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Old 23-Aug-2011, 6:50 PM   #1
flyingramondo
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Help close and distant reception

Where I live I have been fine until our Fox station is converted to ABC. We also have NBC & CBS broadcasting within 15 miles of our house. Indianapolis is 60 miles away. What do you have for recomendations for an antenna\antennas that will help me to receive the stations 60 miles away without messing up our local stations? Thanks.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 6:57 PM   #2
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I forgot to paste my TV Fool report. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9e7469aba7d0a3
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 7:15 PM   #3
GroundUrMast
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I presume your goal is to receive WXIN-FOX, real channel 45. Others in that direction would be bonus?

How high can you safely mount a large antenna such as an Antennas Direct XG91? Please post a TVFR for that AGL.

Are you willing to use an A/B switch to select between two antennas?
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 7:33 PM   #4
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Using a switch would be no problem. Please forgive my ignorance, what does AGL mean
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 7:35 PM   #5
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Got It! 25 feet. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9e7482095a5a29

The goal is to be able to receive ch. 45 if at all possible. I'm also planning on purchasing a rotator that is beafy enought to withstand the wind that a large antenna is likely to pick up. Any suggestions?

Last edited by flyingramondo; 23-Aug-2011 at 7:50 PM.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 7:58 PM   #6
John Candle
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Tv Antennas and Reception

How many Tv's will be connected??
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 8:08 PM   #7
flyingramondo
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Two TV's. I currently get ABC from WICD-DT which is aprox. 57 miles away with an antenna that I built so I am very hopeful that I can bring in most of the Inianapolis channels with a decent antenna. I currently am using a pre-amp purchased from Solid Signal but I don't remember which one it is.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 8:19 PM   #8
GroundUrMast
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Reliable reception of CH-45 is going to be challenging. An XG-91 pointing toward 62° and an Antennas Direct CPA-19 are going to give you some signals. You will need to experiment with mounting height. (Anywhere from ground level on up.) You can order an extra director section for the XG-91... that would increase it's gain a bit more.

CH-45 may not be 100% reliable.

Can you afford a tower?
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 8:28 PM   #9
flyingramondo
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There's a free 30' tower available locally. Upon recommendations here for an antenna I thought that I would try my roof mount first (25') that would be easy and then look to improve antenna height and location from there if needed. Even if I don't succeed in getting a Fox station again I should be able to pick up numerous new stations. The XG-91 seems to be a popular choice for distant stations.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 8:29 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GroundUrMast View Post
I presume your goal is to receive WXIN-FOX, real channel 45. Others in that direction would be bonus?

How high can you safely mount a large antenna such as an Antennas Direct XG91? Please post a TVFR for that AGL.

Are you willing to use an A/B switch to select between two antennas?
Comparing the signal from WXIN in Indianapolis to WCCU, the FOX affiliate in Central Illinois, it appears that the OP will have better luck with the Illinois station.

Last edited by MisterMe; 23-Aug-2011 at 11:08 PM.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 9:09 PM   #11
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To get more gain in the UHF band, the next step after the XG-91 is the $BIG$ commercial antennas.

It would be interesting to see how high you need to go per TV Fool to find a NM of -5 dB or better on CH-45.
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Last edited by GroundUrMast; 24-Aug-2011 at 1:14 AM.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 9:35 PM   #12
John Candle
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Tv Antennas and Reception

Ok , I recommend a 2 antenna set up with a remote control A/B antenna switch , model AB27RS or radio shack 15-1968 , at both Tv's. The first antenna will be a AntennaCraft U4000 with a Antennas Direct CPA-19 preamp. aimed at about 92 degrees magnetic compass for the receptions of WTIU PBS , WTTV The CW , WCLJ Ind. WIPX ION Tv , WRTV ABC , and through the back side of the U4000 , W43BV TBN. . I also recommend a Winegard HD7694P antenna with NO amplifier aimed at 208 degree magnetic compass , for the receptions of , WTOW NBC , WFXW Fox , WTHI CBS. . Here is how to aim Tv antennas , http://www.tvfool.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . I will return with coax wiring instructions.

