Winegard HD7694p - Help in receiving channels
After trying RCA antenna from Walmart, I bought Winegard one from Home Depot. Got it installed and ran coax directly to my TV. I did this to make sure there is nothing else interfering. Below are the problems,
NBC (4.1, 4.3), CBS (2.1) - No issues, great clarity and strength FOX (5.1) - Some times picked up, but gets frozen often. Otherwise does not even get picked up ABC (7.1) - Gets picked up, but gets frozen and unwatchable. Signal strength keeps going up and down PIX11 (11.) - Gets picked up, but gets frozen and unwatchable. Signal strength keeps going up and down MyN (9.1) - No issues, comes through properly ION (31.1) - No issues, comes through properly I really need to get ABC and FOX as well. I was hoping to watch NFL games :(. It would have been nice to get PBS (13.1) for the kids, but it's not a showstopper. Need some help in receive these other channels Should I play around a bit more with the antenna direction? I have tried with and without RCA pre-amplifier. Preamp only makes signal strength of channels already picked up more stronger. I have mounted antenna on chimney with 5ft pole. Should I add another 5ft pole? Would that make any difference? Here is my TVFool report http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...90381ca145ad41 |
Welcome to the Forum Ravindran
It would seem you have the correct antenna based on the channels you're after and their relative strengths at your location, as reported by your TVFool report (which may be erroneous for your location, others will undoubtedly chime in on that). Are you sure you're aimed at 120degrees magnetic? Are there any trees, houses, or hills directly in the way? How long is the coax, and is it new and what type (RG-6 or RG-59)? Which pre-amp did you try (RCA TVPRAMP1Z), was the antenna coax plugged into the right port (UHF/VHF) and was it set to combined? I think it is definitely worth fiddling with the antenna height and aim, and possibly trying other locations on you roof (callled "walking the roof") before moving up to an antenna with more gain (e.g. the 7698p or an 8-bay UHF and MCM-2476). Best to do this with one guy on the roof and one at the TV for live feedback. A few degrees left or right and foot or two up or down can make a big difference sometimes. You're def. doing the right thing by keeping it simple at first (one coax run, one TV). |
Despite the close proximity of your NYC stations, the signals are
not terribly strong. Most all your signals are reflected 1 edge or 2 edge signals. Because your location is blocked from receiving Line of Sight signals, you are going to have to work a bit harder to get reliable signals. As was mentioned previously, you need to "walk the roof" to determine if there is a "sweet" spot where all your stations come in properly. I think an amplifier/preamp might be advisable in your situation as well as significantly increasing your antenna height. Are there any trees or buildings directly East of you??? They could be blocking what little signals reach your area. |
God day how high is the antenna frum looking at your tv Fool report should
Not have no problem with receive BROADCASTING TOWER and with the low band vhf!! Channels you should have went with the Winegrud 8200u!! A better antenna for your location |
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I did not use compass. I just looked at maps and saw the direction of towers and pointed it in that direction. Why would you say 120 degrees. I thought the towers were either 108 degrees or something like that. Yes, I am using RCA TVPRAMP1Z preamp. Yes, I am using combined port and did check that everything is setup properly. I feel it is working. Because it is making the signal of working channels even more stronger! Using RG-6 new coax cable I am using chimney mount and don't want to do anything on my roof (spent lot of money on roof with other issues!!). It may not be an option for me to play around with location. I have another 5ft antenna pole. That will make it total 10 ft. I am planning to put it and play around with height and rotation to see if anything improves. I hope it would work! Wife is not too happy with all the time I am spending on roof :) |
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Anything you can do to avoid the trees will help. Cut them down, raise the antenna, walk the roof, etc. Rabbit will probably post the pictures that show just how they can affect signal.
The towers are at a bearing of 120degrees magnetic (i.e. what a compass reads). 108 is the true heading (magnetic heading minus localized magnetic declination). I feel your pain on not wanting to move the antenna if at all possible. Adding 5 feet of mast might help, it is difficult to say without pictures. If you do that, be careful of nearby wires and maybe consider adding guy-wires. Are the trees on your land? Maybe you could mount the antenna in the trees as I did, using them to your advantage instead of decrement? See my thread 'Reception Help in NH' for details. 40-foot man lifts can usually be rented for $200-$300. FWIW, I also spent countless hours working on my reception issues, DW was starting to get tired of it at the end too. :) |
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Another question I had is on the type of coax. I just bought the regular coax but RG6. Some people suggest to use quad shield and crimp connectors myself. Would that make much of a difference? There are no electrical lines near the coax.
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If you have trees it's up over them but if you can add 10ft to the ANTENNA and I suggest
In an channel master 7777AMP it will help pull them channels in And if power lines are a problem IT'S the same thing up over them Well good luck and be safe on the roof and look out for power lines when installing an ANTENNA. |
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Based on the 3D Google street view, it looks like the trees are tall, and less than 100 feet away, so additional height will likely be needed. Tilting the antenna up a few degrees might help. Frequency-specific hot-spots may exist on your roof, finding one that works for all frequencies of interest could be a challenge, but is possible. Only one way to find out....
Either that, or you could use the tree behind your neighbors house to the north. It looks to be much taller than the ones across the street. Maybe you could make a deal with him to put the antenna up in there then split the signal to both houses, you'd both get free TV. If you do that, put the pre-amp at the bottom of the tree for easy maintenance/replacement. Quad shield and/or RG-11 is probably getting into the weeds. New RG-6 should be fine. |
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Do you think any other antenna could perform better in my situation? Something that might work better with these trees blocking? |
The 7698P might be worth a try, especially if you can buy one with a good return policy. The other equivalent option (in terms of gains) is an 8-bay such as the HDB8X or yagi like the HDB91X (for UHF) coupled to a 30-2476 (for VHF-hi). You already have the right pre-amp for combining those.
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Yes, I will be careful! There are no power lines over the roof. |
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IMO, the question you should be asking is which one has a lower SNR penalty. If memory serves, the noise figures for the CM and RCA pre-amps are both around 3 dB. There do exist low-loss pre-amps such as the Kitztech KT-200 that have a very low SNR penalty up front (0.5 dB instead of 3-ish) and still have plenty of gain for most home-owner applications (24 dB). That's what I use :). |
Hey everyone.. happy Friday! I am excited for the weekend as I can go out and play around with antenna and hopefully figure out something to watch Football on Sunday :)
I had another weird observation in TVFool. When I actually reduced the height of antenna, the signal strength seems to improve! When I go beyond 100 ft, then many channels become LOS and it is a different story. But ordinary heights are not giving good strength. The lesser actually gives better strength! The only way to confirm this would be to bring the antenna down and I can try a shorter coax cable as well. But does it really make sense? Or TVFool becomes goofy with lower height? 3 Ft : http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9038173a3db2c9 30 Ft: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9038195ffeb24b |
It certainly is worth a try. The TV Fool 1 edge and 2 edge reports such as yours are typically not as accurate as line of sight reports. Generally, lowering an antenna will give worse reception. Those nearby trees are your major obstacle to good
reception.... |
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