Charlotte, NC - OTA - Page 154

Without knowing what you are using for an antenna or where you are located, I can't really recommend changes to it. Try TVfool.com to see a directional plot of what can be received at your address. You might be able to pick a bit more than you list.

As for the amp, that is used to compensate for the losses in the coax. You will need to calculate those losses and then get an amp that matches that loss, a little extra is OK, and insert it close to the antenna. As a rule of thumb each 100ft of RG6 adds 3db loss (50%) but more importantly each splitter also adds this much. Furthermore when you split the cable, you will want to try and keep the length of the two split cables close to the same. If this becomes too complex given that you want to connect, sounds like a total of 5 devices, then you might want to look at a distribution amp.

I have my cable split into my box that is connected to my old VCR, and to my TV.

I have run it straight to the TV, as well as to the box, and checked the signal. I have really not seen any appreciable difference with, or without the splitter. The channels that I receive came in either way, and the signal meter read the same either way.

Certain Tuners will give you the Signal Level and some will give you the Signal Quality of the channel. The two are similar but different.

I would say get yourself a DB-4 (bowtie antenna with reflector) for some directivity. Bigger I don't think is going to add anything for you (I use a DB-8, essentially two of the DB-4's slapped together, but I am 55+ miles away).

Outside is always better - if you are renting, I can understand, but if you aren't, a DB-4 isn't big, and if you have a chimney you can slap it to that.

I am not sure if Best Buy sells the DB-4, but by getting something that is more directional than the homebuilt antenna (which I assume is omnidirectional) will be better. Suggesting Best Buy so you can return if it doesn't help...

Crap, if you are using the bowtie or Gray Hoverman design, just adding a metal reflector right behind your DIY antenna might be the ticket - give it a try, just put a cardboard sheet lined with tinfoil behind it and see if your numbers change.

Also, if your antenna is omnidirectional, have you tried spinning it and seeing if your numbers change - even omnis have some lulls in the pattern.

For those of you building your own DVR, you might be interested in today's deal over at dailysteals.com. It's an HDHomeRun dual. If I were building my own DVR this would probably be my tuner solution.

The deal
Details on the device

Thanks all. Krisbee, it is a home made bowtie. I will first try with the cardboard wraped in tin foil. See how it works. I was already looking at the DB4e on amazon. Blackcat, I will goof around using a cheap amp I found at my dad's house. this is fun. much better than paying for sat tv.

I don't know which one mine is showing, but like i said: It doesn't matter one way or the other. I don't pick up any less channels or any MORE channels whether it is split or not.

I get everything except for WMYT, and I have quit worrying about that one so much. Maybe some day.

blackcat6

Do you know of any way to stop that annoying little popup that comes up in Ghostery showing what all it has blocked?

Still no programming on 55.2. They still have Jimmy Swaggart on 55.3.

There is a setting to change the duration or remove it all together.

You might find that a homemade gray-hoverman performs better. I was using a homemade bowtie for a while, but was really surprised at how much stronger the GH was. I'm not sure that I'd trust my own build capabilities for an outdoor roof installation. But indoor or attic, the thing performs very well. And I found it somewhat easier to build than the bowtie that I had. Here are the instructions I used. If you're going to do this, both Home Depot and Lowes sells 8gauge copper wire at $0.66 per foot.

Also, if you need a pre-amp, you might discover that the old one from your dad's house generates too much noise. In which case you may be better off getting a new low-noise preamp. Details on pre-amp quality is here. FWIW, you want a pre-amp to compensate for the cable loss and splitter loss that you'll have in your wiring. Any more and you're actually making it harder for your tuners to tune the signal.

Yeah, I would just connect to the HDHomerun and disconnect the coax at the splitter when doing the tests to eliminate the signal loss from feeding those other items; those are easily fixed when you add a proper amp (I got mine at Lowes or Home Depot from RCA to split the signal here into the three tuners at the computer)...

After playing around with a DB8 for several months, I have come to the conclusion that it isn't a very good antenna. There are 2 DB8s BTW. The one I am talking about has a single balun connected to two parallel strips of aluminum. The other, which I have not seen uses two baluns, one on each of the bowtie arrays, then connects them together via some coax & a splitter.

My first issue with the DB8 is that it is not well constructed. If you put it outside I can see where corrosion will become an issue and over time this will insulate the individual bowtie elements from the array and make the antenna pretty useless. This won't be an issue for an attic installation but if you are looking for an outdoor antenna, I recommend that you avoid the DB8 and maybe it's smaller cousins for the same reason.

The second issue are that the bowtie elements are too short. It biases the antenna pretty high up in the frequency range which is problematic for what we have in Charlotte. I ended up lengthening each bowtie element by 2 inches and now see a pretty nice improvement in what this aerial can pickup. I would have liked to have made it 3 inches, but I didn't have enough spare aluminum rod to go that far considering the DB8 has 32 of them. I didn't use copper because this sets you up for galvanic corrosion.

