Quote:
Originally Posted by mtownsend
The HDTVi only has rabbit ears for grabbing VHF stations, so I don't expect it to do any better than any of the other rabbit ears you've tried.
Yes, WCBB is hard to pick up because it is on a VHF channel and you do not have a VHF antenna large enough to pick it up cleanly. VHF channels have long wavelengths, which means you need long antenna elements (like extended rabbit ears, or the other large VHF antennas you've seen) to pick them up. The next size up from rabbit ears gets pretty big (like the Antennas Direct CS5, or Winegard YA-6713), which is why you generally don't see anything more powerful than rabbit ears for indoor use on VHF.
BTW, to make the most out of your rabbit ears, make sure that you've extended the elements about half way out and arranged them to be straight out horizontally. The two sides should be equal length and have an overall tip-to-tip length between 40 to 50 inches. The line formed by the antenna should be perpendicular to the direction of the transmitter. That is, since channel 10 is coming in from the north-east, you'll want your rabbit ears elements pointing north-west/south-east. This will maximize your chances of picking up WCBB with any set of rabbit ears.
If this does not give you enough sensitivity for VHF channels, then you've got to move the antenna to the attic or roof (to have less building loss), use an antenna with more VHF gain (which means bigger), or do both.
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Thankyou again, mtownsend. Very much appreciate the info. I have the ears extended 3/4 on one, and fully on the other, if I'm remembering correctly. I will retract them some, to about halfway, and try again. I printed out my fool map and stood in front of the tv, pointing the ears broadside to the direction of the stations
. Very handy, that little circle map! It helped me pick up WGME (ABC channel 8 vhf), which didn't come in right away, but no joy with WCBB (PBS channel 10 vhf). Maybe the retraction will help! I'll try later tonight.
Edit: Wait, I just noticed your comment about perpendicular! I scanned too fast the first time. I must have mixed up the looking through the loop advice, with the vhf advice. I'll re-aim for perpendicular, with half-retraction. tyvm!
And thanks for explaining why there's so little variation in VHF antennas. I was wondering why there were many configurations for the UHF, but pretty much just the ears for the VHF.