Quote:
Originally posted by Delerium
jimc705,
Thanks for your response. I would like to get as many of the digital channels as possible; I was only aware of the one NBC and didn't realize there were others available in my area. I went to antennaweb.org and typed in my zip code (83201) and copy/pasted the lineup in my post. There was no mention of any other digital stations, except the one.
I am willing to use separates if the results are better than using a combo VHF/UHF antenna (and if it is not much more difficult to install). I do like the 91xg for UHF but what would you recommend for VHF. Do you have any experience/preferences with any of the models you mentioned? I apologize for all the newbie questions but I just want to make sure I do this right the first time so I don't have to do it again.
Thanks again for all your help.
Antennaweb.org is a good place to start but they are extremely conservative as to what you actually will get. If you are in the coverage areas I sent you and no huge mountains to get over you should get the additional digitals. In my case they show to Digitals one 17 miles the other about 28 miles. I actually get 5 digitals as far as 60 to 70 miles. I get another 7 from Knoxville 40 to 50 miles. One from NC about 60 miles. All reliable and no drops. I do have a few mountains to get over but most are straight up the valley.
You can use a 10 element high band. You can get them and see a pix of them at Starke Electronic. They run about $30 I believe.
http://www.starkelectronic.com/acantena.htm#Y10
This weighs only about 4 lbs. and the UHF weighs in at 6.5 lbs.
Ideally they should be mounted seprately but can be mounted on the same mast. Channel Master recommends 7 feet apart for the antennas not to interact with each other. 5 feet apart will be min. Put the biggest and heavier toward the bottom. which is almost a toss up here.
Channel 3 is a low band but you are but 5 miles from it and should receive it with no problem. You will need a join teanna 0549 from Starke or others on the web or locally. Solid signal is a little cheaper and have experts to help you with mounting etc.
Cost should put you around the $200 mark with a rotor.
You may find this sight useful for terms and info and the CM sight for mounting.
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html
http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/AntInstallGuide.pdf
Pix of the 7084 if you decide to go with a signal combo.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/hd7084p.pdf
The difference between the combo and seperates is mainly multipath resistance. Combo beamwidth is about 40 degrees at UHF frequencies as you can see. The UHF yagi is as low as 20 degress. A slight better gain then a combo but comparing the best CM UHF 4228 with the 7084
winegard at the channels you want 17 and 36.
4228 gain channel 17 about 11.5 DB
4228 gain channel 36 about 12 DB
HD 7084 gain ch 17 about 13 DB
hd 7084 gain ch 36 about 12 db
So as you can see the 7084 actually exceeds the 4228 in this case. The 91xg is a little better db gain but they don't give channel breakdown gain.
The 7084 can be purchased for around $120 .
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...=&PROD=SHD7084
You also may have a local Winegard dealer .
The choice is yours either antenna will perform well for what you need. The combo also will get 3 and 6 better then the seperates although I don't see that as a problem for analog. My UHF gets channel 5and 11 60 miles out off the back side.
Good Luck with your quest.