Installation help - Facing South when channels are north

[mapliopl]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b863362e40e51

My report is above.

I have two areas for TV, room on main floor and basement. All are pre-wired with Directv and Cable connections.

I am looking to replace my current (inactive) Directv Dish with an OTA antenna. Need guidance because the mount is on the south side of the house, and from the report it appears all my channels are located on the opposite side. If I don't want to put the antenna directly ON the roof, will I have a chance to see anything when the antenna is facing south?

Also, My roof extends outward about a foot, so I can't get an extender to the antenna and have it go above roof.

Any advice?

[mapliopl]

PS: currently, in the basement, I'm using an RCA HD Indoor Antenna and get about 4 channels, ABC KLKN-DT and a virtual channel 8.2, CBS KOLN-DT (to get it, I had to place the antenna in an awkward position), K29GL, K26JQ-D and some others from the same broadcasters, and finally KFXL-TV.

I don't get any others with that antenna.

[ADTech]

Aiming your antenna point-blank into your own roof is a pretty good way to complicate reception.

Give it a try, but be prepared to re-locate the mount or to install a new mount in a more appropriate location.

[signals unlimited]

You may be able to get by with that location due to the signal strength of these near by channels. However I would move it up on that side untill it just clears the top, exposing it to the North but not so noticable from the ground on the North side. Be aware that in the attic would even be better than the shadowed location and would play well, but you would probably have problems receiving the stations from the other directions. As to the cable, all you need to do is eliminate any satellite devices between the antenna and the DTV and be sure to use splitters rated 50 to 1000 mhz.

[GroundUrMast]

How does the indoor antenna do when on the ground level floor and close to a north facing window?

Will you be doing all the work or will you be hiring some or all of it?

[mapliopl]

By saying, 'pointing to your own roof' are you referring to the fact these antennas are not directional? Arent there directional ones? Or do they all rely on clear space above them?

[mapliopl]

How does the indoor antenna do when on the ground level floor and close to a north facing window?

Will you be doing all the work or will you be hiring some or all of it?

I have it next to my tv and have tried it on the ground the closest to the window but the cord wasn't very long to go all the way to the window. It's about 4 feet away from it now, on top of my subwoofer.

But the window is 6 1/2 feet above ground.

I'd like to do the work myself if i can just replace the old directv dish, but i i need clearance above the antenna, i need to install it on the roof and probably would get some help for that.

[mapliopl]

As to the cable, all you need to do is eliminate any satellite devices between the antenna and the DTV and be sure to use splitters rated 50 to 1000 mhz.

Can you elaborate? No satellite devices are there just cable hookups from the directv system.

[GroundUrMast]

An antenna in the basement is at a great disadvantage. The signal levels shown on your report suggest an indoor antenna may work, you can add another section of coax to see if you can find a good location.

The cables left from the satellite installation should support over the air signals well. Some parts used in satellite systems look like ordinary splitters but will block OTA signals.

A roof mounted antenna will have the best results in almost all cases. Perhaps in this case the next best would be a wall mounted antenna on the north side of the house. Would you be able to run coax from the north side of the house back to the existing cables at the current satellite dish mount?

[signals unlimited]

If the cable has no satellite splitters, just cable and connectors, it will work fine.

[mapliopl]

An antenna in the basement is at a great disadvantage. The signal levels shown on your report suggest an indoor antenna may work, you can add another section of coax to see if you can find a good location.

The cables left from the satellite installation should support over the air signals well. Some parts used in satellite systems look like ordinary splitters but will block OTA signals.

A roof mounted antenna will have the best results in almost all cases. Perhaps in this case the next best would be a wall mounted antenna on the north side of the house. Would you be able to run coax from the north side of the house back to the existing cables at the current satellite dish mount?

I can try and see if my current satellite cables will get me any or more channels than this hookup I have with the internal antenna.

If I do get my antenna onto the north side, I would have to see if I can actually run my coax all the way around the house from the north to the south side, it'd be quite a bit of cable, for sure. I certainly don't want to rewire the house, but use existing ones. I just know nothing about these splitters that might block my signals, so I have to figure that part out as well.

[signals unlimited]

Forgot to mention...for the best results use a directional antenna and a rotor. I would use the Aspen Eagel by Pro Brand. This rotor can operate on the antenna coax, eliminating the need for additional cable. Available at www.solidsignals.com.

[mapliopl]

Actually, I think we have a big splitter that sends some wires down to my whole house. Will those screw up the VHF/UHF signals? That's what I'd need to get rid of? If so, then how would I get those wires to work in my house? They'll be disconnected?

[signals unlimited]

The splitter must pass 50 to 1000 mhz. if it does it will be fine. However If you use the rotor that I recomended, you will need to use a two way splitter with a DC pass to one port ahead of the house splitter. Connect the line that feeds the set located near the rotor control box to the DC pass port of the two way splitter and the other (isolated) port of the two way splitter to the input of the house splitter. This will work fine but you need to use 75 ohm terminators at the end of all unused outlets.

[mapliopl]

Here's my setup. the back of my house faces directly south. And this is where my dish is setup. I also took a picture of the splitter.

