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Old 16-Jan-2016, 2:40 PM   #1
tomfoolery
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 207
Houston apartment - need small outdoor antenna

Report here: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...51342cffedbc5a

And a satellite view, with a pretty good view of the obstructions, and the clear view from the balcony.



It's a second floor apartment, and I strongly suspect it's steel reinforced block, or reinforced concrete, especially the fire walls between apartments and outside walls, being new construction in the hurricane zone that's the Gulf of Mexico. The TV sits against such a fire wall (SE, with one apartment to the SE). The balcony is only a few feet away, to the right (SW), and I think that would be an ideal place for a small antenna.

When I was visiting family there, I hooked up a $10 rabbit ears with UHF loop I had given them two apartments ago, and got about 60 channels. But location was very picky, and right now it sits behind the TV (lousy location, I know) against that fire wall. And they don't get CBS (KHOU real 11) which will carry the Superbowl, though I didn't try different locations and rescans.

So I'd like to gift them a small outdoor antenna, and flat cable for the door to the balcony. He's handy enough to work out a way to clamp it to the aluminum rail or some trim under the roof of the balcony, and I have lots of extra RG6 and connectors so I can make and ship some cables.

All the compact antennas seem to have amplification, and they don't publish gain figures other than the amp gain. I don't think they need more than the simplest, though h-vhf capability would be desirable I would think, as I'm not so sure real 8, 11, and 13 are strong enough to force their way through a UHF element. Something small like the Monoprice HDA-57000, or at least that form factor.

I know, they're not well respected, but I'm hoping something that small, clamped to the railing outside the interference of the cement block and rebar cage, would be adequate. They can get about 60 channels now, with the rabbit ears on the floor behind the TV with several heavy walls in the way, so I'm hopeful something puny and not too ugly will work. An ANT751r would probably be ideal, but it's big(ish), and I was hoping for something compact, even with the drawbacks of being compact.

Any suggestions? Please?
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