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luisortega
join:2010-08-31
West Des Moines, IA

luisortega

Member

TV Antenna suggestions

My brother in law is wanting to cut the cord and put up a tv antenna. AntennaWeb is showing the transmitters at 19 and 20 miles away and they need a "yellow" antenna. A local audio/video store here in town (West Des Moines) quoted them $500 for the install. The house is already wired for Mediacom and their cabling comes in on the north side of the house which is where the antenna would go. Since they're so close I'm thinking a roof mount isn't necessary and they can get away with a side mounted one.

Am I missing something other than putting 4 screws to mount this antenna, connecting it into the existing Mediacom cabling and saving $450? Their neighborhood does sit in a kind of low spot which is my only concern with putting up this kind of antenna as it doesn't sit as high on the house. Thoughts/suggestions?

»www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT75 ··· _qh_dp_t
iknow_t
join:2012-05-03

iknow_t

Member

you could also use a fascia mount instead, and if you use water pipe, and extend it into the ground for more support, you can make it at least 60 feet high, I've done that once, and it weathered hurricanes too. keep in mind, all you'll find on the antenna is local, ad filled tv.. like 2-13 and some UHF.. of course, it's digital now, but still mostly ads.. I can't stand ads, so I watch ad free tv on directv..

Red_Menace
poking around since 1978
join:2001-11-03
Fruita, CO

2 recommendations

Red_Menace to luisortega

Member

to luisortega
Whatever you do, make sure the antenna is well grounded.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA to luisortega

Premium Member

to luisortega
Check and see if the TV stations are all broadcasting on UHF as most of them are after the change to digital. Be aware though that some were allowed to remain on VHF by the FCC for various technical reasons.

If they are all on UHF then your BIL can get a good UHF antenna. I use a Channel Master 4228 ($100 on ebay) to receive my stations from 47 miles away in Suffolk VA. If some on on VHF then he will need a combo vhf/uhf antenna Channel Master CM-3018 (About $100). Don't be misled about antennas being HD. There is no such thing. All antennas are capable of receiving HD.

He can get a Channel Master CM-9030 Adjustable Eave Mount for TV Antenna Masts ($35.00 Amazon). (Same thing on ebay for $19.95) I think.

Just mount the antenna aim it at the stations,connect the coax from the antenna to where the cable connected through an antenna grounding block and he should be cable free for less than $150 and a little labor on his part.

(He can connect the grounding block to where the cable was grounded) The cable block if there would be ok to use.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

1 recommendation

tschmidt to luisortega

MVM

to luisortega
Rather then use AntennaWeb plug the address into »tvfool.com/
That does a much better job modeling expected receive strength. Distance is important but so is terrain and transmit antenna height and power.

Then pop over to »www.avsforum.com/f/25/hd ··· echnical
post TVfool result and ask for antenna recommendation.

There is also a regional forum:
»www.avsforum.com/f/45/lo ··· eception

Good luck we have always been OTA viewers. Install cost is mostly labor and has been posted be sure antenna is well grounded.

/tom

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

20 miles is within rabbit ear or some of the newer indoor antenna range.

I use OTA and Directv. I set up OTA for local broadcasts in HD before Directv added them. Directv only provided standard definition so I put up an antenna. The 47 miles was a challenge for UHF on the higher channels but I had few problems given I have quite a bit of knowledge on antennas. I still use the OTA when rain/snow knocks out the satellite.

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF to Jack_in_VA

MVM

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

Check and see if the TV stations are all broadcasting on UHF

They are a mix of UHF and VHF, and transmit from north of Des Moines near Alleman. I would recommend an outdoor antenna.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

said by UHF:

said by Jack_in_VA:

Check and see if the TV stations are all broadcasting on UHF

They are a mix of UHF and VHF, and transmit from north of Des Moines near Alleman. I would recommend an outdoor antenna.

That's what you have to watch out for. Here only one reverted back to their original VHF channel 13 from 41. It's a pure PITA. My UHF antenna will not even get a signal but I get 90+ on every other channel. I just don't use OTA enough to care.

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF

MVM

It is a PITA.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt to Jack_in_VA

MVM

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

That's what you have to watch out for. Here only one reverted back to their original VHF channel 13 from 41

It really depends on your area. For us it worked out great. We are in southern NH. All the Boston stations are on UHF while the 2 NH stations we care about are on VHF-hi.

Great solution for us was to use separate UHF and VHF-hi antennas and aim them in different directions. That eliminated the need for a rotor, the bane of multi TV households.

