Please help me
 

Hello, Im new to this site. I am hoping to get some opinions on improving my reception. Here is my report. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3cf49a78c76410
I am using channel master equipment, a cm-7000pal dvr and a cm-4228hd antenna. I have tried a old radio shack amp. I have Item 32159, says its 24db 50-900 MHZ and 4watts.
I see very little if any difference with the amp and to be honest, I dont know if it is working properly. The light does come on though.
I would really like to improve the reception espically on channel 9. Currently it shows a signal strengh of 74, but it freezes at times and makes it hard to watch.
I have no splitters in the line. The antenna is mounted on the roof, has about 10 ft of coax that connects to the amp. and then goes about 60-65 ft to the dvr.
Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks
Richard

The 4228HD is a UHF antenna. WUSA operates on channel 9, a VHF frequency. Even then, the 4228 HD should work well enough in your location, so there's something else going on.

Possibilities include interference from something inside your house, noise caused by a power line problem, airplane flutter from planes around Manassas airport, or FM interference. Yet I don't see overly strong FM stations in Manassas.

The antenna height of 26' does minimize the effect of interference from your house.

Look for power line noise using your car radio tuned to 530 on the AM dial. If you hear loud buzzing near your house you have found a problem.

Are there planes near your house when channel 9 breaks up?

You should not need the amplifier.

The 4228 is designed to be a UHF antenna. Parts of the feed system resonate at VHF, so some reception of VHF (real channels 7-13) is possible, as you've found. However, the VHF sensitivity is not anywhere close to what the 4228 has at UHF.

You have two options: add a high-VHF antenna Like an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 or an Antennas Direct C5 and join it to your cable with a UVSJ OR get a proper VHF/UHF antenna like a Winegard HD7696P or AntennaCraft HBU-44. With 30 (WNVT) nearby, you should avoid preamps.

I've put up a few antennas in Manassas & have found channel 9 to be one of the easiest DC channels to get. I just ran my stepmothers TV FOOL & the signal strengths are similar, so you should have adequate signal. Some type of electrical interference may be hurting you as Tower Guy mentioned so you may need to investigate that as a first step.

Have you tried removing the amp completely? If so, you may need a different antenna. If you don't care about channel 50, the RCA ANT-751 has worked quite well. If you need channel 50, you will need at least a Winegard 7695 or better to recieve their weak signal. I have an ANT-751 you can try if you would like to test before buying one.

You can also augment the 4228 with a small VHF antenna as Dave Loudin suggested for a little less money. You would join the 2 antennas together with a UVSJ.

You shouldn't need an amp with just 1 TV connected.

I reviewed reception comparisons at this site, and realized that the 4228 probably has 4 or so dB gain for ch. 9, so adding a VHF antenna with only a couple dB more gain will likely not fix your problem. If you haven't tested with the preamp completely removed from the line, then do so first. I third the idea of local interference problems as a next check.

Several of your stations come from the same tower, including WJLA, WPXW, and WHUT. Do any of those have signal strengths that jump around (a classic symptom of multipath problems)? You might find changing the height of the antenna will help in that situation.

I have encountered FM overload issues on the DC VHF channels before. Try using a Pico-Macom HLSJ antenna joiner, which has a very effective FM trap installed in it:I believe that it should restore channel 9 for you.