Helping My Parents With Receiving OTA Reception

[davidlukewilcox]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae4e30bafd09

Hi,

My folks saw my recent success in setting up over the air TV in my house and solicited a bit of help for their house. Their TVR is above. My post is here: http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13509

They are considerably south from I am. They could point at the same large transmitters that I'm pointing at, but those are 70 miles away for them, and the noise level is considerably worse.

However, I noticed that they have some transmitters that are 6-7 miles away that look to be retransmitting the same stuff that's 70 miles north. I took some of the callsigns and found this http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=182174. It has the callsigns for each of the stations that are closer they seem to be retransmitting what is 70 miles north.

My question is: Why don't these stations appear with callsigns on TVFool? Are these truly retransmissions?

We have an extra ANT751R that we plan on trying to set up outside, pointing at the transmitter 6.6 miles west and seeing what we get. I know that a lot of people here are quite negative of the ANT751R. Do you think these efforts are fruitless? It seems like these signals are strong enough that we should be able to get them. They seem very valuable if they are truly retransmissions of network stations. Should we point at the transmitter 6.6 miles west or the one 70 miles north? Any other advise?

[GroundUrMast]

TV Fool uses the data provided by the FCC. Stations must have a license for each transmitter. In the case of their primary transmitter, the call sign is recognizable because it's used in the stations branding and station ID's required by FCC rules. Some stations operate one or more 'translators', often to improve coverage in areas blocked by terrain. The license may bear a call sign that is a near duplicate of the primary transmitter, but often the call sign issued by the FCC is in a form such as you see listed on your TVFR. Given a unique call sign, TV fool and others are able to specify each transmitter in the data base without ambiguity. Thanks to Trip Ericson for the wonderful resource of rabbitears.info.

I know that a lot of people here are quite negative of the ANT751R.I have not observed that, in fact I have seen the ANT-751R recommended frequently when it's an appropriate option. If you already have one, try it. If you find that the signal strength is too low to provide reliable reception I would suggest you use an 8-bay panel antenna such as the DB8e or CM-4228. Even though you're quite close, the transmitted power is very low... You may find that a high gain antenna is needed. But again, try what you already have first.

[teleview]

The ANT751 is a Excelent antenna , I recommend the ANT751 over and over and over again because the ANT751 is a Excelent antenna .

I think the ANT751 will work Ok for the reception situation.

The transmitters are Close and are LOS=Line Of Sight.

The signal strengths of the Repeater Transmitters are in the Yellow (medium signal strength) reception zone of the tvfool report.

Install the ANT751 above the roof in such a manner that the roof and building are not inpeding and blocking reception in the directions of , North West.

Aim the ANT751 antenna at about 286 degree magnetic compass direction.

Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antenna.

The ANT751 antenna will most likely will provide enough signal strength to supply signal to 2 Tv's and perhaps even 3 Tv's with no amplifier.

You can also Test reception with a Winegard , LNA-100 'Boost' amplifier.

Using a amplifier Is Not a automatic given , It is Best to Test reception without a amplifier first.

For improved reception , I recommend the Channel Master CM4228HD antenna.

__________

Repeator Transmitters , as an example K19IF-D Uhf channel 19 (the old term is - translator transmitters) are ->COMMON<-> All Over The World.

[StephanieS]

I agree with teleview. The RCA ANT751 is a nice little antenna that in the appropriate application can perform quite well.

As teleview said, being LOS and having a reasonable signal strength (15 db and up), you may find it works quite well. I have two antennas mounted on my roof at this time. One of them is a ANT751. I use it for locals and to shoot K23HT-D, a 225 watt Idaho Public TV Translator that is LOS at 55 miles and 17db signal strength. Never has the ANT751 failed to grab the signal and that was with with 100' of coax with no preamp. Even now with 100' drop of coax then being split to two tvs with an additional 20' and 50' after the split and no preamp, the ANT751 is still putting a stable signal to the farthest tv for k23HT-D.

With the ANT751 pointed at those translators, you should see every one of them.

The transmitters at 70 miles are going to require a much more aggressive set up. With no line of sight, the weak signals you may see them, but they may be prone to drop outs.

I think with the ANT751 set up outside with a nice obstruction free line of sight pointed at the translators at 6.6 miles, you won't need to go any further (unless you want to).

[teleview]

Thanks StephanieS for the good and friendly evaluations and information.

[StephanieS]

Glad to provide some real world experience with good product that can stand alone. The ANT751 is a lovely compact unit that gives a lot of bang for the buck with fair signals and better that are line of sight. :)

Much of the criticism I've read on the ANT751 is due to unreasonable expectations with it. Working with 1 or 2 edges isn't the domain of the ANT751. Neither is single digit db signal strengths.

I did want to pass along to David, I did a couple searches on the real channels 19 and 21 from the translators located 6.6 miles away. Rabbit Ears information has one as a CBS retransmission from SLC while the other is the ABC stations retransmission.

Translators sometimes are a tricky thing to isolate what their programming is until you actually have it on your TV. Why? Translators can be station owned or local community owned. Your best bet is to use sites like rabbit ears and search out each call sign to see what the latest information is on what the translator in question is carrying. From my days in television, I knew the Salt Lake stations had and still have a large translator network to cover Utah with programming.

With only a look at the first two translators, it appears a reasonably safe bet that most of what you receive, your parents will receive too, they'll just be catching the signals off the translators instead of the originating transmitters.

Let us know! I feel pretty confident the ANT751 will serve you well on those translators. It's a pretty ideal situation for the little antenna if you have a good LOS.