Antenna Help

[sphinxpup]

Hello,
My in-laws are trying to get decent OTA reception. We have tried all the antennas they had after the one that was mounted to on their roof stopped working. I was planning on mounting a new dish to their pole on the roof. I was planning on trying http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-DB4-Multi-Directional-Antenna/dp/B000EHYG9K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. We can get intermittent signal but after a little bit it goes out. They want to popular channels, fox, nbc, abc at a minimum


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001b36573f341f

[John Candle]

How many Tv's will be connected??

[sphinxpup]

We will be running it to Just one

[John Candle]

I suggest a Winegard HD7694P antenna with a Winegard HDP269 preamp aimed at 220 true - 227 degree magnetic compass to start with. Then turn the antenna to the left and right to get the best reception of the weaker channels like , WSOC-TV 46 , WMYT-DT 39 , WTVI 11 , WXAN-DT 50 and then tighten the antenna in place. I suggest replacing the outside coax cable that was connected to the old antenna. With new RG-6 coax. Here is how to aim Tv antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . Read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695

[John Candle]

Here are some but not all free Tv guides , http://television.aol.com , http://www.zap2it.com , http://tv.yahoo.com , http://tv.entertainment.excite.com , http://www.tvzap.com (http://www.tvzap.com) , http://www.titantv.com , Rescan for new channels from time to time because new channels are being added with out notice.

[sphinxpup]

Thanks for your quick reply!

Do I for sure need the pre-amplifier? Is it something I can try with the antenna first and if it is not satisfactory I can add or should I just start with the preamp + antenna?

Just if you have time...what makes the antenna you recommend better then the on I was looking at? Because it is directional, or just a better antenna?

I have to use new coax because the other antenna used non-rg6 and the connector wasn’t working at all. (Like this http://www.summitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=8191 ) I wish I could salvage the other antenna but I can’t seem to get it to work.

Thanks in advance!

[GroundUrMast]

Thanks for your quick reply!

Do I for sure need the pre-amplifier? Is it something I can try with the antenna first and if it is not satisfactory I can add or should I just start with the preamp + antenna?

Just if you have time...what makes the antenna you recommend better then the on I was looking at? Because it is directional, or just a better antenna?

I have to use new coax because the other antenna used non-rg6 and the connector wasn’t working at all. (Like this http://www.summitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=8191 ) I wish I could salvage the other antenna but I can’t seem to get it to work.

Thanks in advance!
Feel free to try without the preamp. You can always go back up and add it if needed.

The Winegard will support reception of WTVI on real channel 11. The DB-4 is a very good antenna, but not a first choice for that task.

[John Candle]

Here are places to buy Tv antennas and etc. , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.3starinc.com , http://www.amazon.com . Coax cable needs to be used through out the system , do not use flat twin lead.

[sphinxpup]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for your help. We put the antenna up yesterday and got 42 channels total, but also got all the important channels too.

We used HD7694P and 50 feet of RG6 Quad shield cable.

It was about a third of the size of the other antenna and pulled in more channels. I wanted to ask about the Winegard HDP269 preamp that was recommended. When would that help?

Thanks for all your help!

[John Candle]

The preamp was to make sure that the weaker tv stations are received like W42DR-D real channel 42 , virtual channel 42 - ABC and Independent programing. Is W20DD-D real channel 20 , virtual channel 20 - M.E. Tv Memorable Entertainment Tv Network being received?? W20DD has possible adjacent channel and co channel interference. How far down the list of the Tv stations call letters are being received??

[John Candle]

So , with the Digital Tv Stations main digital channel and the digital sub channels , they are receiving 'way too many tv channels to watch'. The time of analog Tv channels that we watched with bad pictures all those years in the past are gone.

[sphinxpup]

Yeah, they were pretty happy with the results. They receive Fox, ABC, NBC & CBS which is what they really wanted. I appreciate everyone's help!

[John Candle]

I am interested to know if W42DR-D 42 and W20DD-D 20 are being received. And how far down the list are tv stations being received. This helps me better evaluate reception of digital tv channels.

[sphinxpup]

Sorry for the late reply! I have been really busy. I asked them and they said they do not receive those channels(20 & 40) but i remember scanning for digital only.