Need help-what antenna to get?

[Livin on the hill]

Looking to the experts here at TV FOOL for some information on getting the right antenna setup. Here is the link to my TVFOOL report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...cef31e9a54bfc8

As the name says, my home is on a hill, but I have mountain ranges to the east and north, no homes or other structures in my line of sight. Also, my roof has clay tiles, and stucco on exterior walls. FYI-I am in San Diego County, CA.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Livin on the hill!

[John Candle]

Thank you for giving useful information right up front. As you can see there is a very wide spread of Tv transmitters to the north west , west and south west. So to better understand what antenna or antennas are needed for reception. How many tv's will be connected?

[John Candle]

Looks like the american english stations are to the west - KFBM CBS , KGTV ABC . To the south west - KSWB FOX , KUSI IND. , KNSD NBC , KPBS PBS. . The ones with no network listing are KSKT HSN , KUAN Asian Programing , K26FA Entravision , KZSD Azteca , KZTC Spanish Programing , KDTF Telefutura , XETA , XEWT , XHAS Tele , KSDX Estrella Tv

[Livin on the hill]

I will be connecting a total of 4 TVs, 3 are HD, one CRT (old style).

Also, definitely want to pull in all of the english stations, the hispanic programming and asian are optional.

Thanks for the info!

[John Candle]

I recommend a Winegard HD7082P , directed at about 225 magnetic compass and a Channel Master CM 3414 , 4 out put distribution amplifier. Make sure that the house is not blocking the reception of the antenna. Tv antennas work the best when not blocked by obstructions. Read this about Real and Virtual channels http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695

[Tigerbangs]

San Diego is a 2-antenna market: the VHF stations (channels 8 and 10) lie almost due west of you, and the UHF stations (NBC, PBS and FOX) lie south of you. Even though you are fairly high on a mountain, your TV signals are somewhat blocked by hills between the transmitters and you, meaning that you will need larger antennas than would be needed in flat terrain.

I would use a Winegard YA-6713, or an AntennaCraft Y-5-7-13 VHF high-band yagi antenna aimed at 260 degrees by your compass for channels 8 and 10. I would mount an AntennasDirect Xg-91 UHF antenna on the same mast, mounted 4' above the VHF antenna, aimed at 190 degrees, as measured by your compass. Combine the 2 signals using an AntennaCraft 10G221 high-input preamplifier, which has separate inputs for the VHF and UHF antennas, and is powerful enough to run 4 TV sets from the antenna system with no line or splitting losses.

After the power supply is mounted inside your house, use a high-quality 4-way splitter in line AFTER the power supply, then make your coaxial cable ruins to your TV sets. If your house is already wired with coax cable, identify where in the house the cables converge, mount the preamp power supply and splitter there, bring in your coaxial cable line from the antenna, and make your connections to the various TV sets at that point.

I expect that you'll have no problems seeing the major San Diego stations using that system, however, XETV, the CW station, which operates from over the border in Mexico may be difficult to receive .

In my estimation, no one antenna will adequately see the VHF and VHF antennas without using a rotator: a compromise position between the two sets of transmitters is unlikely to give you enough signal on NBC, PBS and FOX to work reliably.

[Livin on the hill]

Gentlemen, thanks for your excellent information.

Looks like I should be able to perform this install myself.

CANDLE - Looks like one of my neighbors in the community may have the Winegard HD7082P on his house already! I will have to see what kind of reception he is getting.
TIGERBANGS - is that the correct item number for the AntennaCraft Preamp, at #10G221? I searched and found a #10G212?

But...the big hurdle will be convincing the family that they will no longer be able to access some of the cable-only channels any longer...like ION (Cox channell 96), but the monthly savings will be very nice!

Working through that now...

[Tower Guy]

Originally Posted by Livin on the hill

Looks like one of my neighbors in the community may have the Winegard HD7082P on his house already! I will have to see what kind of reception he is getting..

That antenna will receive fine, but will require a rotator to pick up the VHF stations. Tigerbangs suggestion of two antennas makes more sense, especially if you want to watch different programs on your multiple TV sets.

[Tigerbangs]

The AntennaCraft 10G221 is a newer preamp: it has high input capability to avoid signal overload on strong local signals. I like it because it has separate VHF and UHF inputs, which makes installing separate antennas a breeze, and has low noise, so it won't cause problems with very weak TV signals, such as the UHF signals that you have from the south.

http://www.antennacraft.com/Antennas...mplifiers.html

Tower Guy might tell you to try the Winegard AP-2870, which is a good preamp, but I have a feeling that the new AntennaCraft has the edge in performance, especially when dealing with very long lengths of cable.

[Tower Guy]

Originally Posted by Tigerbangs

Tower Guy might tell you to try the Winegard AP-2870.

With a 12 db NM on NBC, a high UHF channel of 40, weak 2 edge signals on the strongest stations, and a four way splitter; the AP-2870 has less gain than optimum.