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Old 31-Dec-2011, 3:43 PM   #21
DEDon
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Wilmington, DE 19808
Posts: 33
Almost Finished

I moved the Direct TV j-mount toward the S end of the roof and mounted the Rotor on it and then attached the 5' mast and the Winegard 7084 to the upper rotor receptacle.
I am going to apply the silicone around the feet (already used the patch material UNDER the feet) and attach the ground strap, today.
Since I am still attempting to determine the best set-up, starting with doing the least, I ran only one cable to the antenna/rotor and set up with NO preamp. This is what I am receiving:

REAL Channels

With the Rotor at 65 degrees,
26, 34, 17, 6, 35, 32, 31, 25, 42, 29, 27, 12, & 22, all with TV Signal Meter readings in the 70s and 80s.
With the Rotor at 230 degrees,
11, 13, 38

My downlead from the antenna to the rotor is a foot too short so I am not going to put strain on it be rotating beyond 235 degrees but, I am going to change that lead and attempt to pick up the Lancaster PA stations, after the lead change.

I believe that it is important to note, here, BEFORE purchasing a preamp, the choice of a which one to get is determined by how many splits and consequential gain losses one anticipates and has NOTHING to do with your reception. I have read posts where the poster is "hoping to pull in stations with weak signal strength with the addition of a preamp and, from my experience, that isn't going to happen.

This Winegard HD7084 is very impressive, pulling in everything that I expected except a few more Latino channels. I thought that I was picking up three when I briefly had the Clearstream C4 but, I didn't make at note, at that time, of what I was receiving so I'm not sure about the three just mentioned.

I am going to keep the two pre-amps that I purchased because I am eventually going to go into the attach and connect to a downlead to my (currently) cable splitters in the basement so that the rest of the TVs in the house will have OTA.

I wonder how many others that currently have to pay $50/mo for CTV that includes the sports stations (not available with the economy pkg) would switch to OTA if there was just ONE OTA sports broadcast for their area. Perhaps this should go in another sub-thread but, Why doesn't the consumer band together and boycott the cable companies for a couple of months and really cripple them into providing what WE want? Personally, I am probably going to learn a new life-style: LISTENING TO my Philadelphia Phillies instead of watching them.

Thanks to all of your guys for your info, suggestions, and recommendations. I feel as if I have done well with your help.

Just one more question. I've attached a couple of pictures of the new antenna and rotor. The mast is and inch and half 5'. The Rotor is sitting on the J-mount (which had a level sight glass in the top of it). I didn't feel top heavy but, IMO, it 'looks' top heavy. Should I be concerned?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg DSCF2030.JPG (72.9 KB, 1208 views)
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Winegard HD7084P antenna
ProBrand Int'l RTR100 rotor
Winegard Boost Pre-Amp
Viewsonics VSMA 601C-10R Amp
Samsung 55UH8500FXZA
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