If any of you have any more suggestions for what antenna would work and setup I need, I'd appreciate it.

http://s16.postimage.org/hsgyups5d/fr_60_size880.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/hsgyups5d/)

http://s16.postimage.org/pmhkg3zy9/fr_61_size880.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/pmhkg3zy9/)

[MisterMe]

...

If any of you have any more suggestions for what antenna would work and setup I need, I'd appreciate it.

...Do you have terminators on the splitter's unused ports?

[mapliopl]

I don't think so.

I tested my connection without alteration (hookups from them inactive Directv Dish) and it doesn't work. I most likely have to do some adjustments to this - that you guys mentioned before/add an OTA antenna.

I do get some stuff with that indoor antenna, thinking about keeping that and saving the hassle. The channels I'd be adding would be 1 NBC channel and the WB, PBS.

I don't know how much of an investment I'd dish out in a new setup...

[mapliopl]

Wait, on the splitters, yes I do.

[GroundUrMast]

I believe you can get all the major networks without resorting to a rotator.

If I were in this situation, I'd opt for a roof mounted set of antennas. Both from Antennas Direct - for VHF, a Clear Stream 5 and for UHF, a DB4e. I'd start by aiming the CS5 at real channel 12 but experiment to find the best aim to make CH 8, 10 & 12 reliable, possibly turning all the way around to point toward CH 8 & 10. The UHF antenna would be aimed at about 40° to start, again, experiment to find the best compromise between north and east.

The CS5 ships with a combiner so you can merge the VHF and UHF signals into one down-lead

If there is a chimney, I'd use a chimney mount and 10' mast. If no chimney, then a tripod and 10' mast. mount the UHF at the top, the VHF at least 4' lower.

The photo of the splitter appears to be a passive 8-way for the cable TV network, true? If so, it should work fine with OTA signals. I see terminators on three ports, so you have five TVs connected? Depending on how many sets are connected and how much cable lies between the antenna and farthest TV, you may need a preamp.

[GroundUrMast]

If the previous system is more than you want to consider, an RCA ANT-751 mounted on the north side, aimed NNW would do fairly well.

The long cable run and loss through the 8-way splitter would call for a preamp such as the Antennas Direct CPA-19 or Winegard HDP-269.

[GroundUrMast]

Back to the issue of satellite system parts that would block OTA signals;

Multiswitches: http://www.solidsignal.com/cview.asp?mc=02&d=directv-dish-detwork-satellite-equipment&m=&c=Multiswitches&page=1

And Diplexers: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=STD-9501&d=NAS-STD-9501-Satellite-%2F-Off-Air-Diplexer-Power-Passing-%28STD-9501%29

are common examples of components that would need to be removed from the cable run befor you can expect to get OTA signals from one end to the other.

[signals unlimited]

To keep it simple and affordable, I would start over. Just mount the ANT 751 on the North side of the house. Run new coax into the basement to feed the basement set. use a simple splitter to feed that set and run a seperate coax to the second set, or if it makes more sense split the coax on the side of the house and and feed the coax from there. Aim the antenna 20 degrees magnetic. This will fulfill your basic OTA needs and preserve your internal cabling, should you ever need or want to go back to some satellite or cable service.

[signals unlimited]

Don't forget to ground. Your splitter should have a ground terminal. If you place it outside, run a 12 gauge solid copper wire to a ground rod. If you split inside, run the ground wire to your service panel or the cold water pipe in your plumming.

[mapliopl]

The photo of the splitter appears to be a passive 8-way for the cable TV network, true? If so, it should work fine with OTA signals. I see terminators on three ports, so you have five TVs connected? Depending on how many sets are connected and how much cable lies between the antenna and farthest TV, you may need a preamp.

I think that's correct. I have 5 hookups around the house. I was only using two of them. Will I need terminators on the other three inside the house? It should just be right at the outlet, right? Or should I disconnect the coax from the splitters?

Sounds like I do need a pre-amp. I'll try to estimate how much cash this will set me back to consider my options.

Thanks for all the help.

[mapliopl]

These are what these guys usually do in Lincoln. For them to do this, it's $459... yikes. For me, if I bought their packaged antennas, coax and amps, it'd be about $300. Still pretty hefty. I think, from what I gathered here, that I could get it all done for less than $100 if I bought it all myself.

http://www.dishmanusa.com/antenna.php

[signals unlimited]

$100 bucks..right on! Just the RCA 751, coax and a splitter. that is all you need. simple and effective.

[GroundUrMast]

On a tight budget, the ANT-751 makes a lot of sense.

At Amazon,
ANT-751 (http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751R-Outdoor-Optimized-Reception/dp/B0024R4B5C), $48.
2-way splitter (http://www.amazon.com/CHANNEL-2532-2-Way-Splitter-Combiner/dp/B00009WDU2/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1333126463&sr=1-2), $3.
Factory built RG-6 coax assemblies, $7 to $30 each.
Misc. ground wire & fasteners, $... job dependent.

If you are only going to connect two TVs, keep the cable runs short, and avoid wasting signal in an 8-way splitter... You should be able to avoid the need for an amplifier.