Low success with over the air (OTA) in my upcoming house?
 

Howdy.

Does it look like I won't be able to get many over OTA feeds in my upcoming home in La Habra Heights, CA 90631 on the wrong side of the big hills/small mountains facing Mount/Mt. Wilson for Los Angeles/L.A.'s transmitters?

I borrowed a portable 7" DTV with a rabbit ear's single/one antenna. I only got channel 31.x indoor (kitchen next to its big windows) and outdoor on the front side (garage, kitchen window, etc.) of the house I could face on the sloped/tilted ground level. I also sort of got more channels, but sort of stable with FOX 11.x and KABC 7.x if I am outside in front of the house's garage and facing Mount Wilson's direction(?) (forgot to bring a compass to get its exact direction). I had to face the big hills/mountains away from the neighbor's big house. I also noticed the trees were much taller than the houses. I wonder if it possible to stick an antenna up there on their main trunks (they're not higher than the huge hills though). Is that possible?

Also, can I use that existing satellite dish to act like an OTA antenna? For kicks, I tried hooking up it up to the portable DTV and it can pick up channel 31.x like the antenna! And no, it can't get it without coax port connected. Also, the sky was cloudy and started to clear out if that matters.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...40330909db0c9f (tried adjusting height and need about 188 feet to get all the ones I want in green color!)
http://i.imgur.com/q7LS4.jpg (antennaweb)
http://i.imgur.com/KWz13.gif (location on Google Maps)
http://i.imgur.com/LTao8.jpg (aerial shot of the rooftop -- note the existing satellite dish from the previous home owner)
http://i.imgur.com/seYcH.jpg to show all the trees (very tall!) in front of the house (right side).
http://i.imgur.com/uRTeb.jpg (zoomed out 45 degrees aerial shot with house on the bottom right corner)
http://i.imgur.com/vXboD.jpg (Google Earth's elevation shot of Mt. Wilson and home)
http://i.imgur.com/XThYd.jpg (Street View of more trees on west side of the house)

Thank you in advance. :)

Tv antennas and Tv reception
 

Make 2 more tvfool radar reports , one at 25 feet antenna height and one at 40 feet antenna height.

25 ft.: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...0b86cb35bdb459

40 ft.: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...0b86ddb20485e8

Still bad. It looks like I need to be at least 188 ft. have green color for the channels/stations I want. :(

Lack of green just means you have to work harder and every db counts. With the right equipment and conditions you generally stand a chance of receiving channels down to 0 NM(db) and sometimes into the the negative numbers on your TVfool report. The report takes topography into account but not trees or buildings. Click a station on your report and you'll see how the mountains and hills affect the signal. I noticed with more antenna height, some San Diego channels popped up on your report. That's a long haul but apparently elevation makes it a remote possibility. Do any of your neighbors have a tall antenna? If so, ask them about their OTA set up and the stations they're receiving.

The only thing you can reuse from the previous satellite setup would be the coax assuming it's RG-6 and not too old. Be sure no old satellite equipment or unused coax runs are connected.

I did not see any outdoor antennae around that house on the big hill/small mountain. I saw a lot of satellite dishes which is a bad sign. The ones without them might be using cable since TWC is available in that area too.

I'd wouldn't be too concerned about height, but I would be about directivity of the antenna and it's location.

I'd go with a two antenna combo, one for VHF and one for UHF. The UHF would be a 91XG. I'd mount it on the roof in a location where you can exeriment on the height to maximize the signal on your weakest UHF station. Next I'd get a Y10-7-13 for VHF. I'd use a 7777 preramp to combine the antennas.

[QUOTE=Tower Guy;20420]Yikes, two big roof top antennae on the roof top? So they don't make combined one antenna with both UHF and VHF?

[QUOTE=ant;20422]Sure they do. It's 14' long!

[QUOTE=ADTech;20426]Woah, almost three times tall as me (yeah, I am short)! I don't think that's taller than the trees and giant hills/small mountains over there though. :(

I observed that the comparable antenna to a combination of a 10-element H-VHF Yagi and a 91XG would be a single antenna that is 14' long.

