Quick Question

[hockeyrcks9901]

Well, for starters, I was getting "free" cable for some time so I never bothered with an antenna as I was satisfied with the quality of the cable channels. That ended recently and because I'm a cheap college student I decided I would try and build my own antenna.

I found some plans for a DB4 antenna and it works much better than I anticipated. However there is a tiny issue. I receive all the channels I want on the TV however, over at my computer/htpc, I am missing a couple of channels. The most important one is 56.1 - ion.

Just wondering what I can do to improve the reception on the computer. Not sure if I should add an amp or try and remove some cable length. I have used a manufactured antenna (Winegard Freevision) at this location before and didn't near as good reception as my homemade antenna.

TV Fool report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dccd1bb0b464743

I also attached a crude drawing of my setup.

[GroundUrMast]

Signal levels at your location are far in excess of the input capacity of many amplifiers. An amplifier is one of the very last options I would suggest in this case.

A few possibilities:
(1) Your home made antenna is badly de-tuned at channel 48 (WOPX's real broadcast channel). -- What happens when you remove all splitters and connect the antenna to the 2250 only?
(2) The antenna is OK and you are receiving enough signal (TV + FM) to overload the Hauppauge 2250 front end. -- Have you tried installing a passive FM trap?
(3) There is a bad splitter, cable, connector, etc. -- Have you done a thorough inspection? Including the parts that "can't be bad"?
(4) You have the antenna located in a cold spot for a couple of signals. -- Have you tried adjusting aim and the location of the antenna? Is it inside or out?

Mounted outside, in the clear, a factory built DB-4 would be PLENTY of antenna for all of the UHF signals south east of you.. An RCA ANT-751 would be quite sufficient and it would cover the high VHF signals also. Either antenna should recover enough signal to drive a 4-way split with no amplifier.

[hockeyrcks9901]

Damn. I had a long post typed up and I lost it.

Anyways, I can't remove the first splitter because the coax would not reach the computer tuners, but if I remove the first splitter and connect directly to the tv, the signal improves from 59% to 62%.

If I disconnect the tv, and remove the second splitter and connect directly to the computer tuners, the signal strength shows no improvement. If I replace the first splitter with the second one, there is still no signal improvement at the computer. There is a 1% improvement at the tv.

I leaning towards it being an antenna issue. I'm on the third floor of a three story apartment building. I have the antenna mounted a 10 foot mast that is attached to my balcony floor and we have 10 foot ceilings. So that puts the antenna near the roof line. I could try moving the antenna around but there is an oak tree near one side of my balcony and I currently have the antenna in the spot farthest from the tree. It is pointing at 120 degrees.

I can try a FM trap, any recommendations?

[Tower Guy]

I can try a FM trap, any recommendations?

In your case a HLSJ with nothing (or a 75 ohm terminator) connected to the L port would be the best choice.

[hockeyrcks9901]

Wouldn't that restrict my ability to receive channel 2-1?

[mtownsend]

Wouldn't that restrict my ability to receive channel 2-1?

Nope. WESH is on real channel 11 and virtual channel 2.1. The HLSJ would screen out low VHF (ch 2 thru 6 and FM) while allowing high VHF to pass (ch 7 and up).

[hockeyrcks9901]

Nope. WESH is on real channel 11 and virtual channel 2.1. The HLSJ would screen out low VHF (ch 2 thru 6 and FM) while allowing high VHF to pass (ch 7 and up).

Okay. I thought it blocked all vhf channels not just low vhf.

[mtownsend]

The UVSJ splits between UHF and VHF, the HLSJ splits between high-VHF and low-VHF.

[hockeyrcks9901]

The UVSJ splits between UHF and VHF, the HLSJ splits between high-VHF and low-VHF.

Stupid acronyms...lol

I'll give one a shot and see if it helps.