Best way to get reception to a tv and converter box

[agios11]

I have a digital tv with a digital tuner. I also have a converter box which is connected to my vcr which is connected to my tv. I need the converter box to record things off my tv. But I also want to get HD channels on my tv. I have a EZ HD antenna which I got from Dennys anttena service. I have a Wingard AP-8700 pre-amp installed. Before instaling this pre amp, I could only get channels on my converter box, not my tv. With this pre amp, I can get 3 or 4 channels on my tv. So, would a more powerful pre-amp bring in all my channels on my tv? I am so confused on how to get channels on both my tv and converter box. Help! Here's is my report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9fbed584b56602

[mtownsend]

Hello and welcome!



A couple of questions:

1) Where is the antenna mounted?

2) Which direction is it pointing?

3) How long is the cable from the antenna to the amp and from the amp to the TV/VCR?



In the meantime, here are a few comments about your setup:

>> The EZ-HD does not appear to have much gain. It's physically too small to have much gain. In order for an antenna of this size to work, it probably needs to be installed outside as high as possible. If you are trying to make this work from inside the building (e.g., living room or attic), you probably need a bigger antenna. The transmitters are only about 20 miles away, but they are partially blocked by mountains (example can be seen here), so the signals are weaker than normal.

>> For optimum results, you need to install the pre-amp as close to the antenna as possible. If there's a lot of cable between the antenna and the pre-amp, then you are losing some signal quality before the amp gets a chance to boost it.

>> The AP-8700 is a good amp with plenty of gain, so there's no need to upgrade to a different amp. Instead of investing in a better amp, you are probably better off investing in a better antenna.

>> Make sure your antenna is pointed at compass heading 310º. You should be able to pick up all the stations down into the "yellow" zone on your list. There are more channels available in other directions, but you probably won't get them unless you install a larger antenna and an antenna rotator.



Good luck

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=430

[kb2fzq]

Originally Posted by mtownsend

Hello and welcome!



A couple of questions:

1) Where is the antenna mounted?

2) Which direction is it pointing?

3) How long is the cable from the antenna to the amp and from the amp to the TV/VCR?



In the meantime, here are a few comments about your setup:

>> The EZ-HD does not appear to have much gain. It's physically too small to have much gain. In order for an antenna of this size to work, it probably needs to be installed outside as high as possible. If you are trying to make this work from inside the building (e.g., living room or attic), you probably need a bigger antenna. The transmitters are only about 20 miles away, but they are partially blocked by mountains (example can be seen here), so the signals are weaker than normal.

>> For optimum results, you need to install the pre-amp as close to the antenna as possible. If there's a lot of cable between the antenna and the pre-amp, then you are losing some signal quality before the amp gets a chance to boost it.

>> The AP-8700 is a good amp with plenty of gain, so there's no need to upgrade to a different amp. Instead of investing in a better amp, you are probably better off investing in a better antenna.

>> Make sure your antenna is pointed at compass heading 310º. You should be able to pick up all the stations down into the "yellow" zone on your list. There are more channels available in other directions, but you probably won't get them unless you install a larger antenna and an antenna rotator.



Good luck

All very good points....
TV's and converter boxes all have different sensitivity tresholds, some may be able to "see" a weak signal, where others may be unable to decode the weak signal.
mtownsend makes the good point that an outside antenna is probably necessary (as well as his other advise), the stonger the signal is at the TV or box tuner, the easier it will be for the device to decode the digital data stream....
I agree....Good Luck

[agios11]

Thanks for the replys. My antenna is right now located on a ladder in front of my house with the coaxile cord run out my window and duct tape across the bottom of the window to "seal it". LOL! I do plan on putting it on my roof, but want to make sure it's gonna work before I pay someone to install it (I do have 90 days to try it out). The cord from the antenna to the pre amp is very short, the amp is probably less than a foot under the antenna with very little slack in the cord. I then have a 20 foot cord run from the pre-amp to the power supply. Then there's cord from the power supply to the converter box.

