Antenna Help in Phillipston MA

[squale2]

Hi, I have zero experience dealing with antenna usage or installation. But I am trying to rid myself of cable/satellite tv. What I am looking for is some help on what type of setup would be best or if it is even worthwhile to invest in an antenna because of my location.
Are there experts that can install an antenna or is it something that a novice can attempt?

I have 3 to 4 TV's's that I would like to have connected. Below is the TV signal analysis I received. Please help me with this - thanks

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243d9fff7042d

[timgr]

You can install an antenna yourself. Roof mounting is the way to go, placing the antenna as high as possible. Can you go any higher? For example, you can put a 10' mast in a 10' tripod (maybe with guy wires) and get roughly 20' above your roof peak. Can you post a new plot for a greater height? 25' is about the roof peak for most houses here.

A much higher stand-alone tower is also an option, if you have the land and the budget. If you are really rural, this might be an option.

Here is some installation discussion that may help you: http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=901 You can look here for examples of the kind of roof mounts that are available: http://www.antennapartsoutlet.com/

There are also installers available. Look at the top of the forum for a link where you can connect with an installer.

The group of stations to your southwest are from Hartford (WTIC) and Springfield (WGBY). The alternative to that group is to try for the Boston stations (WGBH 122 magnetic). It would be interesting to see which stations become stronger as you go higher.

There are other markets (Providence, NH cities) which you might pick up, but they are so widely spread out they may not be worthwhile.

Based on this, I'd probably suggest a roof mounted Antennas Direct DB8e https://www.antennasdirect.com/store...V-Antenna.html pointed southwest at Hartford and Springfield. You can aim the panels separately, and you can experiment with spreading the panels a little.

You can look up the transmitter details on the FCC web site http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=wtic - just type in the call sign and it will tell you what city the station services.

Just a comment - I took my report and made a spreadsheet from the call sign, real channel, virtual channel, broadcast band, market, programming, NM, and magnetic direction. It was very helpful to sort the channels by band and magnetic direction. I could also discard the channels I was clearly not interested in (Spanish, evangelical, shopping, low power translator - lots of those). Then I could better see which directions were likely to collect the channels that I wanted.

[squale2]

I'm here in Phillipston Ma - what would cause my antenna to lose total signal to all channels and then later in the day it comes back. This all of sudden started happening over and over throughout the day. Is this a tower problem or maybe something to do with my antenna. How can I troubleshoot??? any help would be appreciated

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by squale2

I'm here in Phillipston Ma - what would cause my antenna to lose total signal to all channels and then later in the day it comes back. This all of sudden started happening over and over throughout the day. Is this a tower problem or maybe something to do with my antenna. How can I troubleshoot??? any help would be appreciated

Hello, squale2, welcome to the forum.

Please do another signal report. When I click on your link, it says your report is no longer on the TVFool server.

The total loss of signals that later come back can be caused by atmospheric conditions that result in temperature changes.

What antenna are you using now and where is it located?

I have 3 to 4 TV's's that I would like to have connected.

First, get the channels you want for just one TV, then you can split the signals for other TVs. What channels are most important to you?

When I do a generic report for Phillipston MA, I see weak channels, but your exact address (which will not show) report would be more accurate.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9038a679fd9c87

Originally Posted by timgr

The group of stations to your southwest are from Hartford (WTIC) and Springfield (WGBY). The alternative to that group is to try for the Boston stations (WGBH 122 magnetic). It would be interesting to see which stations become stronger as you go higher.

Here is a report from rabbitears.info with a more accurate list of channels that shows the two directions close in strength. I favor the SW unless you have local objects in the signal path like trees:

[Tower Guy]

Three possible causes come to mind.
1. Water (ice) in the coax.
2. Failing preamp.
3. Interference.
Troubleshoot the problem by ruling out the possible problems one at a time.

[Nascarken]

Hello everyone have you guys looked at the New!! Channel master CM-3011HD
With a channel master 7777AMP at 40ft Hi check it out on your location on the tv Fool report check it out!!!and tell me what you think about it.??

And the way to fixs your problem is go with a channel master 7777AMP!!
And you will receive them DAY and night !!! And you will not get OVER load
If you point the ANTENNA At the BROADCASTING TOWER "S you loos,!!

[Tower Guy]

The question here is why did reception stop.

The CM-3011HD might get WUTF, but should not pick up anything else.

[squale2]

2. Failing preamp. - seems that was the problem - purchased a CM7777HD and everything works great - used the high gain and all the signal strengths increased. Thanks for the help

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by squale2

2. Failing preamp. - seems that was the problem - purchased a CM7777HD and everything works great - used the high gain and all the signal strengths increased. Thanks for the help

Thanks for the update; good detective work!