[quarque]

jameskollar,


you are fighting a 430 foot hill about 1.7 miles NNE and your elevation is about 260 feet. Looks very marginal.



dlinsley,


no major problems that I can see - go for it.

 

[quarque]

del47618,


you also have a 520 foot hill 2 miles west and your elevation is about 280 feet. I would call this very marginal (even "unlikely") for reliable HD.

 

[del47618]

quarque, thanks a lot for looking. I didn't realize that the bridle ridge hill was so high. I'm torn as to whether or not I should shell out $50 for a new preamp and give that a try, or just give up and wait for Comcast to offer HD. A nearby tree on public land is going to block my DirecTV view in about 2 years so I might as well start working on becoming a slave to the Comcast man.

 

[drewba]

quarque,


It looks like we will be moving (again). Could you let me know how it looks in the Fairwood area of Renton? The closest major intersection for us will be SE 184th St and SE Petrovisky Road.


Thanks,


Andy

 

[Budget_HT]

Andy,


We live in Fairwood West (west of 148th Ave SE and the golf course) and I get everything from Seattle, Gold Mountain and Bellevue. It sounds like you will be a bit further east than us. Reception is good here with a $20 yagi UHF only antenna from RatShack. Mine is aimed to just barely bring in Gold Mountain (KCPQ) to the west and Tiger Mountain (I think that's where they are) to the east for PAX and ShopNBC (although I don't watch them). I have no reception of KBTS (PBS 28, DT 27) from Tacoma and don't feel I need it with KCTS available.

 

[drewba]

Thanks Dave. I actually have the same Radio Shack antenna as you, but its been gathering dust since I'm in a reception black hole right now. I don't really care about PAX or ShopNBC, so that should make it a bit easier.


Is your antenna in the attic or on the roof?

 

[Budget_HT]

My UHF antenna is on the roof, about 5 feet above the peak and about 5 feet below my VHF antenna, which now days is only used if all else fails (DTV, DirecTV locals and basic cable). I tried several indoor antennae and none of them got me a usable signal, including the Silver Sensor. I think I needed to get above the small upward grade and trees between me and Seattle.

 

[quarque]

Andy,


Your line of sight looks excellent - not even close to a problem with QA or CH towers. You may have trouble with stuff in Tacoma.


Larry

 

[drewba]

Thanks, good to hear. When you say Tacoma, are you including the stuff on Gold Mountain in Bremerton?

 

[Budget_HT]

I have no trouble with Gold Mountain from here. I suspect he means KBTS, the Tacoma PBS station.


I also get KSTW fine. They are a Tacoma licensed station but their transmitter is on Capitol Hill along with KCTS and KTWB.


Let us know how well you do with reception when you get moved in.

 

[drewba]

I can live without KTBS. My only requirements are KOMO, KING, KIRO and KCPQ. Anything else is pure gravy.


Thanks to both of you Larry and Dave for your help.


Funny how we've got all the work to do in packing and planning the move and I'm worrying about my HD reception and whether to keep cable or go back to DirecTV!

 

[generationxwing]



Quote:
Originally posted by drewba


Funny how we've got all the work to do in packing and planning the move and I'm worrying about my HD reception and whether to keep cable or go back to DirecTV!

I should have had the foresight to worry about my OTA as well as DirecTV...*sigh*


Oh well, moving is easy, getting HD isn't.

 

[jamesmil]

I live in Montlake right at the base of Capital Hill (19th and Blaine if you'd like to look it up Larry)...


I have a Terk TV35 mounted on the roof and I get KIRO reasonable strong (bounces between 70-85), and the WB/Fox off the hill (22-1, 22-2), but nothing else. I'm guessing I'm out of luck to get more, but if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. Its frustrating to live so close the the antennas and still not be able to pick up the channels.

 

[drewba]



Quote:
Originally posted by generationxwing
I should have had the foresight to worry about my OTA as well as DirecTV...*sigh*


Oh well, moving is easy, getting HD isn't.

I understand. The last time I moved (only a year ago, long story), I moved from a house with almost perfect reception of everything to one in Issaquah that could only get KCPQ. I didn't plan this move for OTA HD, but it is a nice bonus.

 

[quarque]

jamesmil,


Your LOS to QA hill and anything outside Seattle looks very marginal (unlikely). But to Capitol Hill you should be OK. Hope you can survive on 2 channels. You are in quite a low spot there. But hey, the arboretum is close!


Larry

 

[quarque]

drewba,


I think real estate agents and the MLS need to start giving an OTA rating for each house! It is starting to become important to many people.


Larry

 

[generationxwing]



Quote:
Originally posted by quarque
drewba,


I think real estate agents and the MLS need to start giving an OTA rating for each house! It is starting to become important to many people.


Larry

I am all for that!

I am hating the fact that I'll have to deal with Comcast just to get my local HD's.....


Thanks for all the work though Larry!

 

[BackPacker]

jamesmil,


Have you tried the Zenith Silver Sensor Indoor Antenna? I live in West Seattle and have perfect reception of all locals with it. I tried the Terk TV-55 plus others and now believe what most on this forum say that all Terk's are bad news. Quarque has a good point about your low spot. It might be worth a try with the Silver Sensor though. You can pick one up at Sears for $39.99 and good return policy. Hope this helps!!

 

[Alex Wetmore]

Could someone list the coordinates for each of the towers in Seattle and some information on reception? I have a copy of Delorme TopoUSA and can easily do profile maps from my house to the towers.


I had poor luck picking up OTA VHF when we first moved to the house using an attic antenna, so I'm not expecting much better with OTA HDTV. I wouldn't mind seeing what is possible though.

http://www.antennaweb.org obviously knows the location of the towers, but it doesn't show them on their information page.


alex

 

[Budget_HT]



Quote:
Originally posted by Alex Wetmore
Could someone list the coordinates for each of the towers in Seattle and some information on reception? alex

Here are the transmitter sites you are looking for:

http://www.100000watts.com/tv/SEA.html