I had my data wrong when I first bought a compass and pointed the antenna at 320 and it worked fine. I re-checked my data, pointed the antenna at 310 and most of the channels were cutting out a lot. So, I put it back to 320 and it's working well. Maybe my compass is off a bit, or maybe the info on the internet puts my house off a bit from where it is, but 320 seems to work best for keeping the channels in.

I can get all my channels on my converter box just fine. I'm very happy with how it is pulling in the channels for the converter box. But, I can only get 3-4 channels on my tv and some of them will cut out at times. I'm not happy with that cuz some channels I can't watch in HD as I can only get them on my converter box.

OK, so two more questions: how much of a difference do you think it will make when I move my antenna from the top of my ladder (which is maybe 5 foot tall), to the top of my roof (which I'm guessing is only 15-20feet tall as I live in a trailer). Doesn't seem like moving it 10 feet up would make a whole lot of difference. Would it?

Also, what antenna would you recommend for my location? I am getting all the channels I want with the antenna I have now. I don't really need a rotor. Most of the channels not at that 310 mark are just duplicate stations (like another FOX or whatever). I'm very happy with the channels I am getting on my converter box, but I do want to be able to get channels on both the converter box and tv. So, would I need a different antenna to accomplish this?

Oh, and I just looked at my stations again. My EZ HD antenna is picking up every station in the green, yellow and red except for 54.1 in the yellow and 39.1 and 13.1 in the red. The analog stations don't come in on my converter box, and are fuzzy on my tv. If I plug my antenna directly into my tv, it does pull in all the same digital stations and some of the anaolg stations are clear, some are fuzzy. But really, I don't think I will hardly if ever watch the analog stations. So, this antenna is doing fine pulling in all the stations I want, it just can't get them to both my tv and converter box for some reason. It works fine plugged directly into my tv and works fine plugged directly into my converter box.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Tigerbangs]

The topography between the local transmitters and your house is mountainious, and I suspect that you are seeing some reflected signal at your antenna, however, the issue for you seems to be the inability or receive all your TV analog and digital stations from one tuner source. if you mount your TV antenna aimed at roughly 315 degrees mounted on your roof, then you should be able to see all of your major local stations, both analog and digital, however, to facilitate analog and digital reception, I suggest using a coaxial 2-way A/B at the TV set, sending one side of the antenna cable to the TV antenna connector to your TV set, and one side to your Digital converter. Switch between the two inputs based on oyur need to watch digital or analog TV stations, and you should be fine. Be aware, however, that eventually, all of your analog stations will convert to digital broadcasting, and the need for the A/B switch will disappear.

[agios11]

Thanks for the A/B switch idea. The only problem is that I can't connect my converter box to the tv when doing this since my tv only has one coax. connectionion for anntenna in, and both the antenna and converter box are coax. connections.

One thing I did try with and without the pre amp was running my antenna to a 2 way splitter (and yes, the splitter was after the power supply when I tried it with my pre-amp). I ran one cable out from the slpitter to a singnal combiner. The other out from the splitter went to my converter box. Another cable connected my converter box to vcr, and then a cable went from my vcr to the other side of the signal combiner. Finally, a cable went from the signal combiner to my tv. I had this set up with my previous antenna, an RCA ANT600 indoor/outdoor antenna. This set up worked perfectly with this antenna, but that antenna cut out way to much and finally broke from being moved so much. When I tried this exact set up with my EZ HD anenna, I can get channels on my tv, but not my converter box. I did try replacing the signal combiner with an A/B switch, but I still could get no channels on my converter box. So, I'm confused as to why this set up worked with one anttena, but not another.

Right now, my antenna goes to the power supply which goes to the converter box, which goes to the vcr, which goes to the tv. With this set up, I have to watch about half my channels on my converter box instead of being able to pull them in with my tv. What I don't like about this is that I don't like the picture from my converter box becuase it's not HD and it's all stretched out and doesn't look good. What I want to achieve is being able to watch all the channels from my converter box on channel 4 (not becuse I want to watch the channels on it, but becuase I need it to work so I can record things off my tv with my vcr). I also want to get all my channels in on my tv using my tv tuner so I can watch them in HD.

So, basicly, I need to get my converter box and my tv tuner to both recieve channels from my antenna and I need to have my converter box connected to my tv. I hope that makes it clear!