[buz]

I think somewhere over time, whoever manages the website

antennaweb.org seriously degraded it's usefullness. I have a

niece who I am trying to look up what stations she would get

in the town she lives in, and it returned only a couple entries.


So I tried where I live with my address (Bedford NH), and it

would only return stations in NH, it did not have any of

the Boston MA stations in the list no matter what level

address I put in. I of course get all the Boston stations.

Years ago, it used to list both MA and NH stations.

I think this is the same thing which is limiting the list of

stations my niece gets, because the list of stations is out

of her state. She is located in Scranton PA.


buz

 

[Ken H]

No one here uses Antenna Web anymore. Everyone is referred to TV Fool.

 

[LithOTA]

I just ran my address on Antennaweb, which I haven't done since about 5 seconds after I first saw TVFool. It was incredibly accurate at listing the stations that I get from my kid's rooms' antenna system located in the attic, a system I designed specifically so that they would not be affected by me turning the rotor on my big rig.

So Antennaweb shows what you get if you use a poorly-made homemade antenna, mounted in the attic, with over 100 feet of cable, and the very cheapest Radio Shack preamp.

In other words, idiot-proof.

TV Fool doesn't dumb things down, it gives you the straight dope on every station, even the ones that you have no chance of getting regularly. It tells you about stations that are attainable with a more robust system, whereas Antennaweb assumes that you will only do the most basic installation.

 

[Tschmidt]

I'll echo what the others have said, I find antennaweb.org useless. Lists only the three strongest NH stations when in fact we receive most of the Boston stations.


tvfool.com is by far a much more useful site.


It is almost as if CEA was trying to discourage OTA.

 

[LithOTA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tschmidt /forum/post/0


It is almost as if CEA was trying to discourage OTA.

Totally agree, and the NAB is a co-sponsor too, so it's even more ironic.

There is a third signal mapping website, www.antennapoint.com

Not as good as TVFool, but definitely better than Antennaweb.

 

[deltaguy]

I feel like antennaweb came up with predictions for first generation tuners, and never bothered to update. Very good or excellent analog reception was predicted to allow digital reception. None of my local analog uhf reception was good or excellent.


KGO is not listed on the antennaweb predictions. At one point, I watched an entire college football game on KGO. Go with TVFool.

 

[videobruce]



Quote:
whoever manages the website

antennaweb.org seriously degraded it's usefullness

I never knew it was ever "useful".

BTW, that antenna point is worse than Antennaweb, as is the website and the suggestions for antennas. Obviously there to sell you something.

 

[Tschmidt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LithOTA /forum/post/20868252


There is a third signal mapping website, www.antennapoint.com

That is a new one for me. It is purely distance driven no LR propagation calculation. Not sure how useful azimuth calculation to two decimal places is going to be for antenna pointing

As long as we are on the topic the FCC site is pretty good:
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/


But tvfool is still by far the best.

 

[BCF68]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tschmidt /forum/post/20869362


That is a new one for me. It is purely distance driven no LR propagation calculation. Not sure how useful azimuth calculation to two decimal places is going to be for antenna pointing

As long as we are on the topic the FCC site is pretty good:
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/


But tvfool is still by far the best.

The FCC is only based on 30 foot antenna height. Which mnay people won't have theirs that high. In some situations it is more accurate than TVfool.

 

[Bozzmonster]

Antennaweb.org is a good place to refer those who need a quick easy view of what they can receive. Antennapoint really seems like they are trying to sell you certain brands depending on the results - not my cup of tea. The FCC site is pretty good but my needs are beyond the tools offered there.


For me, I began with antennweb, then moved to TV Fool to get my antenna in place. Now that everything is working, and understand a little more about the tech, I am using both TV Fool and rabbitears.info. Those Longley-Rice maps are very accurate and very helpful on 'why' I don't receive certain channels when coupled with the information presented (station power, tx height, signal pattern, co-located or adjacent signals, etc.)

 

[videobruce]



Quote:
The FCC is only based on 30 foot antenna height.

Assuming that is feet above ground level, that would be typical for a normal 2 1/2 story house without any tower.


Frankly, forget either choice here Someone please resurrect 2150.

 

[P719C1]

Yeah, after setting up my new system yesterday, I must say I found antennaweb.org to be rather disappointing. I also thought it used to be at least a little better, so I'd say OP is onto something here. tvfool.com gave me just what I needed--even helped me tune into a couple weak analog LP stations in my area that I didn't know still existed. And as far as the FCC's maps assuming the 30-foot antenna height, not all of us live in a two- or three-story house where we can set up an outdoor antenna on the roof. I'm presently in an apartment on the first floor with an amplified indoor antenna on the first floor, and tvfool.com allows for compensation due to antenna height.

 

[Ratman]

Send your complaints and/or suggestions here:
[email protected]

 

[Otto Pylot]



Quote:
Originally Posted by videobruce /forum/post/20876637


Assuming that is feet above ground level, that would be typical for a normal 2 1/2 story house without any tower.

FWIW, my antenna is about 30' from ground on a single story house. It sits at the apex of the roofline on a 12' pole that is attached to the roof supports via 3 sets of heavy duty guy wires. Hardly even moves even in high winds or storms (at least the kind of storms we get on the West Coast

)

 

[CochiseGuy]

TVFool is great, but where do you find info on the sub-stations. I mean like the FCC site, TVFool, rabbitears.info, etc. all show you info for the network and independent stations. But for example, while the Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD broadcasts at UHF 32, assigned channel 13.1. But they just started broadcasting MeTV on assigned channel 13.2, but the only way I get info on the broadcast power and real UHF channel is to ask in the Local info thread for Tucson. And I wouldn't have found out about unless I did a tuner re-scan or watch the local info thread here for Tucson - which is how I did find out about it.

 

[Trip in VA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CochiseGuy /forum/post/20878392


TVFool is great, but where do you find info on the sub-stations. I mean like the FCC site, TVFool, rabbitears.info, etc. all show you info for the network and independent stations. But for example, while the Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD broadcasts at UHF 32, assigned channel 13.1. But they just started broadcasting MeTV on assigned channel 13.2, but the only way I get info on the broadcast power and real UHF channel is to ask in the Local info thread for Tucson. And I wouldn't have found out about unless I did a tuner re-scan or watch the local info thread here for Tucson - which is how I did find out about it.

RabbitEars has it. Under the listing for KOLD, click on "Technical Data and Screencaps."


- Trip

 

[LithOTA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA /forum/post/20878404


RabbitEars has it. Under the listing for KOLD, click on "Technical Data and Screencaps."


- Trip

RabbitEars is an invaluable resource for OTA, along with TV Fool. Together, they tell you everything you need to know about the signals going on around you.

Interesting how it takes unpaid volunteers to create these great sites, while the "corporate" sites are pretty much useless.

 

[CochiseGuy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Trip in VA /forum/post/20878404


RabbitEars has it. Under the listing for KOLD, click on "Technical Data and Screencaps."


- Trip

Got it, thanks.

 

[baud]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LithOTA /forum/post/20879859


RabbitEars is an invaluable resource for OTA, along with TV Fool. Together, they tell you everything you need to know about the signals going on around you.

Interesting how it takes unpaid volunteers to create these great sites, while the "corporate" sites are pretty much useless.

Very well said.

 

[Tschmidt]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LithOTA /forum/post/20879859


Interesting how it takes unpaid volunteers to create these great sites, while the "corporate" sites are pretty much useless.

What you mean Trip and Andy aren't raking in the dough by providing such excellent resources?