Recommendations for NW Kansas

situveux1 · 30-Jun-2011, 2:38 AM

Hi, I'm a new guy, so excuse me if I don't follow the rules to the letter. I did read the sticky post though, so I hope I give enough info here. If not, I'm sure you'll let me know.

We recently moved to Hays, KS and so far I've had little luck in locating all of our main channels. Here's a link to my location info: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d935994eb4dc - I hope that works.

I currently have a Winegard SS-2000 Squareshooter antenna with the amplifier hooked up. I can currently get, with it just sitting in my living room, KBSH, KOOD and K25CV, although K25CV appears to be analog and not digital. Our info lists it twice, once as digital and again as analog, which is rather confusing for me. Perhaps someone can clue me in on why that is.

I went to radio shack in town and they have two roof mount antennas of the unidirectional variety and one omnidirectional. I've not lived in a place where signals are coming from so many directions before, so I'm finding this to be a challenge.

If I had to pick channels in order of importance, it'd be: CBS, PBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, MyTV, CW. Some of those I don't even see a signal for over 100 miles.

Anyone have any thoughts as to my current antenna versus a roof mount versus an omnidirectional?

Thoughts on amplifier use, closer to the antenna or TV, or use one at all?

Thoughts on getting K25CV in digital?

Thank you in advance. I appreciate any input you might have.

John Candle · 30-Jun-2011, 3:12 AM

Here is the reason for digital and analog , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695 . I can tell that you have been reading recent posts. The rules are that we need to find out what the situation is so we can make recommendations. We do our best to cut through the clutter with the result being that you have you have excellent Tv reception. The default antenna height is 10 feet. Please make a radar plot with the antenna at 25 feet high. Are you in a , house , condo , apt. , mobile home , motor home , etc.?? How many Tv's will be connected?? Is there coax wiring in place now??

situveux1 · 30-Jun-2011, 4:06 AM

Thanks! Here's a link to my locale with the antenna height set to 25 ft. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f2eceb09a4

We have a single story house facing the east, therefore I'd prefer not to place an antenna on the east side of the house. There's not much around except for some other houses, trees, etc. I'm only going to hook up one TV with no splitting or other connections, save an amplifier if needed, or if I can't get coax long enough to reac the antenna. There's no coax in place now, so I'll have to run my own, most likely plain old RG6 from Wal-Mart.

Let me know if there are any other variables you'd like to know.

John Candle · 30-Jun-2011, 10:27 AM

Googling the Tv stations call signs I found that , KBSH-DT 7 is CBS and Weather , K25CV 25 is ABC , KOOD-DT 16 is PBS , KSNC-DT 22 is NBC , KOCW 14 is FOX and The Cool Tv , K38GH is ABC . KSCW-DT 12 The CW is Very Weak but might be receivable with a antenna higher then the default 10 feet of the radar plot.

situveux1 · 30-Jun-2011, 1:44 PM

Thanks so much for your help! Here is a link to our address with the antenna height set at 25ft. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9f2eceb09a4

I'll only be hooking up to one TV with no splitting or other connections, except if an amplifier is needed or the antenna ends up being so far away I can't make it to the TV with just one cable. There's no coax in the house already, so I'll be running my own, more than likely plain old RG6 from Wal-Mart. We have a single story house that faces the east, so I'd prefer to not put an antenna on that side of the house. If I got a regular roof antenna, I figured it'd need to be installed at the highest point of our roof anyway.

After reading your post on the analog vs. digital, I emailed the ABC station in Wichita as to when they'd be moving their repeater over to digital, but I haven't heard back yet. I see the LP station in Great Bend is digital, so fingers crossed, it might be soon...

John Candle · 30-Jun-2011, 8:40 PM

At your location , with the antenna at 25 feet KSCW-DT 12 the CW is still to weak to receive reliably. The antenna that you have will receive the channels down to K38GH 38. Aim the antenna at about 331 true - 325 degree magnetic compass. Tv stations every where are adding more digital sub channels / Tv channels . And more Tv transmitters are being installed. So the CW and MyNetwork and RTV and other channels will pop up at any time. Be sure and rescan for new channels from time to time. Here is how to aim Tv antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. Also read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695 . Here is a short list of free Tv guides , http://television.aol.com , http://www.titantv.com , http://www.zap2it.com , http://tv.yahoo.com , http://tv.entertainment.excite.com , http://www.tvzap.com

John Candle · 30-Jun-2011, 8:49 PM

Also there is ROKU/NETFILX , http://www.roku.com. The little Roku box receives 1,000's of movies and Tv shows from NetFlix for $8.00 a month. . Also can check out Free Satellite Tv with a small KU Band dish , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=265

Dave Loudin · 30-Jun-2011, 8:56 PM

John, shouldn't the antenna be aimed at 125 degrees?

situveux1, consult the RabbitEars site for the status of your low-power translators (and for subchannels that other stations are carrying.) Analog low-power stations will all eventually be digital, but whether they have switched over is yet hard to tell based strictly on FCC records. That's why TVFool will list both versions until the analog record is deleted.

John Candle · 30-Jun-2011, 9:16 PM

Yes Dave you are correct. I was looking cross eyed on the wrong line. I ment to say 103 true - 98 degree magnetic compass , have the antenna a litte more in the direction of K38GH since it is the weakest of the receivable stations.

situveux1 · 3-Jul-2011, 2:49 PM

Thanks for all of those great suggestions. I can hardly wait for my next day off to get the thing up on the roof. I got an email from the Wichita ABC station and they said they would be updating their translators in Hays and Russell (K25CV and K38GH) to digital HD by November of this year at the latest. We'll see if that happens or not.

Thanks again for all of your help. In the mean time I'll be checking out those sites you suggested.