Reviews:
 ·Frontier Communi..
| OTA antennas, signal strength measurement, towers I currently have this antenna and I get surprisingly good quality on some channels, but I get kinda crappy reception on others, and as you may know, a bad/weak signal on digital is much more aggravating than on analog. 
I'm planning on getting a better antenna -- anyone got a recommendation? It needs to cover only Hi-VHF/UHF as there's no nearby station below Ch9. I was looking at Winegard antennas -- they seem a bit pricey, but there may be a reason for that. One thing, which seem to disqualify most other antennas: anything costing more than a few bucks should have a spec sheet that lists important parameters, including radiation pattern plots.
Next, I'd like to properly orient my antenna. I found some good links on OTA such as »dtv.gov/stationlist.htm and »transition.fcc.gov/bureaus/mb/en···dex.html but is there a map that shows the location of TV towers?
Lastly, how can I measure signal strength? No, I do not have RF voltmeter. What do installers use to measure signal strength?
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Wacky Races 2012! |
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 Channel OnePremium
join:2010-04-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:2
 ·Connexion Techno..
2 edits | said by aurgathor:I'm planning on getting a better antenna -- anyone got a recommendation? It needs to cover only Hi-VHF/UHF as there's no nearby station below Ch9. Then Winegard has a couple of antennas that might meet the bill;
The HD7694 is a High VHF /UHF antenna with a decent amount of gain and should provide you with a solid signal without the need for a mast mounted pre-amp on the yellow stations and if coupled with a mast mounted pre-amp should provide you with a solid signal all the way down to the violet stations.
»www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7694P.pdf
The next step up would be the HD7697.
One thing, which seem to disqualify most other antennas: anything costing more than a few bucks should have a spec sheet that lists important parameters, including radiation pattern plots.
For example from the antenna selector guide »www.winegard.com/offair/hdtv-out···nnas.php you do a copy of the model and then utilizing the knowledge base »www.winegard.com/kbase/kb_search2.php paste the model then do a search, and down near the bottom of the page will be the engineering cut sheets with the specs and polars.
For example this is one for the HD7697P »www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7697P.pdf .
That’s easy, the Consumer Electronics Association, and the National Association of Broadcasters, have a web site where you can enter a zip code or to be more accurate an address, and the site will present you with all of the stations in the area, with compass orientation and color coded based on estimated receive signal strength.
»www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx···2.288181
Now if you want to cross check that information, you can go to the FCC’s Consolidated Database System (CDBS), and from there you can enter the call sign of the station, then submit station search, click for details and scroll down to View Engineering Data.
»licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/puba···sear.htm
The three keys that are important are, your distance from the station, the stations antenna height and their Effective Radiated Power, secondary becomes VHF versus UHF, VHF having less path loss.
Lastly, how can I measure signal strength? No, I do not have RF voltmeter. What do installers use to measure signal strength?
A real basic model like this one will get you into the ball park, but so will a compass and a map.
»www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=···SL-1000)
A more complicated unit will provide more information but at a price and if you are not installing TV antennas for a living is probably not needed.
»sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Perfect/···eter.htm
I have installed numerous TV antennas and never one used a signal strength meter just a compass a map and a portable TV set which can be had for less then $40 at most big box stores.
By the way I can highly recommend Solid Signal, I have purchased numerous antennas and cell boosters from them and found their prices to be fair, and should I make a mistake their no quibble return policy is excellent.
»www.solidsignal.com/
Wayne
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"It is sobering to reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence." - Charles A. Beard |
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 tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5
·Fairpoint Commun..
 ·Hollis Hosting
| reply to aurgathor
Plug your address into the »tvfool.com/ site to model expected signal strength and direction. There is a companion site »fmfool.com/ to model FM stations. This will give you an idea if local FM transmitters will be a problem. I find TVfool preferable to the »www.antennaweb.org/ site. I'm in a fringe area and antennaweb shows hardly any stations available when in fact we reliably receive NH and most Boston stations.
I plugged Lynnwood, WA into the site: »www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp···34166f0b
To get a more accurate idea of signal strength, use your exact street address and estimated antenna height.
