New Member Seeks Help :-)

N8rbug · 30-Jan-2014, 5:24 PM

Hi all,

I am a semi-retired, technologically challenged musician from the manual typewriter generation!

I am leasing a house (moved here six mo. ago) in a rural wooded area approx. 15 miles N/NE of Fayetteville, NC. Here is the plot:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...5b9488dda0862b

The home is a single story wooden structure (older modular-type construction with NO attic space) that rests on a block foundation, leaving 2-3 ft. of crawlspace underneath. There is an old antenna on a 15 ft. pole attached to the corner of the house. (This is redneck engineering at it's finest.......with frayed and bare flat wire and absolutely NO ground for the pole, the antenna or the rotor!

) There are ample trees around.....mostly pines and oaks......

Ultimately, there will be 4 TV's in the house. My main panel will be a new 65" Sony Smart TV paired with a Sony BluRay player and all run through a SurgeX conditioner/suppressor. I currently subscribe to Dish Network w/ America's Everything Pkg.

I could use the existing 15 ft. pole, or if the situation calls for it, put up whatever length pole you folks think would be best. As for the antenna, I want the best......(best for my challenging location that is !)

The same goes for a rotor.........if you good folks think one is needed. (I assume RG-6 cable is best?)

Unfortunately, there is one more fly in the ointment......I cannot get cable internet here.......which leaves me with few viable options.........I currently have a Verizon Wireless "Cantenna" for my data link........which charges you for the volume of data used as opposed to the speed of data. I am on a 20G plan that costs me $150-$200 a mo. depending on how much overage I encounter. The kicker is I have NEVER ever downloaded an Itune.......or streamed any movies or music. I only use the internet for browsing, email, correspondence and participating in professional and social forums. As a musician, I used to enjoy watching music vids on Utube.........but had to give that up entirely here....(I ran out of my data allowance again two days ago.......it resets on the 2nd)

I look forward to your suggestions! Thanks for taking the time!

N8rbug · 31-Jan-2014, 6:11 PM

Anybody ??

jmc1987 · 31-Jan-2014, 11:07 PM

First off, never post your address on a forum publicly. The TV Fool report is good enough and conceals your address for this very reason.

Honestly, I'm a bit of a novice myself and only signed up recently to figure out if using an indoor antenna (which is a dirty word here) would work for my situation, but from looking at your report, I think you'll be fine with an outdoor antenna at just about any height. Almost all the stations in green have line-of-sight signals coming in strong enough to pick up with an indoor antenna. In my apartment, I only have 1-edge and 2-edge signals (meaning lots of interference) and I was able to get several with an indoor antenna only 6 feet or so above ground.

An outdoor antenna pointed North at 10 ft high will get you just about everything in the top 10 channels listed on your report. Unfortunately, I've spent about all of my expertise here, so someone else will have to weigh in further.

1-Feb-2014, 12:17 AM

+=>
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The No antenna rotation solution.

No antenna rotation required for reception at your location.

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Up high , install a , Antennas Direct , DB8e , antenna.
From , www.amazon.com .

Aim 1 panel at about , 10 degree magnetic compass direction , a in between a aim direction for reception of the Tv stations to the , North West and North East.

Aim the other panel at about 225 degree magnetic compass direction for reception of the Tv stations to the , South West.

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Install a , www.antennacraft.net , Y5-7-13 antenna aimed at about 30 degree magnetic compass direction.

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Here is how to aim antennas , www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antenna.

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Install a , RCA , TVPRAMP1R , preamplifier.

Connect the DB8e to the UHF connection of the RCA preamplifier.

Connect the Y5-7-13 to the VHF connection of the RCA preamplifier.

Operate the RCA preamplifier in the Separate antenna mode.

Have FM trap in/on.

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For 1 Tv connected use No splitter.

For 2 Tv's connected use a , Holland Electronics, HFS-2D , 2. Way splitter.

For 3 Tv's connected use a , Holland Electronics , HFS-3D , 3 way splitter.

For 4 Tv's connected use a , Holland Electronics , HFS-4D , 4 way splitter.

Buy the , HFS-2D , HFS-3D , HFS-4D , splitters at , www.hollandelectronics.com , or , www.amazon.com .

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As Always , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , have a Negative Effect on Broadcast Tv Reception with a Tv antenna and so do buildings and other obstructions including your own roof and building.

Some and not all Negative Effects are.

Absorbing and Blocking Reception.

Multi-Path Reflecting the Tv Signals Bouncing All Around.

The Best Pratice is to install the antennas at a location that has the least amount to no amount of obstructions of any type or kind on the directions of reception.

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Here are some above the roof antenna mounts.

www.ronard.com/909911.html
Use the , ronard(911) , 5 foot tripod antenna mount.

www.ronard.com/Tripods%200703/4712.html
Use the , ronard(4712-50-10) , 10 foot tripod antenna mount.

Buy the ronard antenna mounts at , www.ronard.com , or , www.amazon.com .

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Here are some places to buy antennas and etc. .

www.antennacraft.net

www.ronard.com

www.amazon.com

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For antenna mast , Home Depot and Lowes have 10 foot sections of , Top Rail , chain link fence pipe. The price for the Top Rail fence pipe is low dollars.

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As to the Internet.

