Two antennas or one?
I have a DB4e that I purchased some time ago and I am looking to acquire some VHF stations. Would I be better off using the DB4e with a VHF specific antenna like a 30-2476, or would a combined VHF/UHF like a HDB91X work the same/better?
From the little research I have done, I would imagine a better outcome from two antennas, each dedicated to VHF and UHF stations. Thanks |
Both your DB4e and the HBDX91 are UHF only antennas. There is no reason to combine them for VHF reception. I’d combine the DB4e that you have with a true VHF only antenna.
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Sorry. I used the HBDX91 because I thought I read it was a VHF/UHF antenna. Is one option more efficient than the other, in terms of reception? ...If I were to get an antenna that drew both VHF and UHF, lol. |
It all depends...
Using separates allows you to customize to a greater degree while the combos are generally pretty limited as to what the relative antenna sections' performance might be. Otherwise, when it comes to mounting, it's pretty much a comparison between a ranch home that sprawls or a two story of the same floor area that occupies half the land. |
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http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9038d5e534f23c The DB4e works well for me inside, but I am going to mount both on an existing antenna tower. Would I be better off getting a 30-2476 or a 30-2475 in my location? The 30-2476 seems better because it has more gain, but I understand that more gain is not necessarily better. |
It all depends on what VHF stations you're trying to receive.
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NBC 13.1 (13) and WISH-DT 8.1 (9), mainly
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If you're not interested in any of the UHF stations to the north, then sure, get a medium gain combo like the Winegard 7694P and point it south. You'll probably even get Real-11 on it. Another option is to get an MCM-2475/6 and combine it with your dB4e with the RCA pre-amp which has separate inputs for UHF and VHF. Amplify and combine- two birds with one stone.
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I would prefer to simply point the DB4e south and get a separate VHF antenna to draw the real 13 and 9 stations, because the south is more reliable/better feed. I'm still not sure if the MCM-2475 or MCM-2476 is needed for real 13 and 9. As I mentioned before, my gut tells me to order the 2476 with more gain because it's "better" but I understand that is not always the case. |
You can over amplify a signal with an amp and cause problems but I doubt you can put up an antenna with too much gain.
I mean it can be done I guess, but not by using off the shelf consumer components. I vote to get the "better" one. :) |
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I am, obviously, not going to put them on top of each other, but is there recommended amount of space I should allow between the two mounted antennas? |
I have about two feet between my DB8e and 2476. They both work fine. Closer may be ok too, but you will be limited by the height of the reflector on the 2476. At one point in time, I actually reconfigured the 2476 reflector to be a single element so I could get it closer to the 8-bay and/or a HDB91X UHF-Yagi, which cost me cost me 2-3 dB on the 2476. But from that new baseline, I got them maybe as close as 6" with no further (noticeable) degradation in performance. Your mileage may vary.
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