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Best fringe OTA antenna?

1091 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by JOHNESTANG, Apr 13, 2003

banshee1

Discussion Starter · Apr 6, 2003

Hello,

I need a recommendation for a fringe OTA antenna as the only network transmitting HDTV is a CBS station that has two transmitters, one is 70 miles NE of me (1/2 the distance would be over Lake Huron) and the other transmitter is 76 miles SW. According to antennaweb I'm about 13 miles outside the range of the tower to the NE and about 10 miles outside the range of the tower to the SW. Since the possibility of receiving a national HD network feed over my sat(DTV) seems pretty bleak at this point, I really want to pick up this OTA feed. Also, I will be using an RCA DTC-100 as the OTA tuner. the tower to the NE is listed at 1214' high w/950.4kw power, I am located at 710'

Thanks!

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sregener

· #2 · Apr 7, 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by banshee1
I need a recommendation for a fringe OTA antenna as the only network transmitting HDTV is a CBS station that has two transmitters, one is 70 miles NE of me (1/2 the distance would be over Lake Huron) and the other transmitter is 76 miles SW.

First, the bad news: getting reliable UHF DTV reception beyond the curvature of the earth (approximately 60 miles) is difficult. The good news is that terrain has a major impact on reception. Going over water is about the best it gets, since water is generally flat and has positive impacts on temperature for sending the signal along.

Still, at 70 miles, unless you can get direct line-of-sight to the transmitters, the number of things that could impact reception negatively is overwhelming. Know this going in. Accept that what you want may not be possible. Spend your money accordingly.

The RCA-DTC100 is not the best receiver for distant reception. It has trouble locking on to weak signals. Better choices would be boxes from Samsung, Zenith or the new Panasonic. You may have success with the RCA, but if you're borderline having success, a swap of boxes could make the difference.

Good long-distance antennas include the Channel Master 4228 (8 bay bowtie) 4248/3023 (80" yagi/corner-reflector) and the Televes DAT75 (80" yagi/corner-reflector with a unique array of directors.) Invest in a high quality preamp, preferably one of the Channel Master 777x models, depending on your needs. Put the antenna outside, well above the roof line, with a rotor and without any trees in the direction of the transmitter. Use high-quality RG-6 cabling.

If you haven't already, check out http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/kq6qv/A...comparing.html which has a comparative measurement of most common antenna designs.

Good luck!

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banshee1

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 7, 2003

sregener,

I greatly appreciate your detailed reply. Unfortunately, a new STB is currently not in the picture so I'll have to hope for the best with the DTC-100. I think the CM's will probably get the nod due to the investment vs. performance. If all else fails with the CBS towers, ABC and NBC should be live by this July at closer distances to me (45-50 miles). According to an article I just found on the CBS station, they indicate they are only transmitting at 10% power, so a call the engineer will be in order to see if they will be increasing it in the near future.

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Neil L

· #4 · Apr 8, 2003

If it's any consolation, I am 70 miles from the nearest transmitters right now under much worse conditions that you describe, and I can often get good reception. But, not all the time. It is very Dependant on weather conditions. I don't yet have a good long range antenna, although, I do have a pre-amp. And I plan on raising my antenna in the near future, but I'm not sure that will make much difference when depending on tropo conditions for reception. But if you are 710' elevation with no obstructions in the direction of the tower, you have a very good chance of getting fairly reliable reception.

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Ken H

· #5 · Apr 8, 2003

A big antenna, as high as possible is the key concept.

sregener has the right details.

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dirk1843

· #6 · Apr 8, 2003

I would agree with neil............You can get OTA from that far out, IF you get your antenna up high enough, and you antenna is large enough.

I would recomend a highly directional antenna, I use a Radio shack vu-190, about 30 feet up.

------------------------------------------------------------

Side note to Neil,

Glad to see you got you OTA reception going............how do you like it so far??

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jurassicjockey

· #7 · Apr 8, 2003

Just to throw my two cents in, I get fairly regular reception from over 100 miles. (>90% of the time), however it's not going to be as consistent as cable or sat. It's also not a cheap proposition. For me 2 antennas in a vertical stack, decent preamp, 70' up, and RG-11 cable. Oh yeah, don't forget to have fun.

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banshee1

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 9, 2003

Thanks for all the replies

neil, your post gives me hope, as I mentioned earlier, I plan on contacting the engineer at the station to confirm that they are in fact broadcasting at 10% power. According to other posts I've read about other stations this may in fact be the case and hopefully they will decide to bump that up some more if they see that it will increase their viewership which in turn will increase the exposure for their advertisers.

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dynamohum1

· #9 · Apr 9, 2003

I get 500,000 watt stations at near 70 miles with no dropouts. I use a Televes DAT75 and a channelmaster 7777 preamp.

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Icon Master

· #10 · Apr 11, 2003

> If you haven't already, check out http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/kq6qv/.../comparing.html > which has a comparative measurement of most common antenna designs.

Many thanks to "sregner" for the URL referenced from his message quoted above. I had about given up hope on getting decent OTA reception in a suburb of New Orleans until I read and studied the information in this URL.

I purchased what I considered to be the best (highest gain over the widest UHF channel range) UHF fringe antenna from info gleaned from this article and am now enjoying perfect, unbroken digital reception from the local CBS (@36) and NBC (@43) affiliates. I am not using a pre-amp.

FYI my antenna choice was the 8 bay Channel Master Model 4228. For dealers, DSI is a national distributor of Channel Master.

Icon Master

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JOHNESTANG

· #11 · Apr 12, 2003

Hey Icon Master, I will soon be setting up my antenna in old Jefferson my only obstruction facing the city is Ochsner Hosp.. Hope it won't cause to much problems. I was going to try a RS 190 but it seemed a little large for me. Returning it I found out that the RS 110 and 160 are close out priced at $2.97 so I will be trying the 110. I just saw your post and being a native yat I had to say hey.

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Icon Master

· #12 · Apr 12, 2003

> I will soon be setting up my antenna in old Jefferson my only obstruction

> facing the city is Ochsner Hosp..

If you are planning to get into HDTV in Jefferson by Ochsner, you should be aware that the transmitters for both WWL-HDTV and WDSU-HDTV are both located across the river on the west bank. Let me know how it goes with your new antenna.

Icon Master

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JOHNESTANG

· #13 · Apr 13, 2003

Thanks for the info I wasn't aware of that fact. That might help me out though. I will let ya know. First I have to convince my friend to clime up a 20ft extension ladder to mount the antenna on the ridge of my gable roof.

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