Help Request - Antenna Selection in NW Austin
 

Hello all! I recently moved to Austin, TX, and I'm trying to determine whether an indoor antenna would be able to perform sufficiently well at my new residence. I ran this signal analysis for my location.

Would something like a ClearStream Eclipse get the job done? I'm mostly interested in the major network affiliates, which appear to be in green. Also, does anybody know why KEYE (CBS) isn't shown at all for my location?

Please let me know if there is any other information that would be helpful. I appreciate the advice!

Hi DTX_Mav:

It does show at your rabbitears.info post repack report. This might be more up to date than your TV Fool report. It takes about 30 seconds to load so please be patient.


https://www.rabbitears.info/search.p...e=dBm&height=8

I'm not familiar with your terrain, as it appears that you have pesky 2 Edge on your TV Fool report, but rabbitears.info seems better. So, if you're in a hilly or mountainous
area with large trees obstructing your view of transmission towers, you probably will have trouble with an indoor antenna. Outdoor one might be better if you can get a clearer view of those towers.

But if you have LOS clearly, an indoor might just work fine since you're very close to transmission towers.

Good luck and I'm sure others will be helpful in assisting you!

There are quite a number of Antennas Direct antennas to choose from. The Eclipse does not have intentional support for VHF reception which means that you may not see the Fox affiliate KTBC or any other stations that transmit on real channels 7 through 13. I believe a better choice would be the ClearStram 2Max, Flex or View. https://store.antennasdirect.com/ind...HF%20%2F%20VHF (Excellent quality and customer support in my experience.)

I agree with OTAFAN, much will depend on the nearby obstructions... neighboring homes, trees and terrain can be very destructive to reliable reception. If you aim through glass, energy efficiency coatings and films can also block a surprising amount of signal. If you have an attic, it may or may not be a good reception location. metallic facing on insulation or roofing products can block signal. I say all that not to be discouraging but to prep you for the possibility that you'll need to experiment with antenna location.

Thanks OTAFAN and GroundUrMast for the replies. The area is indeed hilly, but I'm situated near the top of one.

I have a directional attic antenna, think its an RCA ANT751R, and while I don't have an attic here, I figured I might use it to test. I pointed it directly downward, set it in a window sill, and put a piece of aluminum foil across it. This setup is getting me perfect reception of all of the network stations.

Given the good results with my test setup, do you have any indoor antenna recommendations? Would I still be best going with something like the 2Max or Flex, or might something less expensive do the job?

Thanks again for the help!

Depends on your family's ( or wife) aesthetic point of view inside your home. Right now you mentioned your RCA 751R (BTW good antenna) pointing out the window sill. Does that bother anyone?

If not, a larger indoor antenna like the 2Max would be fine, or the Flex I certainly could recommend as I have compared it to several other models and found it to be more reliable in pulling in and maintaining maximum signal strength, especially indoors. Just my opinion, though.

It seems like you're in a good location for OTA TV reception. That's over half the battle right there. Whichever way you go, I think you'll be happy with the results. Please keep us posted on your more permanent outcome.

Thanks DTX_Mav and all the best!

I may be assuming incorrectly, but it sounds like the existing antenna is cosmetically unacceptable in the test location??? Given that the existing antenna works, can you find a closet shelf with reliable reception?

If you decide you need to buy an antenna, and less expensive is a high priority for you, try a simple rabbit-ears style antenna with no amplifier. These types can sit on most windowsills while oriented properly. You would expect less gain and directionality than a optimally installed RCA ANT751, but it sounds like you have not optimized the mounting orientation of the test antenna so the actual performance difference is hard to estimate.

Example: https://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT111E-D.../dp/B000HKGK8Y

(As I mentioned previously, I think Antennas Direct's pricing is justified by the quality of the product and customer service.)

The RCA 751R, mounted on a "J" pole just outside a window
would provide good reception, low cost and hopefully not be
to obvious...... "J" poles are cheap and easy to install.