Antenna recommendation (they don't stop, do they)

[specialer]

Hello everyone. I've been searching the forum looking for advice on antennas, but just decided to dive in and ask directly.

Here's my report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b510dd173bac

What's important to me:
- I've got an existing DirecTV dish on the SW corner of my house and I'd like to reuse the mount.
- While I know my HOA wouldn't have a case if they argued against it, I'd prefer not to install the typical 1950's looking antenna. First off, I'd be the only one in my neighborhood that has one, and secondly, there's a high-traffic walking path behind my house, so it would attract attention.
- I'd like to receive as many VHF stations as possible, mainly the big 4 broadcast stations (trying to drop DirecTV).
- I'd prefer it if the setup didn't need anything beyond the antenna and an amp if necessary (in other words, no rotator), so if any of the omnidirectional antennas are worth it (MS2002, CM3000), I'd love to hear about them.

That's it. Thanks in advance for any help. I've been tied to the man for too long and can't wait to cut the cable!

[GroundUrMast]

If "as many VHF stations as possible" specifically excludes KXDP-LP, real channel 6, you could use an RCA ANT-751 pointed toward the SW. Adjust the aim left and right to optimize the list of channels and you should see a nice line-up.

I'm not sure if KXDP is transmitting audio only... a Google search offers a fair bit of relevant hits if you are interested.

[be236]

- While I know my HOA wouldn't have a case if they argued against it, I'd prefer not to install the typical 1950's looking antenna. First off, I'd be the only one in my neighborhood that has one, and secondly, there's a high-traffic walking path behind my house, so it would attract attention.


Wow, I know what you mean.. I'm in a similar situation. But I had to little choice but to install near the pathway as that's what Tvfool told me would give me the best/better reception location... so I just had to do it, but I'm sure people walking by the path is drawn to it (too curious) more than I'd like.. oh well...

[specialer]

Thanks for the recommendation GroundUrMast. Looks like a potential winner, not too 1950s looking and small to boot. At some point I have to pull the trigger on one of these babies, but each time I find one, another bright and shiny object takes my attention and looks like a better alternative. Does your choice come from experience with it?

And be236, figured I wasn't alone in this boat. Hopefully curious looks are all you're going to get. Who knows, maybe you'll start a revolution in your neighborhood.

[be236]

Yeah, I'm in an area of "newer/expensive" homes and most/if not all dont have TV antennas. I guess they just subscribe to cable or satellite (guess satellite dishes are common and acceptable these days)... Gosh! I hate HOAs, who came up with this stupid concept.. whatever happened to being "America, being free, and less restrictions."

Heck, though there's no specific restriction in my HOA that I know about, I've wanted, but refrained from installing a 10 feet C-band dish... just too worried about drawing too much attention.

[specialer]

I too have the love/hate relationship with the HOA. Hate that I have to OK my house color before repainting, but love that my neighbor can't paint his with pink and orange stripes and grow 8 foot weeds around a rusted '74 Buick in his front yard.

Then again, I grew up in an early planned community on the east coast (built in the late 60s), so maybe I'm just used to it.

[specialer]

Just thought I'd give an update on the RCA ANT-751. It's all set up, feeding into a new TiVo Premier, and we're getting pretty good reception on all the major networks, though some of the other stations have some unusual dancing lines across the very top of the screen. I still have a few re-aiming attempts to do, but overall we're pretty happy with the results. Things may change when we split the signal to a second TV, but we'll see what happens there.

What we're most excited about is our upcoming phone call telling DirecTV to stick it!

So thanks everyone, especially GroundUrMast and be236 who replied to my request for recommendations.

[GroundUrMast]

The dancing lines are most likely "Vertical Interval Reference" - Embedded data that would not have been displayed by traditional analog sets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC

In some cases this is were closed caption date is embedded.

[specialer]

The questions continue.

The RCA ANT751R is doing a pretty good job, and we're getting the majority of the stations we want to get (most importantly the main 4 networks). However, one of the two TVs the signal is going to, a 4ish year old Westinghouse LCD, has some hissing/tones on some of the stations, though not all of them. I don't know if this is due to poor signal strength, just plain old poor signal, or crappy TV.

I'm wondering if it's worth trying a larger antenna, or an amplifier of some kind, either before or at the splitter. I understand that if the signal is to blame, then an amplifier is just going to make it a stronger, bad signal. So other than trying new antennas or amplifiers, is there any way a non-techie can figure this out? You can imagine how much fun it would be to try a new antenna, maybe a taller mount, or amplifier, etc. only to find the TV is the issue.

[GroundUrMast]

Marginal signal quality in an analog world can be seen and heard, becoming more apparent as the signal quality worsens.

Digital signals will look and sound perfect until the tuner/de-multiplexer can no longer recover error free data, at which point the picture and sound 'break up' or go away completely.

The symptoms you have described make me think there is an issue with the TV, not the signal. An amplifier is not indicated. If you have access to a larger antenna, for free, try it... I don't expect any change.

(Or, as a test, simply try removing the splitter, and connecting the suspect TV to the antenna. A 2-way splitter delivers less than half the power to each port, removing it will better than double the power to the set.)

[be236]

Or moving a "good" TV to that location of the "bad" TV and hooking it up to that cable connection location. Then you can know if it's the signal on that cable output or the TV itself...

[specialer]

As always, thanks so much. I'll try removing the splitter (a little annoyed I didn't think of that in the first place) and see what happens. And while I may end up doing so, I don't want to move a TV just yet.