Antenna suggestions in Battle Ground, WA
 

Hello, first post here. We have just moved and I have not even set up our TV yet so perhaps this question is premature. The transmitters from our house are all in one area, so that seems to make the setup much simpler, but we do have VHF stations along with UHF. Before moving we lived in the city of Vancouver WA and used a Terk set-top powered antenna to pick up all of the Portland OR stations without issue. We now live east of Battle Ground WA at the base of the mountains surrounded by tall trees, so I am sure that the little Terk will not work from here. My question is what might be a good outdoor antenna to use. It will be mounted about 70 feet from the house up a hill with LOS over the house but not the trees, and there are lots of trees. I will be feeding two or three drops in the house. I have an amplifier that I could use if needed, it is about 8 years old. TVfool and antennaweb seem to have very different recommendations for antenna size; tvfool seems to recommend a set-top (I only need to receive the green channels), while antennaweb says I will need a large directional w/pre-amp. This weekend I will be hooking it all up and trying the set-top and see how it goes. What would you experts think I will need? Thanks for your help.

Other info: There is an existing outdoor antenna that looks like it has lost some parts from fallen tree limbs so I think it would need to be replaced. Cabling is probably not RG6.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8d177f4d4ba7e4

From antenna web
DTV Antenna Type Call Sign Channel Network City, State Compass Heading Miles From RF Channel
* blue vhf KOPB-DT 10.1 PBS PORTLAND, OR 202° 24.3 10
* blue vhf KGW-DT 8.1 NBC PORTLAND, OR 202° 24.3 8
violet vhf KRCW-LP 5 CW SALEM, OR 200° 24.3 5
* violet vhf KPTV-DT 12.1 FOX PORTLAND, OR 202° 24.4 12
* violet uhf KPXG-DT 22.1 ION SALEM, OR 202° 24.3 22

Before you shell out any more money, try your Terk... Most wood frame structures should allow good to excellent reception.

If you can't get a reliable signal indoors, an Antennacraft HBU-22 or Winegard HD7694P (Better, Best) will all drive a three or four way split. (Given the large trees... consider erring toward large.) (These antennas will not support real channels 2 through 6.)

I doubt an amp will help... in fact it may overload and cause trouble.

Antenna Web seems to provide less site specific recommendations.

Thanks for the advise, if the Terk does not work I will use one of those two and may end up using them anyway so I can no have the indoor antenna.

TV Antennas and Reception
 

Here are indoor Tv antennas , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233 . Here is how to aim Tv Antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html

I’m back with more questions… Since my last post we have been using the powered indoor Terk for one TV and it has been working well, only periodic drops or pixilation with much better signal strength then I was expecting. We ordered a Antennacraft HBU-33 because we have one other (two if I run a third coax) TV’s that I would like to get connected and we wanted to not have indoor antennas at each one, a much cleaner look. I have mounted the antenna in the rafters of the garage (detached and about 70 feet of cable I am guessing) and have been struggling to figure out why I cannot get acceptable signal strength on channels 33,43, and 45. The only way I can is if I make it a straight run from the main TV to the antenna. If I put any splitters in I can no longer receive these stations. I am tempted to say that only UHF is being affected by the HBU-33 because in all configurations the VHF channels come in very strong at 95-100 percent, and the lower UHF such as 22 and 30 are still acceptable at around 65%. I have even put my amplifier from Radio Shack (mine is about 8 years old but looks just like Model: 15-2507) and this almost brings the high UHF to acceptable levels when the splitter is in but not as good as a straight through connection. Also the amp does not seem to make any difference when it is a straight run to the antenna. I don’t get that. The Terk does better with the UHF then the HBU-33 does, even if I put in the amplifier. I have double checked that the butterfly nuts that attach the UHF section to the VHF section are making a good connection. I have the antenna orientated so that if the towers are to the right it is like this ---<-. I have tried two different splitters: I bought a new 4-way splitter (2 GHz 90dB 4-Way F-Pin Splitter 1-DC Passing) that is labeled as 40-2050 MHz from Amazon, and one that was already in use at the house that is older, a 2-way that I believe is labeled as 5-100 MHz that maybe seemed to work a tad bit better.

So to sum up I am at a loss as to why the VHF reception is so outstanding and the UHF is barely acceptable (I have spent time aiming it) when compared to the powered rabbit ears. Is it possible for a cable issue to effect UHF and not VHF? (all cable is RG6)

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Levin

Your original TVFR indicates you should have more than enough signal with no amplifiers. So let's start with the basics, can you test with just the HBU-33 and one good coax... first with the HBU-33 in it's present location and second with the HBU-33 outside in the clear.

Of course this would be using only one set with the most helpful signal strength/quality metering.

The goal is to determine if the garage location is a workable location for the antenna.