Custom Antenna for ABC (7.1) signal in Anaheim

[tilley]

I'm SW of Disneyland in Anaheim and have a problem getting a good signal on Channel 7.1 (ABC). I’ve used a Channel Master CM 3018 and an RCA ANT751. Both pick up most of the channels I want, but 7.1 has a stutter every minute or so (some pixilation and sound cuts in/out). My antenna does not have any real obstacles in it's field and is outside approx. 13 ft. high pointing NW toward Mt. Wilson (approx. 345 deg). The RG6 cable is about 30 ft. to a closet with a Antennas Direct CDA4 distribution amp feeding 4 Silicon Dust HD receivers. My TV Fool report is:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dd243f33e5368dc

If I'm reading the reports correctly, I should be getting good reception. I'm kind of at a loss why reception on channel 7.1 breaks up every minute or so.

My question is this -- can I buy or build an antenna that targets one
channel, ABC channel (7.1), and tie it into the main feed with a Winegard
CC-7870 Antenna Coupler or a CHANNEL PLUS 2512 DC + IR Passing 2-Way
Splitter/Combiner? If so, what would be a smart choice?

I've been looking for something to target channel 7.1 and found an antenna built from copper pipe (http://imageevent.com/holl_ands/loops/folded) which looks promising. Could I customize this to for channel 7.1 in Anaheim?

I appreciate any suggestions, and I don't mind if you call me a dummy! I'm
tech smart, but not when in comes to antennas.

[Tower Guy]

Try it without the distribution amplifier. Use a 4 way splitter instead.

[tilley]

I had a 4 way splitter handy so I swapped it with the distribution amp and I didn't notice any difference -- Channel 7.1 (ABC) still seems to break up every minute or so.

[rabbit73]

4 Silicon Dust HD receiversWhat model?

What kind of signal strength/signal quality readings are you getting for KABC CH7, and how do they compare with the readings for KTTV CH11 Fox?

You have some strong FM signals that might be causing interference to your VHF-high signals. Try inserting an FM trap or HLSJ acting as an FM trap:

http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=827&stc=1&d=1413245021

http://www.hollandelectronics.com/catalog/upload_file/Filters-Diplexers.pdf

[tilley]

The tuners are: SiliconDust HDHomeRun DUAL High Definition Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-US (Black) (2013 Model)

I use Win7x64 Windows Media Center to interface with the SiliconDust receivers. Signal strength in WMC has 6 bars possible. It's green when there are 5 or 6 bars, yellow when there are 4 bars.

ABC (Channel 7.1) is 4 bars (yellow) -- picture pixelates
FOX (Chanel 11.1) is 5 bars (green) --- picture looks good

[tilley]

That's something I hadn't considered: I'll get an FM trap or HLSJ and see how that works.

[rabbit73]

http://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=4474

https://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=16917&p=104268

http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/index.php?post/2010/08/13/Review%3A-SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-(HDHR-US)

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2933

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-local-hdtv-info-reception/369015-san-francisco-ca-ota-328.html#post24008883

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-local-hdtv-info-reception/369015-san-francisco-ca-ota-328.html#post24009674

[tilley]

You guys ROCK!

After testing the latest firmware, and then testing the Beta firmware (no change with latest or beta) I downgraded the SD tuners to the 20110323 version and it looks like it solved the problem. What the heck????? Regardless, I will continue testing, but it's looking pretty good so far. I am so excited.

My main regret is how long it took to come to this forum.

THANK YOU!

[rabbit73]

Thank you for the positive feedback; you made my day!

The truth is I don't know that much about your tuners, I just got lucky hunting for INFO to help you.

Good job on fixing the firmware.

Every once in a while I look at their site with plans to try their equipment in the future.

I have tried several of the Hauppauge USB TV tuner sticks, and had a lot of trouble with the software. I could only get them to work with one out of three of my computers. I keep getting the message "device not found" when the tuner is plugged in and the light is on, so the installation software doesn't complete the installation.

My main interest is in measuring signal strength and signal quality. I have several SONY TVs that give signal strength, SNR, and errors. I also have several Sadelco SLMs (signal level meters) that give signal strength in dBmV.

[rabbit73]

GroundUrMast has a thread on this forum that you might like to read, if you haven't already:

An Alternative to Rotators and Antenna Combiners
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=820

[tilley]

That is a great thread and leads right into my next project.

Right now my antenna is pointing at Mt. Wilson, the origin of most Los Angeles broadcasts. I get 2 PBS stations (KOCE, KLCS) along with the old PBS and now independent KCET. But I have my eye on KVCR, a PBS station coming from San Bernardino. It might not be possible since there are some hills between my home and the broadcast, but I want to train an second antenna toward KVCR and see what I get.

Some of the articles mentioned above lead me to find the SilconDust program that measures the incoming signal. That'll be a really big help when I'm trying to get a hard to grab signal.