OTA cable help needed

as far as antenna's go buy the radio shack 15-2160 uhf antenna. it has a range of 75+ miles and its super small in size.

and use RG-6 cableing...

it doesnt matter how many times you split the signal as long as you have a preamp for the antenna.

Iknow you want to put a OTA antenna in the attaic just couple question to ask, Do you have or can get Cable service in new house ? and /or planning getting Dish also?

-Willie

As long as the cable is in the walls to all the locations before the wallboard goes up you're OK. Everything else can be fixed after the fact if it's not right.

It might be a good idea to run the cable from the antenna to some basement distribution room (where other video might be available - like cable).

If I understand you correctly you plan on running RG6 from the antenna in the attick to the cable distribution box on the side of your house and then you will replace the cable ccompanies cable input connection to the splitter in the distribution box with the cable coming from the attic is this correct?
If yes then you understand that you will not be able to receive any service from the cable company only those stations that you can receive with the antenna?

I think we are using the term "cable" differently. "Cable" can refer to the physical line the tv signal travels OR the service from cable companies. For clarification, I'll use "line" for the physical line(s) between the antenna and the tv(s).

If you just want RG-6 line(s) from the antenna to multiple televisions for over the air programming, do as biker19 recommends. Have them run a line from the attic to the basement or a convenient location with access to electricity. There you could install a powered distribution amp and have them run seperate lines from there to where you would likely have televisions. If you are in a marginal reception area, you could attach a pre-amp to the antenna and place the pre-amp power supply in the same place as the distribution amp.

If you with service from a cable company, the above wiring should work. I don't know if it would work for a satellite service though.

OK now what I am going to say here you would think it waste of money but it is not. I would run atleast 3 RG-6 Quad coax to each outlet 1 coax for OTA only and 2 for the satellite dish only, if you go with PVR you will need 2 coax cable to it, If you do have acess to Cable service then I would add another to that also. You can not combine OTA with satalite or Cable as they sometime use the same frequency channel as OTA. I would also add a rotor control wire also to the attic again cheaper than trying to pull one later. I would also run a phone line to each outlet also if you go with the Satellite for pay per view you will need to hook up to a phone line. Or you could also have a flex conduit to each outlet and can add cable later by pulling though the conduit.

I don't know what your house plan but there is so many ways to do it.

-Willie

rtrip,

Check the local info & reception thread for your specific location to see what antenna(s) may work best for you. Some markets need VHF + UHF, but others only need UHF only. Still others are UHF-only right now, but will see some stations move back to VHF in 2009.

A good low noise Winegard or Channel Master preamp, installed as close to the antenna as possible (and before the cable splits off to the various outlets) is the best way to amplify the antenna signal.

Do not make the mistake of running only 1 coax to each TV outlet. You only get one chance to do this right before the walls go up. As others have said, run 2 or even 3 RG6 coax lines to each outlet. If you start with OTA only, but later decide to add satellite, you'll need 2. If you add a satellite DVR, you'll need 3 (one for OTA and 2 for the sat DVR).