[mtownsend]

Originally Posted by mdoverstreet

There is also a small station in Mtn. Home which seemed interesting that I've watched when visiting people in Salem, AR which is not too far to the east of Mtn. Home. Would he be able to receive that one?

I think the station you're talking about is K07XL. Power-wise, this station is strong enough to be received if you have the antenna pointed at it. However, if you plan on having the antenna pointed to the north-west (between Springfield and Harrison), then this station might be a little too far to the side to be picked up by the same antenna without moving it. There's a chance it might work, but the only way to find out is to try it.

I was just playing around with the interactive maps and the "what-if" antenna thing for my uncle's place, and it seems like he would get a few more channels if we place his antenna a foot above the ground rather than going above the roof line, which would be roughly 15 feet or so. Why is that?

That's because some RF energy likes to propagate along the "skin" of the Earth. The amount of extra power you get this way is usually small and the benefits are usually outweighed by the added ground-level clutter (e.g., shrubs, trees, cars, houses, etc.) that gets in the way when you're that low. The propagation models don't account for these kinds of localized clutter, so actual signal strength gains will depend on your surrounding environment.

In most situations, I'd recommend just going on the roof. There are less variables that way (there's not much stuff passing in front of the antenna, and you're above most of the problematic clutter). Having said that, I've also known people that did see an improvement by mounting their antenna closer to the ground. Each situation is unique. You'll have to consider how much stuff lies between you and the transmitters.

I've got the spliter near the living room TV. The cable running to the second TV is RG-59. I ran that many years ago when C-band satellite was still all analog. Should that be upgraded to RG-6?

How long is the RG59 cable? RG6 will probably lose about 7 dB of signal for every 100 feet of cable. RG59 will lose more like 11 dB per 100 feet. The longer your cable run, the more of a difference the cable quality will make. I do recommend upgrading the cable if you can.

I've also got an older antenna on the same mast as the new one. Is it running some sort of interference? The older one looks like a HBU-33 but maybe a little smaller if any.

If the antennas are very close to each other, then yes, each antenna will have an effect on the antenna pattern and gain of the other antenna. The amount of influence varies with distance. It's best to keep at least about 4-5 feet of space between the antennas (or remove any unused antennas).

The older antenna had the flat ribbon type cable. Could that have been replaced with RG-6 instead?

The two-wire flat cable is also known as twin-lead, and yes, you can connect a twin-lead system to a coax system by using a transforming balun. You've probably seen these before. They are usually small cheap devices with a "pigtail" connector on one side and an "F-type" connector on the other side (like this). In most cases, the balun can be attached directly to the screw terminals on the antenna itself.

Most new antennas assume that you want to run RG6 cabling, so they usually come with a balun or have one built-in to a circuit attached to the antenna.

I'd check the condition of the old antenna. Time, weather, and UV will take their toll on antennas. If the old antenna is falling apart, then it may be a good time to replace it anyway. If the antenna is physically OK, then it's entirely up to you. The laws of physics are still the same as they've always been, so an antenna that worked 20 years ago should still work today as long as it's not broken.

could I "split the difference" and point the antenna somewhere between Shinall Mountain and the other channels in the other direction?

The beam width of the 4221 is roughly 60 degrees. The channels seem to be spread too far apart to have all of them in the sweet spot of the antenna at the same time. However, you might be able to focus the antenna more on the channels to the south. Your local stations are only about 8 miles away and very strong, so they might be able to get through your antenna even if you don't have it pointed at them. It will take some trial and error to see if this will work.

If I go any higher, could I have an A-B switch, get another antenna, point it in some other direction and get anything? There's a station in Searcy, AR I'd like to try for.

Yes, it's more work and expense, but it's certainly possible. How much is that additional channel worth to you?

As an alternative, you could just use one antenna on a rotator for a similar effect.

Originally Posted by mdoverstreet

Forgot to add something. Usually it's on Channel 42 where it happens a bit. The antenna is about 15 ft up, and the road in front of the house is about 75 ft away. When anyone drives by (not all the time), the picture freezes until they go by. It's a side street, so some people drive pretty slow. When it freezes, I look out the window and more times than not, there's someone driving by.

Sounds like an unlucky signal reflection that just happens to cause enough multipath to make the channel break-up.

If you try aiming your antenna in a different direction (to focus more on the south-eastern channels as suggested above), this behavior might change. Don't know if it will be better or worse until you try it, but it's worth a shot.

Originally Posted by mdoverstreet

Forgot to add that there are two pine trees, one on one side of the driveway and the other on the other side. The antenna is pointed right between them, aimed at Shinall Mountain. Could the trees be running interference?

If the trees are inside the ~60 degree beam width of the antenna, then it is possible for them to affect the signal being seen by your antenna. If the trees are pretty far off to the side (beyond the 60 degree window), then chances are that their influence will not be that strong.

Also, I've noticed that one of the forum members (sorry, can't recall his name) tell people that they could try tilting the antenna to receive signals in mountainous terrain. Is that something that I could try for my uncle for any reason?

The goal of tilting the antenna upward is to move the center of the antenna's beam up to where the signal is coming from (like the top ridge of a mountain range). However, I don't think this will help in your uncle's case. That's because the mountain that is blocking the Little Rock stations is too high above him. Even if he pointed an antenna right at the upper edge of that mountain, there's too little signal to be had. TV signals do diffract (bend) over mountain tops, but they can only bend so far. Your uncle's location is simply too "deep" in the shadow of that mountain for it to work.



Good luck!