You have a large number of strong stations but they are at different compass headings. Ideally you may be able to pick them up off both the front and back of the antenna. If not will need a rotor.
May want to check out »www.avsforum.com/
The HDTV Technical forum is is a good source of info on OTA and Local HDTV Info and Reception my cover you specific area so you can get first hand experience from others.
/tom
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 leiboldPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
kudos:2
·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to aurgathor
I used the information from antennaweb.org and tvfool.com for my planning. I had and still have an old multiband (Hi/Lo VHF + UHF) highly directional antenna that points to the tower where almost all programs for our area are broadcast (at about 35 miles distance). It also picks up some stations that are broadcast within a few degrees at similar and longer distances.
However after the DTV transition I was no longer able to receive some stations that are broadcasting much closer to my home but at almost exactly 90 degrees from the direction to most other stations. Directional antennas are least sensitive to signals arriving at a right angle to the antenna. I installed a medium gain UHF only antenna pointing to those stations and used a passive splitter/combiner to get all the OTA programming available in our area without having to use an antenna rotor.
Depending on where the stations you care about are located (both in direction and distance) determines whether an omnidirectional antenna (receives strong signals from all directions) or a highly directional antenna (receives even weak signals over long distances but only in one direction) is better for you.
One thing to beware off is that with DTV channel numbers are completely meaningless and cannot be used to determine whether or not a particular station transmits on VHF or UHF. A lot of stations retained their old analog channel numbers in the VHF range but are now transmitting in the UHF band. The good thing about UHF only antennas is that they are much more compact then multiband antennas.
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| reply to tschmidt
said by tschmidt: I'm in a fringe area and antennaweb shows hardly any stations available when in fact we reliably receive NH and most Boston stations.
I live in a major city and Antennaweb only lists a fraction of available stations in my area. Worst than that, it is not even accurate. For my strongest station that I can get with a crap indoor antenna, Antennaweb says I need a "Large Directional with pre-amp". You have to wonder whether that site is designed to oversell you a larger outdoor antenna. |
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Reviews:
 ·Millenicom
·AT&T Southeast
·Verizon Wireless..
| reply to aurgathor
These antennas may do well in your situation.
»www.dennysantennaservice.com/ez_···nna.html
»store03.prostores.com/servlet/de···D/Detail
»www.dennysantennaservice.com/Bes···nna.html |
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 misiek
join:2000-12-25
Round Lake, IL | reply to aurgathor
Almost purchased this one last year, but it was a bit too tall for me. Decent reviews:
»www.walmart.com/ip/Channel-Maste···+Reviews
Ended up with this one (UHF only, however and a bit pricey too):
»www.frys.com/product/6259850?sit···_RSLT_PG
Antenna signal feeds into 3 TV sets, so I also installed a pre-amp (not included with antenna). Grabs physical VHF channel 12 (CBS HD Chicago) just fine; not sure if it would go down to ch 9 at your location. Occasionally able to pick up signals from about 85 miles out (Cedar Point, IN where the transmitter for the WYIN is supposedly located).
HTH |
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 JahntassaWhat, I can have feathersPremium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
kudos:4 | reply to aurgathor
As far as finding the location of transmitters, google maps can be your friend. My station and one of our competitors have transmitters across the street from each other and can easily be found by looking up our call letters in Google Maps.
Also Wikipedia has information on most of the local stations, and their transmitter locations. |
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tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5 Reviews:
·Fairpoint Commun..
·Hollis Hosting
| Another good source is »www.rabbitears.info/
Plug in your Zip code and it lists all full power stations within a given radius. If you click on Technical details and Screencaps it lists FCC info, status of license, construction permits and applications. There is also information about each subchannel.
If you have marginal stations it is an easy way to find out if they are planning to upgrade.
/tom |
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 Sr TechPremium
join:2003-01-19
New Fairfield, CT
 ·PHONE POWER
| reply to aurgathor
Over the last 2 years I tried several antennas, with not so great results. Then I went the HD Stacker from Denny Antenna Service with the Winegaurd MODEL AP 8275 amplifier. Great antenna, short compared to others so it does not really put a strain on the pole during high winds.
»www.dennysantennaservice.com/ez_···nna.html
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