, and on the box of the 3016 it claims it is good for up to 45 miles. Seems like the 3016 should work a lot better than the terk. I'd rather not mount it on the roof or chimney so would buying a DB8 be worth it or should I keep fiddling with the 3016?

EDIT: After shortening the 100' cable and adjusting the antenna a bit we got much better signal on wsb and cbs, and even got wxia perfectly. wxia actually has the best signal at 97 while wsb and cbs are at around 90-92. The pbs channels are in the 80's while 30.1 is really intermittent. The big issue is Fox has dropped out almost totally, but I imagine turning the antenna a bit might help. Would a preamp help much? I plan to later hook up to a splitter so two tvs can receive the hd signal. Would that just drop the signal 3db or more? If we can't get fox,cbs,wxia and abc consistently then i guess i will take it back and get another antenna. Is a CM 4228HD going to make much of a difference? or would I be better off just adding a preamp and rotating the antenna?
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post #2713 of 3145
11/28/09 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by boggs01234 View Post

I live a few miles out side of Fairburn,Ga and I bought my dad a CM3016 for his birthday. We previously had been using an indoor terk antenna with an amp that came with it. We had been getting cbs and fox most consistently but it would drop out alot.We just got around to installing the CM3016 in the attic and we are getting no better reception with it than the terk sitting on top of the tv. The CM is hooked up to 100 ft of RG-6 could the attenuation be killing the signal? Is the CM 3016 enough antenna? I bought it at fry's and was looking for a 4 bay antenna but they were sold out so i bought the 3016. According to antennaweb we are 24 miles from most stations, and on the box of the 3016 it claims it is good for up to 45 miles. Seems like the 3016 should work a lot better than the terk. I'd rather not mount it on the roof or chimney so would buying a DB8 be worth it or should I keep fiddling with the 3016?

EDIT: After shortening the 100' cable and adjusting the antenna a bit we got much better signal on wsb and cbs, and even got wxia perfectly. wxia actually has the best signal at 97 while wsb and cbs are at around 90-92. The pbs channels are in the 80's while 30.1 is really intermittent. The big issue is Fox has dropped out almost totally, but I imagine turning the antenna a bit might help. Would a preamp help much? I plan to later hook up to a splitter so two tvs can receive the hd signal. Would that just drop the signal 3db or more? If we can't get fox,cbs,wxia and abc consistently then i guess i will take it back and get another antenna. Is a CM 4228HD going to make much of a difference? or would I be better off just adding a preamp and rotating the antenna?

I am also on the Southside, about 8 more miles further away from the transmittersof 2.1 and 11.1 and about 20 miles south of Fairburn. I am using the CM4228 with a pre-amp in m attic, and about 60 feet of RG-6. All Atlanta signals are fine, but since their transmitter locations are different, I had to play a bit with the antenna direction to find a good compromise between signal strength and actually getting all the stations. The two tough ones for me were 8.1 and 30.1, and they are in the "70's" now, while 2.1, 5.1, 11.1, 17.1, 36.1 46.1 and 69.1 are all 85+ (some in the 90's). I wanted the best signals I could get to improve the fade margin because the leaves on the trees do affect the received signal strength. I am very pleased with the CM4228 and pre-amp. I can turn the CM4228 around and get the Columbus, GA stations, but since it's a fixed mount and the carry the same things at the Atlanta stations, I have the antenna peaked for Atlanta.

There's a new knock-off design of the CM4228...not sure if it's an actual CM antenna or copy-cat...it has sort of an adjustable fold in the center allowing you to point the two halves in separate directions. If I didn't already have the CM4228, I'd be interested in trying one of those antennas.

And yes, you will lose at least 3dB of the signal if you install a splitter. You may want to try a pre-amp with two outputs, and run separate coax feeds to each receiver.

