OTA Attic Antenna in Northern Virginia

[schwab]

Hello! I'm hoping you can help recommend an attic antenna or solution to improve my OTA reception.

TV Fool Report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3df1f08e0066c350

Location: Northern Virginia, Washington DC Stations

Desired Channels: Major networks (WRC/NBC, WTTG/Fox, WJLA/ABC, WUSA/CBS) + PBS (WHUT, WETA, WMPT)

Current Setup: I currently have a large outdoor antenna (5-6') in the attic (something like this (http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Outdoor-60-Mile-Antenna-With-Mast-UHF-VHF-and-HDTV/872034), but purchased many years ago at Radio Shack) attached to an HDHomeRun in my basement via 50' RG6 Coax Cable. I have a Antronix Residential Amplifier hooked to the bottom of the RG6 which also splits the cable into the back of the HD Homerun.

Current Signal Strength:

Call Net Chan VChan SigStren SigQual SymQual
WJLA ABC 7 7.1 100% 80% 100%
WUSA CBS 9 9.1 100% 75% 100%
WETA PBS 27 26.1 90% 90% 100%
WHUT PBS 33 32.1 90% 90-100% 100%
WTTG Fox 36 5.1 100% 80-95 100%
WMPT PBS 42 22.1 55% 50% 0%
WRC NBC 48 4.1 100 80-100 100


Current Notes:
CBS and Fox are a little flakey - I'd like to make them solid! I've also tried this GE Attic Antenna (http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Attic-Mount-Antenna/20976617)and it did a little worse.

I look forward to your suggestions!

[No static at all]

Your current antenna should work fine, but likely just needs some tweaking.

-Are all desired channels except 5 & 9 reliable?
-Have you ever tried running the cable directly to 1 Tuner with the amp completely removed?
-Have you tried moving the antenna around to different spots in the attic. High as possible is usually best.

[ADTech]

First off, get rid of the amplifier and test reception via a direct connection to the antenna.

Your signal plot shows many very strong stations and potential over-amplification is the first item on the agenda to investigate.

[Jason l]

I have found great difference in reception from;baluns;splitters;coax;last but not least location location location of the antenna. I myself have never experienced over amplification. And I have a good handful of really strong channels near my antenna with a high gain preamp on it. You would do much better if it was outside or possibly just one other area of the attic. as (no static at all)above reported

[No static at all]

Depending on the amp it may or may not be overloading. The only way to tell is to see what happens without it.

Too bad the OP has disappeared as there is good hope for a successful attic set-up with a bit of tweaking. The biggest issue in the Northern Va area is airplane flutter from large jets landing at the 2 closeby Intl. airports.