That is why it is so important to research estimated channel strength, RF channel (not virtual) and transmitter direction. Then make decision about which stations you are really interested in viewing. Unless you are interested in DXing keeping things simple and eliminated need to use a rotor works best.

/tom
XXXXXXXXXXX1
Premium Member
join:2006-01-11
Beverly Hills, CA

2 recommendations

XXXXXXXXXXX1 to luisortega

Premium Member

to luisortega
I've looked into OTA solutions over the years, but always conclude paying for satellite or cable is right for my personal situation. I currently have the Charter triple pack, and it just works for me.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

said by XXXXXXXXXXX1:

I've looked into OTA solutions over the years, but always conclude paying for satellite or cable is right for my personal situation.

It is nice being able to choose how to get TV. OTA is not for everyone. My OTA soapbox is to make folks aware it may be an option. It is amazing how many people don't realize broadcast TV still exists and Cable or Sat are their only options.

/tom
older dog
Premium Member
join:2005-06-09

older dog to luisortega

Premium Member

to luisortega
That antenna looks overpriced for what you get, don't overlook this site when comparing prices.

»www.solidsignal.com/

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA to tschmidt

Premium Member

to tschmidt
said by tschmidt:

said by XXXXXXXXXXX1:

I've looked into OTA solutions over the years, but always conclude paying for satellite or cable is right for my personal situation.

It is nice being able to choose how to get TV. OTA is not for everyone. My OTA soapbox is to make folks aware it may be an option. It is amazing how many people don't realize broadcast TV still exists and Cable or Sat are their only options.

/tom

A few years ago when we were relying on OTA for our local HD and of course there were many issues then. We subscribed to AVS forum and had a thread for Hampton Roads HD. One of our members called the local NBC affiliate and asked to speak to the station engineer. The lady answering the phone couldn't understand that they "broadcast" OTA. She said they only used cable and satellite.
MrFixit1
join:1999-11-26
Madison, WI

MrFixit1 to luisortega

Member

to luisortega
Going to throw out a few thoughts
A copy of the antennaweb results would be helpful . The reason for the " copy " rather than a link is to allow you to scramble the actual address . We don't really need that .
Unless there are hills , trees , buildings , etc, in the way , you will not need much of an antenna for 20 miles .
Check to see just what is being included in that $500 install . Depending on what they are planning to do. it could just be a good deal .

One " warning " that I give to all people that are going OTA .
Once you see what true HDTV looks like , you will never again be satisfied with the over-compressed crap that the satellites and cable companys are calling HDTV !

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

Only could be a "Good Deal" if you're can't do it yourself for about $150.
TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada
MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112

TheMG to luisortega

Premium Member

to luisortega
I use a simple VHF dipole antenna I made from two pieces of wire and some coax. It's currently sitting on the floor in front of the TV and gets great signal!

I should probably also mention that the TV transmitter site is located less than 1km away and is pumping out over 5kW ERP...
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym to luisortega

Premium Member

to luisortega
Lots of good advice here.

You might want to start simple and work your way up. At my house for example, I just exposed about 6" of center conductor on one end of a piece of 18" coax and I get all the local stations just fine. Cost was about, well, nothing. I had the extra cable laying around. Did it for all 3 new TV's and one old TV using a DTV converter.

Amazon has a really cheap rotating antenna. My Dad bought it for his house and I thought for sure it was going to be a POS. That sucker pulls in 3 DMA's (around 55 channels) and works like a champ. He paid something like $29. I've seen it up around $50 here of late.

To be fair - they are up in a hill out in the middle of nowhere and have always had good success DXing far off TV stations. Even with the switch to digital they still pull in a ton of remote stations.

»www.amazon.com/Outdoor-A ··· sxp_f_pt

The coax that comes with it is crap. After 18 months of service the center conductor had withered. Weather sealed and all. So, I pulled the antenna down and put proper cable on it. Probably should have done that to begin with. But I was tired after 2 days of rewiring every bit of the house for OTA and DirecTV. Put a nice spiffy demark box on the house to keep everything tidy.

That antenna has 2 outputs. I use one to feed the tv in a bedroom. Then the other feed goes directly to a 4 port distribution amplifier and feeds 3 other tv's. We had a left over antenna pole that we used and two medium lag bolts into the beam immediately under the roof. Since it is small, there's practically no wind load on it.

If you're handy, you can make your own antenna:
»www.diytvantennas.com/bowtie.php

A friend of mine in town did it and has had very good success with his. He started out using a yardstick.