Last edited by John Candle; 24-Aug-2011 at 9:40 AM.
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Old 23-Aug-2011, 11:06 PM   #13
GroundUrMast
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Ok , I recommend a 2 antenna set up with a remote control A/B antenna switch , model AB27RS or radio shack 15-1968 at both Tv's. The first antenna will be a AntennaCraft U4000 with a Antennas Direct CPA-19 preamp. aimed at about 92 degrees magnetic compass for the receptions of WTIU PBS , WTTV The CW , WCLJ Ind. WIPX ION Tv , WRTV ABC and through the back side of the U4000 , W43BV TBN. . I also recommend a Winegard HD7694P antenna with NO amplifier aimed at 208 degree magnetic compass , for the receptions of , WTOW NBC , WFXW Fox , WTHI CBS. . Here is how to aim Tv antennas , http://www.tvfool.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . I will return with wiring instructions.
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Originally Posted by MisterMe View Post
Comparing the signal from WXIN in Indianapolis to WCCU, the FOX affiliate in Central Illinois, it appears that the OP will have better luck with the Illinois station.

What about WXIN, real channel 45, the OP's stated goal? Per the OP & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFXW the local Fox affiliate has or will change it's affiliation to ABC. WXIN is weak, but the only viable option for a FOX affiliate. WCCU is a tropospheric path... not viable at all.
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Last edited by GroundUrMast; 24-Aug-2011 at 1:29 AM.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 12:39 AM   #14
John Candle
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Ok , for the coax wiring. The U4000 antenna and preamp will have coax that goes to a location where there is power for the preamp and the coax can be split with a 2 way splitter , one output of the 2 way splitter goes to one Tv and the other output of the 2way splitter goes to the other Tv. . The coax of the second antenna the HD7694P antenna will go to the same location and a 2 way splitter is connected to the coax of the second antenna and the outputs of the splitter go to the two Tv's. Connect the coaxes to the remote control A/B antenna switches , the locations of the A/B antenna switches is at the Tv's , and the output of switches connect to the Tv's. Now with the remote control in your hand you can change antennas with out leaving your chair.

Last edited by John Candle; 24-Aug-2011 at 12:51 AM.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 1:19 AM   #15
GroundUrMast
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Originally Posted by flyingramondo View Post
Got It! 25 feet. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9e7482095a5a29

The goal is to be able to receive ch. 45 if at all possible. I'm also planning on purchasing a rotator that is beafy enought to withstand the wind that a large antenna is likely to pick up. Any suggestions?
The Hy-Gain AR-40 would be vastly superior to the consumer grade rotators. It's priced accordingly.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 4:37 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by GroundUrMast View Post
What about WXIN, real channel 45, the OP's stated goal? Per the OP & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFXW the local Fox affiliate has or will change it's affiliation to ABC. WXIN is weak, but the only viable option for a FOX affiliate. WCCU is a tropospheric path... not viable at all.
I thought my point was very clear in my post. If you click through on the WXIN link, then you will see that Terre Haute sits in a hole in WXIN's coverage. This is the say that the TV Fool model shows that the OP should receive nothing from WXIN. Although the WCCU signal is weak in Terre Haute, it is not zero (0). This is why I recommended that the OP forget WXIN, which he probably cannot get, and go with WCCU, which he has a chance to get.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 6:52 AM   #17
John Candle
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The same Wikipedia article also says that FOX is likely to move to WTHI , so we shall see.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 7:00 AM   #18
John Candle
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The tvfool radar report I see , shows WCCU at minus -16.7 NM (dB) and the receive path is Tropo , so WCCU will not be received.

Last edited by John Candle; 24-Aug-2011 at 9:37 AM.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 9:54 AM   #19
John Candle
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I recommend doing a channel rescan for new digital channels from time to time because new digital channels can be added at any time with No notice. Also can contact WTHI at http://www.wthitv.com/generic/About_Us/contact_wthitv , Talk with some one higher up at WHTI or talk with engineering department because the engineering departments at the tv stations are the ones that set up the transmitters to transmit new channels. Fox is not likely to just drop off the map , Fox will most likely move to one of the Tv stations close by.

Last edited by John Candle; 24-Aug-2011 at 9:58 AM.
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Old 24-Aug-2011, 1:53 PM   #20
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.... Fox is not likely to just drop off the map , Fox will most likely move to one of the Tv stations close by.
Not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but WFXW is only the latest affiliate in the Midwest to be dropped by FOX in its fight with its affiliates over fees to rebroadcast its signal. It is my understanding that those other dropped affiliates have not been replaced. Quite frankly, this concerns me because Nexstar, WFXW's owner, also owns my nearest FOX affiliate.
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