Help needed for antenna setup

[sawmilldon]

Hello all,

I need some guidance on reception.

Here is my report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f017a5a8aed5

I have installed an eave mount, and a 5 foot mast would put the antenna around 35 feet up.

Right now, I have a 15 foot mast holding the Winegard antenna that I use, but it is a little wimpy.

There are trees where I am at, such that my current antenna, a Winegard WGDHD8800, does not pick up as many channels as I would expect given the report. No King 5, no KOMO.

I appreciate any help you could give me.

Thanks!

sawmilldon

[Jake V]

1. What direction is your antenna facing?

2. What does your antenna "look through"? Does it look through trees and buildings?

If it was at about 142 degrees and hand good line of sight towards the southeast I'd expect you'd see most of the stations in that directions, plus some of the stronger ones off the back.

[sawmilldon]

I have moved the antenna to various positions in the 120-160 area and have had little success finding a spot that gets the bulk of channels.

Also, there are trees in the distance, only a few up close, perhaps 100 feet away at the closest.

It seems like the antenna has a narrow 'focus' spot.

Is there an antenna that has a wider reception pattern?

[Tim]

Can you give us a few more details about your installation such as new or existing coax cable & type, length of cables, any splitters, amps, combiners, etc? Any possibility of a picture of your view towards 150 degrees as seen by your antenna? And you do have the antenna oriented properly with the antenna array broadside to the direction of the stations and the 8 smaller elements on the side towards the stations?

[ADTech]

You shouldn't need a wider reception pattern (beamwidth), all your major UHF stations from Seattle are within 20° of each other (150-170° true).

Yes, an 8-bay has a narrow focus, roughly half that of the 4-bay. That's how higher gain is produced, that is, by narrowing the focus in one direction while giving up reception in others. Think about how an adjustable flashlight, a Maglite, for example, works.

If the antenna has been aimed to 160° true and you cannot pick up all the UHF stations from QA Hill and downtown, you have a siting issue. I'll just blame it on the trees since there's nothing else in the information provided that will explain it.

[sawmilldon]

My current setup has about 50 feet of new RG-6U cable going to a DA-550HHR distribution panel, which feeds 2 TV's. I added the panel after an initial antenna aiming, so I do not believe that I have attenuated teh signal significantly.

[Tim]

I think you should attach just the coax to a TV and leave the distribution amp out of the picture until you fine tune your aiming and then report back on what you are getting. It can be a little tedious sometimes to find the sweet spot.

I would also double check the antenna and make sure all the elements are properly snapped into place (see this review) and also check the phasing lines to make sure they are not shorted out somewhere.

[rickbb]

I made all the normal mistakes when going back to OTA.

The best way to aim an antenna is with the shortest cable run possible and just one TV. No amps, splitters, etc.

I finally went up on the roof with a small 22" LCD TV and 25 feet of cable to tune mine in.