[sdsalsero]

About two years ago, I bought a Sony HDTV and started experimenting with antennas for OTA. At the time, I was able to mount a 6ft yagi on the roof of my father's house. Now, however, my wife and I are renting an upstairs apt and the best I can do is mount an antenna to the outside patio railing. I still have a Recoton TV3000 outdoor omnidirectional antenna but it doesn't seem to work very well. In fact, I got better reception just placing an indoor-type antenna on a patio table.


Does anyone know how the Recoton compares with a "real" antenna, e.g. ChannelMaster 3000A? The Recoton is advertised as VHF/UHF, so does that make it deficient in UHF? What's a good UHF-only antenna, that's not too big, and not too "obvious" (so as to avoid irritating my landlord)?


Thank you for any suggestions!

 

[DanHuff]

I have the same antenna and mine works great (it is mounted outdoors).


Make sure you adjust the antenna by turning it to get the best reception, and crank the amp all of the way up. You should not just "mount it and forget it". It still needs to be fine-tuned (rotated) for best results.

 

[sdsalsero]

Dan,

Thanks for the reply. Do you think it needs to be moved (in 3D space) or rotated? I had assumed that it's angle of rotation was unimportant since it's labeled "omnidirectional." Meanwhile, I will try to reposition it...

 

[DanHuff]

I have mine on top of my roof by the chimny (sp?) and as with most (if not all) antennas, the higher the better. Make sure it is mounted "horizontally" (flat). This will ensure that high winds don't knock it around much since it will be acting like a frisbee. By rotating I mean turning the round disk only, and not doing anything to the mast. Just loosen the bolts on the C-clamps that hold the round dish to the mast and have a friend or someone inside watching the TV to yell at as you are SLOWLY turning the round dish. I found that very small adjustments would make big changes, so do it slowly. Check all of the channels and adjust so that most are clear, some may be better than others but you should see an improvement.


I also thought that "omnidirectional" meant that the antenna would work in any postition, but after messing around with mine for awhile I found the "sweet spot" and left it there. Only one channel (UPN) is still somewhat fuzzy, but every other local one is great/clear.

 

[sdsalsero]

cool, thanks, Dan! I will definitely give that a try.


Still, does anybody have a UHF-only antenna to recommend? I'm assuming that would work better than a combo VHF/UHF like this Recoton...

 

[SolidSignal]

The Channel Master 3000a works great for an Omni directional with built in amp.

We sell many with very few complaints.

For under 30 miles we recomend it.


However, if you want a UHF only we recomend the following.

They both can be mounted on the railing assuming your handy and the rail faces the stations!!!


Based on you distance from the Stations:


45 miles or less: Channel Master 3021/4221A: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...oom=zoom#xview


60 miles or less: Channel Master 4228: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...oom=zoom#xview