Antenna Selection Help Northern KY

[cdvanhorn]

Hello,

I'm looking at ditching satellite TV, and I would like advice as to what it would take to get TV reception at my location. The challenge for my location is not the distance it's that I live in a valley.


Signal Analysis: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3df1f04be113b237
I don't have any existing equipment except for coax cable. The antenna output will only need to be split once to two different PC capture card/tuners. The cable run into the house would be around 50 feet.
I would like to receive CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and PBS. I don't care about the other stations.


I was looking at getting the Antennas Direct DB8e for UHF reception and a Antennacraft Y5-7-13 for my lone VHF channel. The antenna(s) would be mounted outside on the roof at about 20-25 feet above ground level.

What setup would you recommend? Would you recommend any preamplifiers? If you need any more information please let me know.

Thank you for your time.

[StephanieS]

Greetings,

Your TVfool plot highlights often that it is - location, location, location. While you are close to your transmitters terrain is what is what makes your situation more intensive.

The DB8e and the Y5713 (normally the Y10713 gets the nod due to its greater gain) are a good "go-to" set up for your situation. 50' would be your total coax run? If so, amplification would be unnecessary. A simple splitter ought to suffice. You will need a combiner though on the mast with your antennas. The Antennas Direct EU385CF is a unit many use to combine an exclusive UHF and exclusive VHF antenna into one lead. This is done just below the antennas.

When mounting outdoors, install DB8e on the top of the pole with the Y5713 4' below it. A few feet below that install EU385CF combiner. Run coax into home as normal, split where needed in home.

I think you have a pretty good handle on the right approach. Due to your terrain there may be multipath which could cause some oddities in reception. If that happens, play with aiming a bit. Sometimes in multipath situations people end pointing at where they get the most signal "bounce" from. Sometimes that's a side of a hill!

Good luck!

[cdvanhorn]

Thank you for your feedback. I received my DB8e yesterday, and I tried it out at ground level on the patio. I was able to receive all of the stations I wanted along with a few extras. I plan on mounting it on the roof in a couple of weekends, then I can get rid of satellite.

[ADTech]

The DB8e will probably do just fine, including the VHF 12 channel, although the maximum reception of that station will be skewed off to the side of the boresight of the main beam for UHF.