What will I need for reliable reception?

[B34N]

Before moving to my current home I used an attic mount antenna with great results. Now I'm just five miles away and it seems that getting a good reliable signal will be much more difficult.

Here is my TV fool report (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae4ba3008d13).

The channels I most care about are all in the same direction of 227 degrees. The few PBS channels not at 227 and in the green or yellow categories would be nice to have but I wouldn't want to have to install any costly equipment for them. Anything outside of the red category is not at all important to me.

I live in a two story single family home. I am at a lower elevation than most of the other homes around be but fortunately there are no buildings blocking the direction that I need. I've been trying to download the Google Earth maps for Philadelphia but there are no peers to connect with.

I plan on using the existing coax installed in the home when it was built in 2001. The junction box/splitters are in the basement. I will be using up to three TVs (all with ATSC tuners) and two to three capture devices.


Will I get good results with a roof mounted antenna?
Could I get good results with an attic mount instead?
Approximately how much should I budget if DIY or professionally installed?


Thank you,
B34N

[GroundUrMast]

You'll need to take advantage of your two-story roof top. At first glance, WPVI looks like your only option for an ABC affiliate so a large All Channel antenna such as the Winegard HD7084P would be in order.

I'd equip the 7084 with an RCA TVPRAMP1R preamplifier. Depending on the length of coax runs, you may even need a distribution amplifier.

For a self install, $300 should easily cover the antenna, preamp, coax, splitter, DA, mounting hardware and grounding wire/connectors.

[teleview]

Above the roof in such a manner that the roof and house are not , obstructing , impeding , blocking , reception in the directions of , South West , South , South East , North West , North East.

Install a Winegard HD7084P antenna aimed at about 230 degree magnetic compass direction.

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

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antenna.

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Install a Winegard , LNA-200 'Boost' XT antenna system amplifier.

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For 1 Tv connected use No splitter.

For 2 Tv's connected install a , Holland Electronics , HFS-2D , 2 way splitter.

For 3 Tv's connected install a , Holland Electronics , HFS-3D , 3 way splitter.

Buy the HFS splitters at , www.solidsignal.com

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Here are places to buy antennas and etc. .

www.solidsignal.com

www.amazon.com

www.winegarddirect.com

www.ronard.com

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Here are some above the roof antenna mounts.

www.ronard.com/909911.html
Install the , ronard(911) , 5 foot tripod antenna mount.

www.ronard.com/3444560.html
Install the , ronard(4560) , eave antenna mount.

www.ronard.com/ychim.html
Measure around the Chimney and install a , ronard(2212) , ronard(2219) , romard(2224) .

Buy the ronard antenna mounts at , www.solidsignal.com , by typing , ronard(x) , in the solidsignal search box or buy from , www.ronard.com .

[GroundUrMast]

A word of caution re. the LNA-200, it lacks shielding that other amplifiers are equipped with. This can make it susceptible to interference and makes it's actual noise performance worse than the advertized value. Then there's the cost difference, @ Amazon the LNA-200 is $58, the TVPRAMP1R is $24.

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13583
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13530

[teleview]

As usual , game is to rip the product apart with , missleading , implied , non correct information and personal biases and on and on.

These people do the same thing to all other amplifiers and other electronics.

They and others have trashed the , TVPRAMP1R .

The way they tell it --> No amplifier is good enough to use.

One of them or a manufacture they are connected with will copy and or use the same circuit as the LNA- 100 / 200 and then guess what.

It is now Ok.

[teleview]

www.minicircuits.com has the new 'digital' amplifiers.