TV antennas

John,PA

Member
I am in the process of downsizing and getting rid of some unnecessary overheads.

TV reception, here, is fairly good with my little antenna lying on the attic floor. I can receive 4 channels including PBS, most days. I do not have a rotor to "zero-in" when it is windy.

About 2 yrs. ago I did the "DISH" thing and now the costs are more than my mortgage. :(


So, if I lay another antenna along side of the original in the attic, pointed the opposite direction, can I wire both together to get more channels.? And do away with DISH altogether?

I know someone who has 5 antennas mounted on a tower outdoors, none of which rotate, and they can get over 50 channels.

DISH will eventually cost over $10.000.00 over the next ten years.

Your input will be greatly appreciated. $$$$$$.

John,PA
 
How far to the transmitters? In what direction from your place?

We lived 50 miles from the towers. I put up a mast about 8 ft. above the roof of the house, with a new antenna about 10 ft. long. Drew in 39 channels. I went to Antenna.com, put in my address and they gave me a compass reading to set the fixed antenna.

When we moved to the city close to the transmitters, I put a small antenna on the back of the house, used the compass to set the antenna per Antenna.com and we pull in 69 stations.

I doubt that adding a second antenna in the attic will get the desired results.
 
17325 is the zip code.

Currently, I can enjoy PBS outa Baltimore, along with the normal news and wsx. outta the local 50 mile Lancaster, PA.

I tend to enjoy PBS. after the local area news.

Thanks, John,PA
 
More info is needed.

Reception with antennas placed indoors likely will reduce the maximum distance you can receive signal from with any antenna by quite a bit. How's the terrain between you and those broadcasting locations you're trying to receive? Do you know the frequencies of these channels you're trying to receive and the type of antennas needed to receive them? Will you have the potential for co-channel interference or other interference issues?

More antennas may equal more channels. More antennas may mess up reception of what you have now. Switches are available to use one antenna at a time. 5 antennas hooked directly together would likely create a reception mess in many cases. Channel-specific antennas might work well, though.

Put your info here:
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
and/or here:
http://rabbitears.info/search.php
to see what's even possible for reception in your area.

Nothing wrong with experimenting, but knowing the possibilities before you start would help you immensely.

AG
 
Thanks.

I know one for sure.....I have better reception on the antenna with the small screen tv. with converter than I have with a newer large screen tv. (modern).

In fact, I can get more channels with the small screen at 40 watts. per hr. than I can with the large screen at 300 watts. per hr. Using the existing attic antenna.

DISH does NOT have the channels that I prefer for our area. SO, I will do away with DISH and save the $$$$, along with the large screen TV.

So, Dish @ 120.00 per mo. plus the electric bill of $130.00 will certainly allow me some leway to experiment.

Again THANKS.
John,PA
 
John,
You sure do not reside in a digital friendly area! There is no "cheap" way to provide you a high quality dependable service. The high end of channels in your area appears to be 11. With the arc of transmitters you will need a rotor. I have installed many a system over the past 41 years in many areas. If I were to install an antenna in yoor area I would recommend the following...

Antenna Winegard HD8200U

Rotor Channel Master 9521A

Height Min 30 Ft using 3 sided tower.
Your primary rotor settings would be 27 and 66 degrees. Forget the multiple antenna idea..
a172708.jpg

a172709.jpg
 
THANKS, PETE

I already have the tower available. 30 ft. worth., salvage from another DISH customer!

I figgered that a $100.00 windgard system will give immediate "payback".

All I need now is to put the cement pad in for the tower.

Thanks, again.

John,PA Looking forward to "CELTIC WOMAN" PBS program during Christmas Season.
 

RG-6 cable will reduce signal loss from atenna to TV. An antenna mounted amp with a FM trap will improve reception by keeping signal noice out of the tuner.
 
Nix the concrete idea. An old installer said the best way is to buy a section of black pipe 11/2 inches in diameter. Cut the pipe into three equal sections, drive the pipe into the ground to match the tower section and leave it up so the tower end is just above the ground. This lets the water condensation soak into the ground and keeps the tower from rotting off.
 
We have an antenna system at our cabin, but we have always used a signal booster. The power supply is near the TV and the amplifier is up on the tower. We had a rotator but it was a pain because we would have to aim it at a tower and then do a channel scan, then if we wanted to watch channels from a different tower we would have to rotate it and do a new channel scan, loosing the firs one. At least that seemed like the only way to do it. This summer I got another antenna and mounted it below the other one and hooked it to the same amplifier. Now we get all the channels from both towers on one scan, much better.
 
