Charlotte, NC - OTA - Page 31

I live in Harrisburg, NC and I have the following chart from antennaweb.org

Could someone please recommend an antenna to receive the HDTV programming? I don't want to miss the NFL games broadcast in HD by the local channels. That's the only reason why I am forced to pay the cable compny $90 every month. They don't give me HDTV package unless I signup for a crappy digital channel package which has nothing to do with the word "digital" and it costs over $60. I don't watch any channels part of that package.

I have a HD-ready TV and I am willing to setup the best antenna no matter how ugly it's going to look

Please help!!!


DTV Antenna Channel Network City Compass Miles
------------- ----------------------------- ------- -----
* yellow - uhf WBTV-DT 3.1 CBS CHARLOTTE NC 280° 31.0
* yellow - uhf WCNC-DT 36.1 NBC CHARLOTTE NC 277° 30.1
* yellow - uhf WUNG-DT 58.1 PBS CONCORD NC 58° 1.9
* yellow - uhf WSOC-DT 9.1 ABC CHARLOTTE NC 229° 7.5
* yellow - uhf WAXN-DT 64.1 IND KANNAPOLIS NC 229° 7.5
* yellow - uhf WCCB-DT 18.1 FOX CHARLOTTE NC 234° 7.5
* green - vhf WTVI-DT 42.1 PBS CHARLOTTE NC 228° 5.0
* green - uhf WJZY-DT 46.1 UPN BELMONT NC 279° 29.2
* red - uhf WMYT-DT 55.1 WB ROCK HIL SC 279° 29.2

Some of the two antennas I see recommended often are the channel master 4228 and one of the winegard models. I have the square shooter, live in Rock Hill and get all the charlotte area stations except PBS's. It's mounted in my attic and isn't ugly at all.

Ok, I'm a total newb to OTA HD. I just bought the SXRD 60, I have D* HD tivo (250), and have decided I need an OTA antenna that I'd like to mount myself. However, after buying so much equip. recently, I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the info. I live in Dilworth 28203, after going to AntennaWeb, I see that a "yellow" rated antenna would work for me. Any suggestions on which one? I have seen many suggestions for people living far from the towers with specific needs but not any for people who live relatively close to the towers. I thought about trying an indoor, but I have read elsewhere on this site that the SXRD does not perform well with the indoor type. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

It wouldn't cost very much to give the indoor antenna a try. What others have experienced with your model of television may not be relevant in your situation since there are a number of variables involved with getting a quality signal.

If you go the outdoor route, I'd at least consider the 4221. It is less directional than the 4228 (with slightly less range), and the back of the antenna is fairly efficeint. The fact that is less directional may not mean much in your location since the towers are likely outside of its effective angle of reception - but because the rear is efficeint, you could probably point toward the most distant tower and the back will still pull in the other.

I can pick up Columbia stations with the front, and the back still pulls in both Charlotte towers with about a 90 degree angle between them (from Fort Mill).

Lwebber704: Please keep this thread updated with how it all works out for you. I'm in the Southpark area of Charlotte and have a similar omnidirectional requirement in that I'm interested in OTA broadcasts in all directions, and I haven't bought any OTA equipment yet. I have other challenges as well including huge trees on all sides of my house within 20 feet of the outside walls of the house, and the trees are 30+ feet taller than the peak of my roof. My home theater room is at the absolute lowest elevation at the house. All of my TV wall jacks are fed by non-stop, home runs back to a whole house coax amp located in the crawlspace. And if that isn't enough, I'd like to be able to tune the GNV/Spartanburg stations during football season. Big wish list - right? I'm interested in getting more information on any successful Southpark or Dilworth area installations with similar goals and challenges.

Thanks for the advice CPanther95, I'm going to try the Terk or possibly the ratschak today. I agree its worth a first try. My home seems to be a blackhole for many different kinds of signals even though I'm not obstructed by anything other than trees (which shouldnt matter too much). I'll keep you posted on my success or lack there of. I have the dreaded green blob on my brand spankin new SXRD 60 that BB is going to replace on Monday. Ive had to have my D* receiver replaced as well. The punch line, I may get this all worked out.....the day before I leave for vacation! LOL **crosses fingers**

Ok, so I got the Terk 1080a. It pulled in a ton of channels, way more than I expected. Sadly, I will still need an outdoor one. The signal strength was as high as 83% but would fall all the way out all the time (not on all channels), especially if someone moved in the room. I doubt, although I cannot say with certainty that it was the product but rather more the conditions I was asking it to function (e.g. receiving a signal through every wall of my house, limited acceptable places to place it kinda outta sight, and the aforementioned black hole of signals that room seems to be). If you have a view out a window or only one wall to go through or don't have giant 40' trees this would probably serve you fine. I can't handle a dropped signal even for a second so I'm going the outdoor route. Which will have to wait until after vaca now. I will report on how well the 4228 performs.