Once I had finished the modifications, I put this antenna back into the attic in a new position pointed towards WUNE. This is working well for WUNE, WHKY, and all the stations behind the antenna including WUNG. I'm getting VHF 11, WTVI, at close @ 100% even though it's on the backside of the antenna. This is what I was hoping for by changing the element size. Considering that the trees are now out, I am pretty happy with the results. So I think this is the arrangement that I will stick with. I get all the signals in the area with the exception of WNSC. WNSC is at an odd location and 30+ miles from here and I may go back later and cut a dipole specifically for it and hook it up to a 2nd tuner card.

The Channel Master 4228HD may be a better choice than the DB8 for that type of antenna, but then again, it is a Chinese made version of the original American made model. Although supposedly designed for HiVHF as well as UHF. But sounds like with your modifications, the DB8 is now working for you.

I disagree - I have this antenna and it is a solid performer after my double-bay gray hoverman antenna fell apart in a windstorm.

The antenna is open so it doesn't seem to blow around when in heavy wind, the constructions seems fine compared to normal aluminum antennas from yesteryear, and the aluminum should resist corrosion. The stripped balun configuration seems to cause no issue for me, though I do know people who prefer the coax balun arrangement.

This antenna's pattern is very good, with a nice side lobe that allows me to receive both Charlotte and Greensboro, both 60 miles from my house in Mocksville.

I also do well with my DB8 out of the University area also.

Yes. It's dramatically better than the model as shipped. Even with the storms we had last night and the fact that I'm surrounded by trees that are now covered with wet leaves, I did not experience any dropouts even on WUNE which is 60+ miles from here and there are no multi-path issues with wind blowing the trees. Even the elusive WKHY is more than fine now. I started doing some experiments when I noticed my badly built homemade antenna would often pull in stations better than the DB8.

The CM 4228HD has longer elements than the DB8 so it might do better, but I have learned that it has an issue with an impedance mismatch with its balun. (can be easily fixed however)

The WBTV3 10:00 news is moving from from WJZY46 to WMYT55 on April 9, according to Charlotte Observer column in today's paper. Supposedly the demographics are better on 55 than CW46 for news. But probably they think sitcoms will get better ratings on 46 rather than the 3rd rated 10pm news show. But WBTV and WJZY are both 1080i, whereas WMYT is 720p, so it will be interesting to see if there is a noticeable change in pic quality. And they may lose a few OTA viewers as WMYT has a bit of a weaker signal, although most folks probably watch it on cable as myTV12. Possibly why they never brand the station as my55.

As you said, possibly it is felt that sitcoms will get higher ratings at the 10pm hour on WJZY. In this particular time slot, I believe Fox News Charlotte on WCCB has the highest ratings in the market.

Just a couple of days ago, my old Channel Master amp died, so I went to The Shack and bought their $44 4 star rated amp to replace it. It is excellent. I believe it is a renamed antennacraft. Should be rated 5 stars. The inside distribution end has two ports out, so you can hook a TV, or tuner box, or stereo etc without a splitter there. Also has adjustable gain on indoor unit that I have set half-way up. What I've done is outside where the cable enters the crawlspace is use a power passive splitter on one leg, and the other two legs feed other rooms. It works perfectly. I receive WLFL and WRDC out of Raleigh which is 92 miles away with no problems! The antenna is the 8 bay Winegard.

Considering Antennacraft is owned by RatShaq I'd say yes.

I doubt that anyone will notice anything except for the weaker signal.

Sports (or most anything else) looks better on FOX at 720 than other stations at 1080i.

If the 1080i stations were allowed (and able) to change to 1080P, then one might notice a difference.

It seems to be doing a good job (I guess it is blocking things) but that popup was annoying.

I think 1080i images appear sharper when done right, if not detracted by bandwith limitations and subchannels. CBS Sports and CBS Morning News look very good depending upon how well the local stations retransmit the signal. Same for NBC Sports and Today Show. And on the local level, WBTV News looks very good to me on Channel 3.

Sure wish I could post some of the viewer calls we get here..there are some really interesting folks out there.....The good ones are when they go on for minutes about stuff then don't leave any contact info..

Mister TV Man - I dropped that thing with the buttons on it in the toilet and now I punch the buttons and punch the buttons and it won't let me watch my soapies. Oh, what am I going to do? Please help me find my way out of the rain storm. Thank yew!

My experience has been that 1080i sources will look sharper IF viewed on a display that is set for source-native scaling (screen fit, dot by dot, or whatever the various manufacturers call theirs). Scaling errors introduced when using the overscanned 16x9 mode will noticeably soften things up, closing the gap between 720p and 1080i significantly.

720p signals have the disadvantage of ALWAYS having to be scaled locally, even on a "720p" display (there are no 1280x720 native TVs on the market that I am aware of). This unavoidable local scaling is a significant contributor to (what people typically perceive as) 720p "softness".

If I were going to call in to WCCB... my question would be: "What's with all the belts being worn by the news "talent" recently?

To hold the wireless mics and IFB.....

Latest viewer call today was not getting us anymore and said it was due to our having turned to power down..

Black screen on WBTV 3.3 today, no This TV. And no program info on any channel.