In the google search box type in.

wireless Internet providers linden nc

And

internet providers linden nc

StephanieS · 1-Feb-2014, 11:49 AM

Greetings N8rbug,

My biggest concern is the trees you describe. Your Tvfool plot shows there is a nice amount of signal available to you.

The trees though, cause problems. Especially ones if in the way like oaks that are seasonal. Think leaves = chances for signals to be deflected and scattered. This can result in strong signals being unreliable.

With reception situations, each one is different so every situation requires specific review of what your needs are. At magnetic 31, you have a mix of UHF (real channels 14 -51) and high-VHF (real channels 7-13). This calls for an antenna that supports high-band VHF and UHF.

I would utilize that 15' pole and mount an Antennacraft HBU22. http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...sku=1607900201. I would orientate the antenna to a heading of magnetic 31. You should reliably see ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and MyNetwork. ION and PBS will be off the back of the antenna and may or may not show up.

RG-6 is a good choice. I bought my last 100' drop from solid signal. They do custom lengths. http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...nal-connectors

Four TV's may put you into a situation where a distribution amplifier may be needed. The Channel Master 3414 might be an option. http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master.../dp/B001PI09SE

Your best bet though is to get above the trees. As long as you are shooting through them, even the highest gain antenna may struggle with the disruption of steady signal.

When you do the antenna test, take the single lead coming off the antenna and put it into one TV only. This will be your baseline test for antenna performance. If you see all the channels you want reliably, then you can start adding distribution amp and leads to other tvs testing each one as you add them.

Best of luck!

N8rbug · 1-Feb-2014, 6:53 PM

Thanks for your input jmc1987 ! Thanks to you too, StephanieS. for your suggestions.

I have been looking for a taller pole......... had been looking at this antenna:

http://dennysantennaservice.com/hd_s...enna-html.html
What do you think??

On another plot site, this was one was recommended........thoughts?
http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/...V-Antenna.html

I understand about the distribution amp being necessary to supply 4 TV's, but do you think I should plan to use a rotor? Or just start with aiming at magnetic 31 and see if it will pull the other channels in from the back?

Thanks again for everyone's help.........it might still take a few tries to dial it all in..........but it might have taken dozens of attempts (and $$$) if left to my own devices!! :-)

StephanieS · 3-Feb-2014, 10:56 AM

Hi N8rbug,

Let me first comment on the antennas you linked to. The Denny's Antenna stacker special you'll see lukewarm attitudes mostly here to it. Not that it's a terrible set up, but rather by purchasing separate antennas and combing them yourself, you can actually have a higher gain setup. In this case, combing an Antenna's direct DB8, DB8e or 91xg for UHF coverage and a Antennacraft Y10-7-13 for high-VHF coverage is the premier weak signal two antenna option.

The DB8e, while its favored by many here, is a UHF design. WVTD ABC broadcasts on real channel (RF) 11. This is high-vhf territory and not the DB8e's strength and as such, as a single antenna option, it's not a good candidate.

Remember, TV signals are in 3 bands: low-vhf (real channels 2-6), high-vhf (real channels 7-13) and UHF (real channels 14 and above). You need high-vhf and UHF.

I suggested "easy" for you, hence the Antennacraft HBU22. I should stop and ask your goals? Magnetic 31 will give you all the commercial big networks except PBS and ION with the HBU22. Are PBS and ION signals you want to receive?

If the answer is yes, this becomes a two antenna set up. To integrate ION and PBS, I would purchase the DB8e. The DB8e allows for each half of the antenna to be aimed separately. The first half of the antenna I would aim to magnetic 31. The second half the antenna, I would orientate to magnetic 221 with the expectation I'd see PBS and ION in addition the magnetic 31 signals.

The second antenna would be high-VHF only and be an Antennacraft Y5-7-13. http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=716079000987. This will be dedicated for WVTD ABC RF 11 and be orientated to magnetic 31.

Make sure when mounting on the mast, the Y5-7-13 is 4' below the DB8e.

You need a combiner for this arrangement. The Antennas Direct EU385CF-1s has excellent reviews. http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=853748001705 A combiner takes a VHF antenna and UHF antenna and combines them into one coax going down into your home.

Insert DB8e coax into UHF combiner input, insert Y5-7-13 coax into VHF input. Then run coax from combiner into home to distribution amp.

This is a bit more work than "easy" of the HBU22. This set up ought to yield you ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, MyNetwork, ION and PBS in addition to a couple religions broadcasters with no rotor needed.

Cheers.

Edit: One further thing, be patient with PBS WUNU on RF 31. While aiming to magnetic 221, WUNU is the weakest signal you will be trying for. It may be a little more fickle in dialing it in.

N8rbug · 3-Feb-2014, 1:52 PM

Thanks all for your suggestions, especially StephanieS for your patience and detailed response!

I spoke with my neighbor down the street who purchased an antenna at the local big box building supply which appears very similar to the HBU22. He claims he receives over 20 channels!? (I probably overthink things!)......so I guess I should try the HBU22 first........:-)

The other thing I need to pick up is a good compass........then I can see the best place to mount. I am also trying to find a source for mil. surplus heavy duty aluminum mast sections (smooth, not ribbed) with the goal of getting 16-20ft in the air.