Hi,
I am in Hiawassee, GA, surrounded by tall mountains. I am on a ridge on the edge of Lake Chatuge, at about 2900 ft elevation. Atlanta is 90 miles south, but the tallest mountains in Georgia are about five miles from me and at least 1500 feet higher. To the north is the heart of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. My best option for TV signals seems to be Chattanooga, which is about 90 miles west of me at about 280 degrees true.
I would like to get at least one of the following: ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox, CW.
Nothing useful is LOS! Several stations are VHF-hi.
ABC: WTVC, VHF channel 9, 280 degrees
NBC: WRCB, VHF channel 13, 280 degrees
CBS: WDEF-DT, VHF channel 12, 279 degrees
PBS: WNGH-DT, UHF channel 33, 256 degrees
PBS: WTCI-DT, UHF channel 29, 282 degrees
CW: WFLI-DT, UHF channel 42, 282 degrees
Fox: WDSI-DT, UHF channel 40, 282 degrees
PBS: WGTV-DT, VHF channel 8, 197 degrees
NBC: WXIA-DT, VHF channel 10, 203 degrees
The biggest challenge appears to be Fox WDSI-DT on real UHF channel 40 at 282 degrees true.
I ran quite a few TV Fool reports, and the one thing that puzzles me is that it looks like my signal actually goes down in power with increasing antenna height. Moving around on the property, up and down the ridge line, etc doesn't seem to matter as much as antenna height, and the lower the better if the reports are to be believed. Here is a representative sample.
3ft Antenna:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c15ffc5a5a38f
10ft Antenna:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c1580cae12039
25ft Antenna:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c1561d9bae15a
50ft Antenna:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c158901672b6e
I did run reports up to 500 feet.
So, I know which direction to point (280), and I know I need both VHF-hi (channels 9, 12 and 13) and UHF (29-42) but what are the best antenna choices and amplifier?
Also, is it really likely that putting the antenna lower is better? I would really rather put it a bit higher as lower blocks my views of the lake.
Thanks!