Tv antennas and Tv reception
 

This recommendation is based on the current plus Pending Applications Included for 02-21-2012. The first post shows a default antenna height of 10 feet and does not show the the tv stations/channels to the south-east. The 25 foot and 40 foot antenna heights show the the tv stations/channels to the south-east. Going to 40 feet has a Very Small advantage over 25 feet for signal strength. I recommend mounting 2 antennas no less then 25 feet above ground. 25 feet is about the height of a antenna mounted above a roof of a single story house. I see no CBS or PBS tv stations at 327 degree magnetic compass , there are CBS and PBS stations at about 133 degree magnetic compass. So 2 antennas will need to be installed. The first antenna is a Winegard HD7082P antenna aimed at about 327 degree magnetic compass. The second antenna is a Winegard HD7698P antenna aimed at about 133 degree magnetic compass. I do not recommend a preamp for either antenna because UHF channel 23 at 9 degrees magnetic compass is a Very Strong signal and will likley overload a preamp and be the cause of bad or no reception of some channels.

Tv antennas and Tv reception
 

The 2 antennas will have Separate coax that go to the location of the tv. The 2 coaxes will not be connected on to one coax , Connecting the 2 antennas on to one coax will cause cross talk between the 2 antennas and the reception will not be good. 2 separate coaxes will go to the location of the tv and be connected to a Radio Shack 15-1968 remote control A/B switch antenna switch , the output of the A/B switch will connect to the tv. Separate the the antennas by about 3 feet if mounted on the same mast. Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. Here are places to buy antennas and etc. , http://www.winegarddirect.com , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com. As examples here are some Strong and Sturdy antenna mounts , http://www.ronard.com/909911.html , http://www.ronard.com/34424560.html , http://www.ronard.com/ychim.html , http://www.ronard.com. Can find the antenna mounts at solidsignal by typing , ronard , in the search box at solidsignal or buy from ronard.

I like your dedicated two antenna solution or Tower Guy's separate VHF, UHF combined into a preamp along with a rotator to turn and pick up CBS, NBC, PBS and maybe even CW from San Diego.

But, I must be missing something. I don't see the strong UHF channel you mentioned at 9 degrees. This guy is gonna need a preamp, no?

Tv antennas and Tv reception
 

Click on the Pending Applications Included Only Digital Channels for the UHF 23 channel. And as for a Channel Master CM9521A rotor and one antenna. Rotors are not friendly for channel surfing , must wait for the antenna to rotate. A 2 antenna set up with a hand held remote control to switch antennas is friendly for channel surfing.

Ouch! Pending broadcast tower .5 miles away. That would spoil it.

Tv antennas and Tv reception
 

It will not spoil reception , it means No preamps. With the 2 antenna set up and the antennas no less then 25 feet high above ground , the tv stations/channels , main digital channels and sub channels will be received in the green reception zone the yellow reception zone and down to at least KNBC 36 NBC in the red reception zone and possibly even down to XHDTV-DT 47 MyNetwork in the red reception zone.

Hmm, maybe I should wait until this is set up? If I do it before it, then I might be wasting time and money?

Also, I added more shots:
http://i.imgur.com/uRTeb.jpg (zoomed out 45 degrees aerial shot with house on the bottom right corner)
http://i.imgur.com/vXboD.jpg (Google Earth's elevation shot of Mt. Wilson and home)
http://i.imgur.com/seYcH.jpg (Street View of trees in front of the house facing Mt. Wilson's direction)
http://i.imgur.com/XThYd.jpg (Street View of more trees on west side of the house)

When I said "spoil it", I meant it would spoil the use of a preamp, not TV reception in general. Not being able to use a preamp could mean the difference in a weak channel that drops out frequently or one that has some margin above drop outs and can be viewed most of the time.

About the pending broadcast tower. I would try to find out what pending actually means in this case. Is it a for sure situation or does it just mean they have applied for and have plans for a tower sometime in the future, maybe years from now if ever.
The only difference in cost would be whether or not you have the preamp, $30 and up depending on what you get. The rest of the set up is the same.

Ah OK and thanks. :)

In march of 2010, KVMD out of 29 Palms applied to build a distributed transmission system (DTS) with one of their transmitters located in La Habra Heights. From what I can see in the FCC's system, it's just sitting out there as an application. After almost two years, I wouldn't be surprised if it's dead.