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Originally Posted by sudheeshb
Thanks for the reply. Yeah. I moved!. Some questions.
1. I do see another big antenna ( Winegard HD8200U ) along with HD7694P in Amazon. Does it help if I go for the bigger one?
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The HD820U does have a little more gain on UHF (real channels 14-51) and VHF-High (7-13) than the HD7694P, but the HD7694P should have sufficient gain if it is mounted in the clear with no objects blocking the signals. A preamp can be added if needed.
The HD8200U also covers VHF-Low (real channels 2-6) which has longer elements that make it much wider. You do have some VHF-Low channels on your report but they are weaker and I thought you probably would not want them. If you do want them, you will need the HD8200U. The VHF-Low channels have a red band:
There will be some channel changes because of Repack by the FCC. If you look at your rabbitears.info report you will see changes in the Repack Info column. That column doesn't show in the image above:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...study_id=23429
Repack Plan:
https://www.rabbitears.info/repackch...=&lss=&status=
Phase 8: 1/18/2020 to 3/13/2020
Phase 9: 3/14/2020 to 5/1/2020
I'm concerned about the aim of your antenna. I hope that aiming the antenna west will give you the channels you need, without needing to also aim the antenna south.
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2. Do I need to use any pre-amp?
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You might; try it without first.
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3. What about this antenna RCA ANT751R?. This seems to have good rating.
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The ANT751 is a good antenna for strong signal locations, but I think you need the extra gain of the HD7694P. You can try the ANT751 first if you want to see how it will do.
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4. What is the minimum signal strength required for a good reception?
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That is a technical question that requires a technical answer.
The signal must be strong enough to have an SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of at least 16 dB. That is, the signal must be at least 16 dB stronger than the noise on that channel.
When you do a channel scan, the tuner will not pick up a signal that isn't strong enough. Of the channels that the tuner does pick up, some will be stronger than others. The strength of OTA signals will vary, so the weakest channels that the tuner picks up will be marginal; better on some days than other days.
If your TV has a signal strength indicator, you will soon find out how strong a signal must be for reliable reception.
In terms of a TVFool report, the signal must have a NM (Noise Margin) of at least 0 dB. The NM calculation assumes a dipole antenna is being used, so you can add your antenna gain to the NM for a channel that is listed.
If the antenna is outside, the coax shield should be grounded with a grounding block that is connected to the house electrical system ground with 10 gauge copper wire for electrical safety and to reject interference. For further compliance with the electrical code (NEC), the mast should also be grounded in a similar manner to drain any buildup of static charge which will tend to discourage a strike, but the system will not survive a direct strike.
If you want me to look at a satellite view of your location, you can give me the coordinates of your antenna by PM like you did last time.