If you live in an HOA controlled area, they cannot prohibit you from putting up an antenna (so long as it is less than 7' over your roof line). So, don't let them give you any crap.
iknow_t
join:2012-05-03

iknow_t to tschmidt

Member

to tschmidt
said by tschmidt:

said by XXXXXXXXXXX1:

I've looked into OTA solutions over the years, but always conclude paying for satellite or cable is right for my personal situation.

It is nice being able to choose how to get TV. OTA is not for everyone. My OTA soapbox is to make folks aware it may be an option. It is amazing how many people don't realize broadcast TV still exists and Cable or Sat are their only options.

/tom

how are you getting HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, CINEMAX, and hundreds of other channels with that, without a rotator??

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

said by iknow_t:

how are you getting HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, CINEMAX, and hundreds of other channels with that, without a rotator??

Non of those are broadcast so they are not available OTA, rotor or no rotor.

If those channels are important to you then OTA is not for you.

/tom

TheTechGuru
join:2004-03-25
TEXAS

TheTechGuru

Member

»www.airbox.com

»twitter.com/MyAirBOX
lutful
... of ideas
Premium Member
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON

lutful to Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

I use a Channel Master 4228 ($100 on ebay) to receive my stations from 47 miles away in Suffolk VA.

I am planning to install that on the roof when snow melts. From our area of the city, schnauz See Profile gets FOX, CBS, PBS from USA at even longer range. »Re: OTA TV Adapter?

I can pick up local channels from about 20 miles using various DIY indoor antennas but the tower is really high on a hill. I tried a single channel Yagi from the attic for PBS in USA but that did not work.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

said by lutful:

I am planning to install that on the roof when snow melts.

Just a heads up, the new Channel Master 4228 (now several years old) is not as good as the old 4228, but still a good fringe antenna. Another good fringe antenna is the Antennas Direct 91XG.
»www.antennasdirect.com/s ··· nna.html

The HDTVprimer site has some antenna modeling but it has not been updated in a long time:
»www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTEN ··· ing.html

Attic mount can be unpredictable due to effects of building materials and of course it is lower then a roof mount. In most cases higher is better, especially for UHF.

Since you are in Canada there is a Canadian TV forum:
»www.digitalhome.ca/forum/

Good luck - your are an RF expert so should be a piece of cake.

/tom

OldCableGuy2
@communications.net

OldCableGuy2 to UHF

Anon

to UHF
Cedar Rapids also reverted to a mix of UHF/VHF this is where a band separator or combiner, comes in handy. I have a 4228 for the UHF stations from around here, and then mounted about 5 feet lower on the tower I have an old style VHF only TV antenna I pulled from the dumpster when one of my neighbors had their roof redone. It works great to splice in 7 & 9 to my already stellar UHF signals.

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF

MVM

said by OldCableGuy2 :

Cedar Rapids also reverted to a mix of UHF/VHF

I'm using a Winegard Square Shooter and it does acceptably well in Independence. There are times when KWWL gives me trouble, but overall I'm happy enough with it that I haven't bothered to change anything. As a further note regarding this particular market, KGAN will be changing RF channels soon (I think they are starting work on Friday) so if you lose them in the next week or two a re-scan should fix it. The work may also affect KRIN, but should be mostly overnight when they aren't broadcasting anyway.

kontos
xyzzy
join:2001-10-04
West Henrietta, NY

kontos to luisortega

Member

to luisortega
A couple of years ago I MacGyverd an OTA antenna on the basement TV by stripping the shielding form most of a 2 ft piece of Co-ax that used to hook up to the VCR.
Works for 3 of the 5 major broadcast stations that have transmitters about 14 miles away from me.

OldCableGuy2
@communications.net

OldCableGuy2 to UHF

Anon

to UHF
Yes I have an inside source at KGAN, so well aware they're going to be working to move their signal closer to KFXA

Thanks for the info though

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF

MVM

said by OldCableGuy2 :

I have an inside source at KGAN

Now you're making me wonder if we know each other
I don't work at KGAN, but I see Roger quite often.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to luisortega

MVM

to luisortega
I cut the cord as well. I think it's been over a year now. I did put an antenna on the roof for better reception. I got it at good old Radio Shack (I didn't want to wait).
I would trust the TV Fool site more than AW. AW says I can get 3 channels. I get way more - about 20 channels (I don't count shopping or religious channels). TVF is way more accurate.
Before I go out to do an installation, I always check the TVF site.

As mentioned, proper bonding / grounding is essential. A ground rod won't cut it.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14 to luisortega

Member

to luisortega
I use Flat Wave amplified and it rocks, tens of channels.