Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyTheChicken
hi .. for a long time i have been considering getting off of cable .. well I will have cable internet because there is nothing else but dialup here and I will have an antenna for television supplemented by free hulu or youtube or individual tv stations that broadcast the news.
I purchased an antenna off of Amazon and I got really great results with it considering its size, quality and cost. The name of it is .. Esky HG-981 so you can look it up for reference.
I get tv signal from 3 different directions here in delaware. as you may know delaware is very flat and there are barely any trees but i do get blocked by neighbor's homes since I am in a 1 story and many of them are 2 story and we do have a small hill near I would say 100 or so feet tall.. but I can get pretty decent signals in clear or moderate clouds .. i have not tested in a full rain storm yet.
OK SO
55 miles to the north i get most of my channels from phillly
40 miles to the west i pickup a handful in Baltimore
50 miles south I pickup 2 stations
I would like to receive all of these stations at the same time so that I can feed the bunch to a few tvs in the home over my installed Cable TV lines .. reserving one for cable modem which will be the only one actually connected to the CableTV Provider ..
I don't want to deal with the screaming matches that a rotator will cause when someone wants to turn the antenna and others don't
I understand to distribute through the home i might have to use a distribution amp if a splitter takes too much signal from the main feed.
The antenna that I have now is great for someone in an apartment where they can toss it out when they move or keep it maybe ..
But its slightly rinkydink if i expect it to last for 15 years or more.. without its amp it gets no signal and I don't think its going to survive 15 years being on 24/7.
BUT i am seriously happy with it because if the decision comes quick to shut off cable tv I won't be hunting for an antenna i can click that thing on and get TV to two tvs and point it in one direction.
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SO I need plans for building an antenna that can get near fringe distance reception in 3 directions.
I was looking at the 8 bay bow tie ones and the larger 8 to 12 foot channel master and other brand directional antennas but because my attic has trusses it could be difficult getting the correct orientation...
an 8 bay might work but I was looking at the Channel Master (CM-4228HD) says 75 miles and it only gets HighBand VHF starting and VHF is at a shorter distance.
For Materials i have a friend that worked a concert with camping here recently and he let me harvest tent poles and chair rods...
Everything is steel tubing with paint.
I have about a dozen 1 inch by 4 foot long tent poles
and about 3 dozen half inch by 2.5 foot long tubes from chairs.
however i do have a couple beach chairs that are aluminum so I have some 1 inch tube but its bent in square shapes about 2 foot square .. you know how beach chairs with the woven webing is.
Anyway i got the summer.. i got the tubes and i got a 300 ohm balum from lowes for $5 so I figure i should give this a try...
What do you guys think?
I need something thats really going to work and I do not want to deal with funky YouTube how tos that are some guy with coat hangers ...
I figure if the big antenna manufacturers thought a couple coat hangers would bring in 60 + mile range including channels 2 through 62 they would make antennas that way ..
So i need 3 ... i need real detailed dimensions...
I need to make it so i can get all the signals and if they don't overlap which i am pretty sure they don't .. i want to have one cable down to a distribution amp or a 6way splitter..
any help is appreciated
reliable plans with dimensions for a long distance antenna REALLY APPRECIATED.. heh
thanks ..
I hope I can help others while I get this working.
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Have you seen this from avsforum?
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/186-co...rectional.html
your best bet I think would be to bear down and purchase this bi-directional (or similar)
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=700112818417
you would need a combiner to use 2 separate antennas to one coax though and those combiners run about 10$.
Another option- antenna rotator. Solid Signal has them $119.
You can call them for assistance too! Call: 1-877-312-4547
since you have dial up (been there!) instead of conveniently browsing the web at lightning speeds like most of us take for granted.
I am rather a beginner myself so maybe others have some advice for you.
PS the coat hanger DIY antenna is not bad at all- but it is only UHF. If you tell us where you are located perhaps someone here can do a search for you to find what stations you can receive and what antenna is best (obviously dont post your home address but maybe your zip code or one that is comparable nearby)
OK you did say OMNI directional - I recommended bi directional- let me tell you to "make your own" omni directional antenna I hope you have a degree in RF technology or are a telecom engineer? Because thats about what you'd need to have to do what you want, practically. You may be better off just getting a rotator.