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Old 18-Apr-2013, 2:18 AM   #14
Pete Higgins
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: California, 58 miles @112 degrees from Mt. Wilson
Posts: 83
tripelo,

We’ve had the Time Warner’s “Everything” package for years (my wife even got me the Playboy channel) so OTA is mostly a hobby. I originally started just trying to see what I could get with a 40 year old Channel Master CM-4228 8-Bay Bow Tie. After receiving both VHF & UHF channels from LA & San Diego I decided to see how much I could improve my reception. Things just kind of grew from there.

I am not currently using the Channel Plus NF-471 notch filter.

My original plan was to use a Winegard AP-2870 pre-amp. with separate VHF & UHF inputs. I tried the Channel Plus NF-471 55 dB channel 26 (KVCR) notch filter in-line with the UHF input to the 2870 but the amp. overloaded so badly that I almost didn’t get anything. I also tried both antennas into a UVSJ, through the notch filter and into my Winegard HDP-269 with basically the same result. The PCT MA2-M’s don’t seem to overload, even without the notch filter.

A pictorial of my new antenna array setup can be found @:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...t=42426&page=7
(Post # 3348).

The CM-4228 is on a push-up mast with a rotor and is using the HDP-269. I have the coax from the tower array and the HDP-269 going into a coax switch in the garage, the output of which feeds my PCT MA2-4P distribution amp.

Channel 2 seems quite reliable on the new array, but the array rarely gets channel 4. By the same token, the old 8-Bay always gets channel 4 but almost never can hold channel 2. A lot of the one hour shows my wife & I like are on CBS (Ch. 2.1) so when the 8-Bay couldn’t pull it in I was motivated to come up with a better solution. To that end my new setup does what I wanted. I’m just not sure what the mechanism is that prevents the new array from getting NBC (channel 4.1). For the most part, the SNR between the two antennas is within 2-3 pts. with the 91XG higher in a little over half the cases. It could be as simple as it has better response on RF 43 (2.1) than the 4228 and the 4228 has better response on RF 36 (4.1).
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