I just bought the XRD50" and live off Sam Wilson Road 28214 with no obstructions in any direction for about 60 yards.... to the south there are some tall trees that sit on a ridge but I don't think they are a problem. I seem to get all but the following channels with the Zenith Silver Sensor: No cbs 3.1, no nbc 36.1, no UPN 46.1.
I'd prefer to use an indoor antenna so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend one that would work in my area of Charlotte for under $200?

I am trying to pick up WSOCs HD broadcast in Hickory NC. I can get all of the other Charlotte channels except for this one. Anybody else in Hickory able to get WSOC?

Bob:

There were constant dropouts and breakups on WCCB-DT during the Hell's Kitchen premiere (also during the very bad weather Monday night) - but the signal appeared very solid whenever (and only when) the WCCB weather alert crawl was up on screen.

Is there a logical explanation for this? (this was via HD-Tivo)

Yea, we had the splicer burp ..again.. they put new code in last week, the guys on duty last night thought it was bad weather, and probably was at some point, as we get a reflection off the old chrome dome coliseum in heavy rain that causes breakup here on our receiver.

The HD Tivo seems a bit more susceptible to errors in the stream. My Sony300 is very tolerant, where my samaung160 and dish 6000 aren't..

I am curious, what does AntennaWeb say for you regarding WSOC?

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx

Thanks

The weather alert crawl somehow bypasses the splicer hiccups?

blue - vhf WSOC 9 ABC CHARLOTTE NC 141° 43.9 9

I have the same experience. WSOC is the only Charlotte HD channel that I cannot receive. I live in Cornelius.

Derek

WSOC isn't the most reliable, I'm not sure why, but myself and my father have problems with it sometimes.

I'm only 10 miles from the tower.

NBC and CBS are much more reliable, and they are ~36 miles from me.

WSOC is probably my most solid, stable signal (from Fort Mill).

I get all 9 locals perfectly, all the time.

How is it that Fresno at DMA #56 gets ABC and CBS HD LiL and Charlotte DMA #27 is still waiting?

So, you want to pay for something you can get for free and with better quality via OTA?

True.... With my antennas in the attic though, I get more interference during weather events, like the passing of Alberto this week. Windy conditions tend to reduce the signal quality. There were several occasions that I had to switch to SD via D* because of reception quality in the past few months. The chances of getting the antennas on the rooftop are somewhere between slim and none.

Does anyone else have a problem with the audio on NBC? I get a weird sort of echo/delay from the dolby digital sound track but only on nbc DD. I only watch 2 shows, but I have the problem on both of them , Las Vegas and SNL.
any ideas? I have a media center pc that passes the digital audio signal through spdif to a denon 3805 and dpnt have a problem with dvds or other ota hd.

Anyone else notice the Noon World Cup game is in SD after ABC pomises ALL 64 games in HD? Is channel 9 forgetting to flip a switch or is it ABC?

I hope they figure it out before the US game at 3.

Never mind. Someone must have woke up 22 minutes into the game!

My advice to anyone wanting more local HD channels is to buy an amplifier. I've been waiting for three months for the Channel Master 7777. It finally came yesterday and I am now picking up 4-1 WYFF, 7-1 WSPA, and 21-1 WHNS from my house in Monroe in addition to the Charlotte locals. I am more than impressed with this unit. I put my Silver Sensor outside for the heck of it and also was recieving 2-1 WFMY.

I bought a recoton 3000 "disc" antenna, gutted it and put the SS inside and put on my chimney.....it worked VERY well. Now I have a Winegaurd square shooter which works exceptionally well.

bdfox, what channels do you recieve outside of the Charlotte locals. From what I can tell if I turn it one way I can pick up to Greensboro and the other way Greenville, SC.

I haven't really tried lately, since I don't want/need a big antenna and rotor on the house. Have gotten the G-Boro and Winstons before. I use the Square Shooter.

Picked up UNC-DT Linville here at the studio in the conference room with a silver sensor last week, so you may want to try them.

Advice on an antenna....Relocation

I am relocating from S. Florida to the 28269 zip code and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on an antenna. Direct TV's movers connection said that they will supply an antenna(not sure if good enough), but I was wondering if I needed purchase a stronger one. I did look up info on antenna web, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Thanks