Antenna Recommendation for New Home
 

Hello!

I just moved to a new home in Ripon, WI. Thankfully, the previous owners already had a 20-25 foot tower installed, but the current antenna is old and the cables are cut.

Here is my Report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e2cb55dfa4afc7

I just want to know which model OTA outdoor antennae I should be looking at? I want to get the channels out of Green Bay, WI (47 to 52 degrees, True)

Any help would be much appreciated!

It looks like a Winegard HD7694P would be suitable. Try it without a preamp first; add a Channel Master 7778 if needed.

Hopefully, there aren't any trees in the signal path.

The 7694 is a good antenna.
I would probably go w/ a 7698 and a rotor in an attempt to also receive Madison and Wausau.
Their network programming probably mirrors GB, but they may have some different sub channels.
I also like checking out all of the different news chicks. ;)

Not to mention that I don't really have anything better to do. :D

Ha ha ha ha :)

You gotta see some of those Mexican weather girls! ;)

They must have to have some prerequisite on dimensions!

I don't speak Spanish, but I've seen them on the Chicago stations and they're communicating in a language we can all understand. ;)

You guys... LOL.

These stations are close to 60 miles away. Should I be concerned with using a 45 mile range antenna?

Also, I see you guys both recommended Winegard antennas. What about Channel Master?

Yes, I would be concerned w/ going smaller than needed, b/c the mileage ratings are already exaggerated.
CM has always been a good name, but I'm not sure how their current antennas perform. Their digital 100 looks to be their best, w/o going for VHF lo.

The ChannelMaster products that look like they'd fit are the CM-2018 and CM-2020.

I'm leaning Winegard because of the 75-ohm downlead connector. I know it's minor, but not having a 300-ohm to 75-ohm balun is one less thing to monkey with or go wrong, especially 30 feet up in the air.

That being said, I'm looking at HD7698P and the HD8200U.

Is the HD8200U worth the extra cash?

The reason I like Winegard is the quality is unmatched and they are not manufactured in China. Also they are one of the only companies that offer a VHF HI/ UHF combo antenna.

The reason for the HD7698P is although it may be overkill, you don't want to get "underkilled" . Also if you do decide later you want further channels, you'll have no regrets.

Rabbit mentioned a preamp also. Lots of good ones out there. You will be golden with a combo like that antenna and a CM7778 :)

I use the RCA PREAMP1 only because it is a combiner too, but the cool thing about it is if you unplug the wall wart, it still lets the signal through, good for diagnostics.

Sounds great! I remember reading somewhere else that Winegard quality was superior to ChannelMaster. It's good to see that it's confirmed here.

I am definitely leaning HD7698P without an amp. If that doesn't get all of my channels, I'd almost rather get the HD8200U and try that before getting an amp. Any thoughts on that? Or maybe just get the HD8200U and get it over with right away?

An amp is just one more point of failure that I'd like to avoid if at all possible.

For now, I just want to feed one TV. If I receive all channels without an amp, would I just need an active splitter to split the signal to more TVs? Or would a pre-amp be needed as well?

the 8200 covers VHF lo.
The only thing on your chart in that band, is WIWN.
That is mainly shopping and churchy stuff.
Unless you want to use that portion of it for FM, but it will give you more wind load.
Yes, it is overkill.

For adding more TVs, you could try a passive splitter first and add an active one later, if necessary.

Yes, the 8200 is truly needless overkill. It is a tempting distraction to the correct antenna choice because of it's awesome size. Bigger is not better! Any VHF LO antenna is going to have the very long elements which in addition to catching the wind more, they can make great icicle displays.

Icicles have the distinction of being the worst enemy of VHF low antennas, the longer the element, the more leverage for breakage. Especially up there in Packer country. And wind, another enemy. More cross section = more wind load.

The Winegard HD 769x P series are long, but the main beams are stout. The elements are short and stout also. Weather worthy.

Remember, they are made in Iowa (just to your left ;) )

Oh yeah, the amp. Rabbit recommended a very good lower powered amp the CM7778. There can be too many problems with higher powered amps like the CM 7777 like noise, and overpowering the tuner. An amp can be always be added later if needed.

If you decide to now you could definitely add an amp, especially with long cable runs and multiple TV's.

As I said earlier, I like the RCA PREAMP! because I can unplug it and the signal still makes it through. so, I if I feel there is a problem, I can just unplug the wall wart and recheck.

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=044476071669


Televes claims to have a multiple level self adjusting amp, I don't know of anyone using it though:

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=536040-tel2162

I just wanted to follow up with this and say that I went with the HD7694P with no amp.

Instead of using the 35 foot antenna tower, I instead took a risk and used a J-pipe mounted on my garage which was previously being used for a DirecTV dish.

After pointing the antenna (thank you Google Earth!), running the cable, and cleaning up my coax splitters (what a nightmare!) I ran the scan and found all 18 channels in clear HD out of Green Bay.

Thanks for the recommendation rabbit73!

Thanks for the report with the good news; glad it is working for you. Keeping it simple is more reliable.