Hope this helps.
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post #2714 of 3145
11/29/09 at 9:48am
thanks. I just played with the antenna and have 5.1 in the low 80's 2.1,11.1 in the 90's and 46.1 in the low 80's too. I figure a preamp will bump 5 and 46 up a little so this may be the best arrangement. I haven't really messed with the PBS channels yet. I'm more concerned with getting the falcons game today. When the High School finals are on PBS then the tinkering for those channels will come into play. Right now 8.1 is about 77.
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post #2715 of 3145
11/29/09 at 2:46pm
In Woodstock I am trying to pick up 2.1 WSB, but in checking the signal out of the tuner(Sony DHG-HDD250), it shows the frequency to be 57mhz which is odd since it should be 623mhz. Any ideas as to why this may be. Of course I do not get any picture like this. I do get 5.1, 11.1, 36.1, and 43.1. all very good. Using a DB4 antenna, no preamp, just a amplified splitter. Using my analyzer, 2.1 is a little iffy, but since the tuner will not lock? on to the right frequency, I can not tell if I could get a good picture on the set.
Michael
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post #2716 of 3145
11/29/09 at 6:38pm
57 MHz is the frequency for the old RF channel 2 (VHF channel 2) that WSB used to be on. Your tuner is looking in the wrong place. Can you manually force it to look at RF channel 39? If not then I guess you need to rescan.
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post #2717 of 3145
12/3/09 at 5:22pm
Hey everyone, I'm in 30084 just East of Atlanta within 20 miles of almost all the towers.

This is my TVfool info I'm trying to figure out what antenna I need to buy.

I currently have a phillips like silver sensor in my attic and it gets ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, Peachtree TV, and PBS. But I would like the signal to be stronger (planes going by mess it up) and I would also like to be able to pick up ION.

Also, the antenna is currently running through several splitters, I plan on buying a power 8 way splitter to help out with the potential loses.
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post #2718 of 3145
12/3/09 at 5:42pm
I just installed it on my deck post today. I have it pointing more easterly than i would like but due to kids I have to have PBS 8.1. I picked up 16.1 -16.4 for a moment and 47.1-47.4 for a bit today while installing. Are these low powered stations? I am in 30068. I am going to go on a limb and recommend the Channel Master Metrotenna. Not a bad antenna at all., I am still fiddling with mast position and direction, etc etc etc....For back up I have a trusty Terk HDTVa. Which works like champ.
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post #2719 of 3145
12/3/09 at 7:47pm
(Seems like tonight is the night for people to ask for help, out of the blue...)

Anyone got any ideas why I get bad reception on WSB? I'm using a cheap indoor antenna with VHF dipoles, a UHF loop, and variable gain. The tower is 2.5 miles north-west from me and there are trees and houses near my house, but no large buildings. TV Fool estimates noise margin nearly 80dB and ERP above 800kW. The TV signal meter (in my TV) will show anywhere from 80-85 (where the audio drops and aggravates the absolute garbage out of me while I'm trying to watch Flashforward) and about 92 or 93.

WSB is channel 39, so I should be using the loop, right? Anyone have tips for tuning in with a loop and gain knob (given that all I have is the signal meter in my TV, which is basically useless, IMO, since it wanders all over)? The gain, of course, has no labels and the knob just goes 'round and 'round... Will the position of the dipoles influence the reception of this at all? Should the loop be perpendicular to the line between the antenna and the tower? (Maybe I should be turning it to catch reflections?)

Any tips would be great, as getting good reception on all the other channels was a total no-brainer and I have to practice, I guess.
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post #2720 of 3145
12/4/09 at 5:41am
HopefulFred,

If your antenna has an amplifier, it's overloading. If anything, you should be using an attenuator such as the AntennasDirect 1296F to knock down your extremely strong signals. You have the correct syle of antenna, but if it's got an amp, it's the wrong particular model. Radio Shack has a basic passive loop & rabbit ear antenna for around $12.

Fred in East Cobb,

The 4220 is a UHF-only antenna. A more suitable selection from CM's line-up for Atlanta near-suburban locations would be the 2016.

bmr4life,

The 2016 would also be suitable for most of your stations barring the aircraft-induce multi-path. That particular problem would require a more directional antenna and some experimentation to see if the effect can be mitigated. Your desire for ION adds an additional wrinkle to the problem due to that station's transmitter location. You'd probably have to aim a small UHF Yagi north-west and combine it into the rest of the system with a channel 51 Jointenna (if you can still find one).
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post #2721 of 3145
12/4/09 at 8:08am
Project, Thanks for the heads up. It seems to be working very well. I am getting pretty good signal strength. I seem to be in a very OTA friendly Spot in East Cobb. For that I am grateful.
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post #2722 of 3145
12/4/09 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred in East Cob View Post

I picked up 16.1 -16.4 for a moment and 47.1-47.4 for a bit today while installing. Are these low powered stations?

