Help with antenna choice

[heartbeccca]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d176084142140

Wondering if anyone could help with choosing an antenna with the results I got from the location search. Also what direction would be the best and should I get 2 antennas for best results.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!!

We would be placing it outdoors and on the roof.

[GroundUrMast]

At first glance you are in a fairly nice location. The only problem I see is possible interference to reception of the NBC affiliate, WMAQ. If not for that potential interference, I would recommend a smaller antenna.

The Antennas Direct DB-8 is a moderate to large antenna, with more gain than absolutely needed, but it has the ability to reject interfering signals from the sides and back, better than a smaller antenna. With the good signal levels to start with, and the gain of the larger antenna, you do not need a preamp even if you split the signal to a couple of sets. Aim toward 80° according to your compass.

The program lineup you would get is more complete than most, even though there will be a few off axis signals that will likely be missed or unreliable.

[John Candle]

Read and understand this about , Real Digital Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Tv Channels , Analog Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695 , Here is how to point Tv antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . I suggest a VHF High 7 thru 13 , UHF 14 thru 69 antenna , the Winegard Hd7697P antenna , to receive WBBM-TV -- Real channel 12 CBS and WLS -TV -- Real channel 7 ABC. Direct the antenna at about 80 degree magnetic compass. Here are some Strong and Strudy Tv antenna mounts , tripod antenna mount , chimney antenna mount , peak of the roof eave mount. Here are olaces to buy Tv antennas and etc.. , http://3starinc.com , http://solidsignal.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.amazon.com

[John Candle]

Here are some free on line Tv guides , http://tvlistings.zap2it.com , http://tv.yahoo.com , http://television.aol.com , http://www.titantv.com

[GroundUrMast]

John is right, I overlooked CH-12, WBBM. The DB-8 is not the best choice available. I fixated on WLS which is available on UHF, real CH-44. John's suggestion is plenty of antenna.

[GroundUrMast]

i put a unit on the roof, its about 5' wide 4' long i get 17 channels. i think i should get more judging by the search results. is the antenna quality bad to small? what about the ones sold at Menards for example?
(made by rca) what make the DB8 so good? or a winguard?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d176084142140

What makes an antenna a good antenna?

1. It must be designed to receive the frequencies of interest.

2. For each channel of interest, it must have sufficient gain to recover enough signal power to provide an acceptable signal to noise ratio.

3. It must be able to reject signals that would interfere with reception of signals of interest.

4. It's design and construction should be such that it provides long service life.

5. It's cost should be appropriate given the previously stated requirements.

No two receiving locations are identical. No one antenna design is ideal in all applications.

Among the regular contributors, there is a bias toward those manufactures that provide sound technical information about their products, information that has proven reliable and can be verified independently. There is a consistent effort to offer antenna suggestions which match the predicted signal conditions. Mistakes can be made. Often there can be more than one good choice. There can be unknown factors that lead to good intentions failing to provide all that was hoped for.

Can you give us the model number of the antenna that you just installed?

Which 'real' channels are you missing?

[John Candle]

What is the make and model number of the antenna you installed ?? Which antenna does the one you have look like , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html