I've got 9 antennas but are on three separate masts and not all joined together. You can only join in certain ways or you get a lot of loss.

Joining a VHF low (2-6) to a VHF high (7-13) antenna is easy using a VHF low to high coupler/joiner.

Joining any VHF setup to a UHF is also easy with no loss using a VHF to UHF coupler/joiner.

After that, there's potential problems. If you take two same-type antennas, mount them on a mast pointing different directions -and join - all will work fine for channels that only ONE antenna sees (which is often unlikely). If two antennas receive the same channel (even if weak) - it really screws up the signal. That's when a special "channel blocker" is used. If both antennas can sense the same channel, you put a special channel-specific blocker on the weaker one.

Note it's much easier, if you do NOT want a rotator - to put same-frequency-range antennas up facing different directions and have them use their own separate coax cables to the house. Then use a coax switch box. Two way boxes are common and 3-ways are also available.

I suggest you got to TVFool.com and download a signal map for your specific address. Then figure out what channels you can get and exactly what frequency they are on. Remember to ignore the "virtual" channel numbers you see on the screen and go by the actual and often hidden "RF" true numbers.

Go to www.tvfool.com Look at "tools" on the left and click on "TV signal locator."
Then put in your address, or GPS coordinates, and antenna height. It's free and it a great tool.

I attached the signal map for a house I have in northern Michigan just to show what it looks like.
a172749.jpg
 
The size and wattage of your TVs has nothing to do
with getting a good picture or not. It's all about
the tuner chip-set a TV comes with. Some work
better then others and it has nothing to do with
size. Tuners vary by "selectivity" and
"sensitivity."
 
you seriously concerned about a few watts difference between tv's ? Do you turn the sound and brightness lower to save power as well?
A 30ft tower, RG-6 cable, Antenna mounted amp with a built in FM trap. A rotor and one of the antennas JDe listed and every network is yours.
 
Like I said -reception has nothing to do with the size of the TV. Designers of chip-sets used in TVs and radios now adays assume that most users either live in urban areas near transmitters - or have a cable-line. So over-the-air reception is not a selling point or design-goal (like it used to be). Some TVs work better then others when it comes to receiving over-the-air and it's not age. Same with radios. I.e. newer is not always better. It's more-or-less a crap-shoot. No way to know before you buy a particular model unless you already know someone who has one and knows it receives well. If you went to some of the over-the-air TV forums (there are several) - users have posted lists of TVs that receive the best. Also with radios.

New TVs have three things that can vary reception. Here's an over-simplistic explanation.

#1 tuner sensitivity. This is how well the TV, or how willing the TV is, to pickup and use a signal. If it's highly sensitive, it can do a better job picking up weak signals. This can be good or bad depending on how strong the signals are where you live.

#2 tuner selectivity. This is how the TV decides which signals to use and which ones to ingore.

#3 The way the tuner allows you to scan channels. Some TVs force you to delete all channels in memory when you rescan. This works awful if you have multiple antennas, or a rotator. It makes it difficult to get all the channels registered that require separate scans from differing directions.
 
The small converter boxes normally get slightly better reception for me also. They only deliver standard definition 480i signal instead of a high definition 1080 which requires at least 5 times more information.

FYI, you can stream most PBS shows online through your computer, a smart TV or a Roku box. Many TV stations post the latest edition of their news programs online for streaming and some are available through Roku now too. Many younger folks in their twenties are only connecting their smart TVs the internet instead of to an antenna or cable TV.
 
The comparison between converter boxes and TVs is kind of useless and anecdotal. Not all converter boxes work the same, nor do all TVs with digital tuners work the same. If someone wants to say one works better then another -specific model numbers need to be used. In the past, I had three different brand converter boxes and all differed in reception. Some also allowed analog pass-through while others (from Walmart) did not.
I've got a 50" el-cheapo Sceptre 1080 TV that pulls in distant stations better then any of my old converter boxes did including two analog channels. Also got a 19" LED-LCD Sansui TV that is newer but gets worse reception and two less channels.

In regard to anyone watching any sort of TV on a comptuer -that only works when someone had a good Internet data line with a lot of bandwidth. Many who are using over-the-air antennas for TV are limited with their Internet connections. I certainly am and cannot stream or download TV shows or movies.
 
There is some good information posted for you.
Yes you can connect multiple antenna. Before 'cable' many multi-housing units started using the MATV system. I am a Certified Electronic Tech, (45yrs), Started in TV shop, installed more antennas, then I can count. especially after the tornadoes in 1965.
More then one antenna requires proper 'joining' with a coupler or powered booster made for that.
You should have enough info here to achieve what you desire. My email is available.
 

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