[bash]

I hope someone on here will help me out with a map question.


Most of my broadcasting towers appear to be about 35 miles from me.

I have given the coordinates to the towers and height given along with stated output. Is there an online topograph that will let me look at the terrain to see how high my tower needs to be?


I'm very green when it comes to knowing what I need and how far the given wattages will radiate out. Any help will be appreciated. Oh, I'm using a Hughes Platinum if that makes a difference.



My Home 37:23:04N 87:38:29W


CBS Tower (WEVV) 37:53:17N 87:32:37W 35 miles @945' 500 kw ch.45


ABC Tower (WEHT) 37:51:57N 87:34:04W 33 miles @988' 59 kw ch.59


NBC Tower (WFIE) 37:53:14N 87:31:07W 35 miles @1017' 250 kw ch.46

 

[bash]

I guess I should add that I have access to a tower antenna that could go up to about 40 ft above ground plus maybe a little more with the mast adding to it.


I'm undecided between the CM 4228 bowtie style or the CM 4248 Yagi style. I should also mention that I have a PBS station maybe 10-15 miles from my house, but in the opposite direction of the 3 stations that I'm wanting to bring in.


Thanks again!

 

[NightowlKY]

From what I can tell with Topo USA 4.0 (granted I didn't zoom down to the exact spot but I'm within 100 meters or so) you are in Nebo, KY off of 41A and at about 420' of elevation with a hill north of you near the county line that's at about 550' four miles out from you. The towers being so close to you (35 miles isn't far, really), I'd say you'd be fine with most any antenna (try cheapest with that Radio Shack double bowtie and do the mods to it...search this forum for the thread).


I'd say as long as you can get it up on your roof about 5-10' above the roofline, you'd be in good shape. May want to try something like the Advantage series from ChannelMaster. You can check them out at Stark Electronic - Channel Master Advantage series


HTH


Oh, and AFAIK, only WEHT-DT 59 is the only one up and broadcasting.

 

[bash]

Hey Jerry,


wow, you're pretty good. You nailed my location and I suspect you got the rest right too! Where do you get that topo usa 4.0?


I was worried because I tried the Radio Shack Double Bowtie without an amp just holding it by hand in the yard and could only get analog from evansville with VERY noisy and extremely poor reception. I suppose with an amp and the mods it would have been much better?


I'll keep you posted (I'm sure with more questions). Oh, and from what I understand, wfie is currently using a temporary antenna because they are revamping their normal one for digital and should be done withing a month or so. If we can only get my local CBS in gear, we'll be digitally complete as far as I'm concerned.


Thanks again Nightowl!

 

[NightowlKY]

 Topo USA 4.0


It's about $99 (cheaper by a bit from other online stores) and I got the DVD version. Works very well now that they've fixed the install CD (got a new one the other day)


Definitely try the mods and try and at least temporarily mount it as high as you can (duct tape it to the eaves or something )


Another rather inexpensive option is the U75R from Radio Shack. It's $19.99 and is UHF only and only about 3' in length. It's what I'm using in my stack right now and I get in the 90s on a KET DT station over 40 miles away and crystal clear on an analog 52 miles to my south.

 

[RMP in KY]

bash: I assume you know that both KET stations in our area (Madisonville and Owensboro) have digital signals. AFAIK, they are not doing HD yet, just SD multicasting.

 

[bash]

RMP,


Didn't know if I could get Owensboro, but I did pick up KET (presumably madisonville) and did get the 3 digital channels. The -4 channel was showing a HDTV program and I, in error, thought that it was real HDTV. Oh well, the regular dtv is pretty good also huh?


Are you close by RMP?

 

[bash]

Okay, called up and ordered the CM 4248 and the CM7777. This should be okay, right?

 

[NightowlKY]

Hey, bash.


The 4248 or the 4228? I might have gotten the 3023 (same as 4248 but ships more cheaply).


Also, those are all UHF-only and the pre-amp to get would be the 7775. The 7777 is for VHF/UHF which is fine if you plan on adding a VHF-only antenna, too.

 

[bash]

NightowlKY,


I originally was going to go with the 4228, but all this talk about multipath and needing more directional control got me worried, so I went with the Yagi. Also, when I was able to get a signal with the Radio Shack bowtie, the signal was up and down, up and down wildly, so I thought I may be a candidate for multipath.


Shipping is supposed to be around $14, so not too bad.


I went with the 7777 because it is supposed to be just as capable as the 7775 at uhf, plus the options to use the fm trap and vhf if needed down the road.


Should I have went with the 4228? I read a test yesterday and according to it, the 4248 was capable of pulling in good signals from over 100 miles, so I figured the gain on the 4248 would be acceptable. However, I'm pretty ignorant on this stuff, so I could easily be wrong.

 

[NightowlKY]

Ah, you'll be fine. The 4248 is very capable (but that 100 miles thing is not really a practical gauge...the curvature of the earth prevents LoS at that distance) but the 4248 has very good gain and being directional it should do well for you!

 

[RMP in KY]

Also, you should be able to get WAZE-DT on channel 20. I think they are at very low power but you can probably eyeball their tower from your location.