Hello all, may report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...46ae4f45b516fa
In December I made the move to cut the cable. My alternative is a Roku box with Hulu, Netflix and Amazon and OTA reception. I bought an
RCA ANT751R and mounted it in the attic. When I was only getting two channels to start (NBC would come in spotty to make it three) I added a preamplifier:
RCA PRAMP1R to boost the signal and ended up with maybe four or five stations (plus substations, so maybe 12 channels total).
I went on to research antennas and how they work and found a good DIY bowtie style
antenna. I built one of these with a reflector and put that in my attic. Now I can get FOX, CBS and PBS, but only sometimes. FOX only comes in perfect during the day (three bars), at night it is one bar at best. CBS (four bars at best) isn't reliable and I can miss large chunks of shows if it starts getting spotty. Obviously ABC comes in great (six to seven bars) and NBC is also consistent (five bars). The other stations, (Real 39 and Real 20 and their subs, mainly) come in good (four to five bars).
Here are my two questions: I want to move the antenna outside and picked up a Wineguard Gable Mount (off Amazon, it is due to me on Wednesday) and a 1" mast. I am moving the RCA antenna outside since (a) it is not doing anything but collecting dust and (b) I didn't really build the DIY one for outside use; I am afraid it will blow apart with the first strong breeze...
First question: Does anyone have and use the RCA751R and can you attest to its abililty to get stations that are 20-30 miles away (mainly 20 but I feel a ten mile buffer will help me. FOX is the station I want to get strong) consistently? If I do move it outside and it doesn't perform like I want it to, is the
Antennas Direct DB4E a good antenna? This is kind of what my DIY is modeled after.
Second question: How do I properly ground my mast? I have a grounding clamp here at work. What kind of wire should I use? Is 10 AWG good? Should I run it down the fascia and right into the ground? Does placing the ground clamp above the antenna automatically divert any lightning away from the antenna?
Thanks for the help.