Yes, see link below. 47.x is the only one I'm missing and I may try repointing to see if I can get it. I peaked my antenna about a year ago, way before the analog shutdown, and I can probably move it and gain 47 without losing the others.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post16732147
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post #2723 of 3145
12/4/09 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProjectSHO89 View Post

HopefulFred,

If your antenna has an amplifier, it's overloading. If anything, you should be using an attenuator such as the AntennasDirect 1296F to knock down your extremely strong signals. You have the correct syle of antenna, but if it's got an amp, it's the wrong particular model. Radio Shack has a basic passive loop & rabbit ear antenna for around $12.

Fred in East Cobb,

The 4220 is a UHF-only antenna. A more suitable selection from CM's line-up for Atlanta near-suburban locations would be the 2016.

bmr4life,

The 2016 would also be suitable for most of your stations barring the aircraft-induce multi-path. That particular problem would require a more directional antenna and some experimentation to see if the effect can be mitigated. Your desire for ION adds an additional wrinkle to the problem due to that station's transmitter location. You'd probably have to aim a small UHF Yagi north-west and combine it into the rest of the system with a channel 51 Jointenna (if you can still find one).


Is the antennacraft HBU-22 similar to the CM 2016?
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post #2724 of 3145
12/4/09 at 4:41pm
Chris, Thanks for the list. I am not getting 16.X and 40.x and their respective subs which is fine. 47.x and their subs come in at 55-60 but they work. I am getting every other channel available.
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post #2725 of 3145
12/5/09 at 4:38am
C'mon WSB get the squirrel nest off the tower! I am having wild signal strength variations. No signal to 100 percent. Anyone emailed them to see what's up? I am in a hot spot that normally sees WSB work perfectly.
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post #2726 of 3145
12/5/09 at 6:28am
Univision Atlanta has started broadcasting on channel 17
and now i get 2 sets of channels 34
in Cleveland ga the signal on channel 48 is way stronger than the one on translator 17
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post #2727 of 3145
12/5/09 at 8:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred in East Cob View Post

C'mon WSB get the squirrel nest off the tower! I am having wild signal strength variations. No signal to 100 percent. Anyone emailed them to see what's up? I am in a hot spot that normally sees WSB work perfectly.

It is highly improbable that the problem is at the source.

You most likely are either getting multi-path interference or there is a local source of RFI.
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post #2728 of 3145
12/5/09 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC47 View Post

FYI if anyone's interested, OTA RF channel 55 nationwide is in the process of getting licensed to Qualcomm for TV distribution to handhelds .... MediaFLO mobile TV service

In recent weeks there have been several (5 so far) applications with the FCC for low power transmitters on channel 56. The locations are spread around the metro area, tending towards the east side.

These seems similar to what I noted above about MediaFLO. The licenses are going to Manifest Wireless, which is owned by Frontier Wireless, which in turn is an EchoStar Corp. side company. So Echostar may be planning something.

(source)

Edit 1: OK, "relatively lower power"

Edit 2: Here's a nice listing of all of the Echostar license applications:
http://www.rabbitears.info/echostar.php
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post #2729 of 3145
12/5/09 at 9:22pm
I'm not sure I'd call 50 kW "low power" considering that the FCC only requires such notification for transmitters putting out 1 kW or more. Cell phones put out much, much less power than the 1 kW for which notification is required on that band.

- Trip
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post #2730 of 3145
12/8/09 at 10:30am
I am trying to get a better signal out of 2.1 WSB over here off 92 and 575 in Woodstock. Have a DB4, but not getting a consistent signal for WSB. No preamp as that will overload it. The antenna is in the attic as high up as it will go. Really would like to get a consistent signal only for WSB as it is the station which carries the TVGOS updates, but with the dropouts and such, it does not always get the whole downloads daily as it should. Any other antenna I should look at?
Michael
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