Antenna Suggestions

sbikes · 1-Jul-2011, 1:30 AM

I'm new to this forum and after doing some research i'd like to install an antenna in my attic. Before buying one I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions for my location.

I live in Renton WA, TV fool shows the true azmuth for most stations around 320 deg & ranging from 8 - 22 miles (toward Seattle). as mentioned above I'm looking for an attic installation system and have an asphalt shingled roof.
Our house is pre-wired and the cables are going through a four way spliter, I understand this can effect the signal but i'm not sure by how much or what it means in choosing an antenna.

Thanks in advance for any information!

John Candle · 1-Jul-2011, 2:14 AM

As the other question askers do. Do This--> http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=4 . make a tvfool radar report like the other question askers do. Make the antenna height 25 feet , and inter the exact address for the radar report. Also in the information that you provide , how many Tv's will be connected.

sbikes · 1-Jul-2011, 6:37 PM

Attached is the information from TV Fool. Thanks

Dave Loudin · 1-Jul-2011, 7:53 PM

You've only got a street level report, which is probably OK. Just to be sure, please rerun your report for your exact location (it makes a huge difference for my case, for instance). Post the URL for your report, not the screen grab, please.

Now, if the "NM" values don't change and all the paths remain "LOS", then you certainly can get excellent results with an Antennacraft HBU-33 or a Winegard HD7694P. You will have plenty of signal to drive four outlets.

John Candle · 1-Jul-2011, 7:59 PM

Because you did not inter a exact address for the with radar report , the radar report is showing street level. You made a picture of the radar report , not a live radar report. And you did not say how many Tv's will connected , I can not help you.

sbikes · 2-Jul-2011, 12:37 AM

Ya, I actually did enter my exact address but its a new development so the software doesn't seem to recognize it. I was able to view results through another web site that showed the towers in relation to the address I typed in...it gave me the same information.

Dave thanks for the helpful info. Our house is pre-wired with a four way spliter but we only have one tv.

sbikes · 17-Jul-2011, 10:04 PM

OK, I finally got a free weekend to install our tv antenna, unfortunately it wasn't successful.
I went down to Fry's this morning because I was told they had the Winegard recommended above. They were out of it, and being a bit trigger happy I grabbed the channel master CM 4221HD.

I hooked it all up and some channels were scrambled at best then turned black and said "channel not available". I tried rotating the antenna around but the picture didn't get any better.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e3b2812f747692

A note about the street report
We live in a new development so all i can get is a street level report (even when I enter our exact address).

our house is pre-wired for 6 rooms for satellite and digital tv. Since we only have one tv in our house I hooked the cable going to our family room directly to the antenna so it wasn't running through any spliters (just 2 "f" couplers).

Appreciate any feed back or thoughts on the situation

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 10:17 PM

Go to the >>Start MAPS<< part of tvfool , move the pointer to your location and click on , make radar map .

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 10:47 PM

Make sure that the Tv is scanning for Broadcast Digital Tv Channels. Not any kind of broadcast analog Tv channels. NOT any kind of cable Tv channels. Aim the front of the UHF panel antenna at about 276 degree magnetic compass. The front of a UHF panel antenna is the flat side that has the V shaped metal reception elements. Look inside ALL of the connectors on the ends of the coax cables and see if foil shield and shield wires are pushed in toward the center conductor of the coax cable. See if the shield wires are wrapped around the center conductor , if they are then the signal will be shorted out , remove the shied wires from the center conductor. If the foil shield and shield wires are pushed in toward the center conductor then push the foil shied and shield wires away from the center conductor. You must remove wall plates and look at the connectors. Also one of the other trades might have put a nail or staple through the coax some where or cut the coax some where. The best to do is run a coax from the antenna direct to the Tv. I say that 99% percent of people working in any kind of department store now days do not care anything about anything and will tell you anything.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 11:08 PM

Also some ___________ do not use the proper tools to put connectors on coax when doing the coax house wiring , they use pliers and smash the connector on to the coax and call it _________. Also if the coax wires are labeled as to where they go , they might not be labeled correctly. Murphy's law is in full effect here. If anything can go wrong - It Will.

John Candle · 18-Jul-2011, 11:34 PM

DO NOT connect the Tv antenna to any type or kind of active cable service , not cable Tv , not cable delivered internet , not cable delivered phone , or any other cable delivered service.

sbikes · 28-Jul-2011, 3:14 PM

Alright the issue may lie in the TV. I brought the antenna down and plugged it directly into the TV, the results were the same. But when I plug the cable from the wall directly into the TV I can see most of the local channels with a light cover of snow over it (but no network channels).

This makes me think the cable running through the house is acting as an antenna, but I don't understand why it would be worse when I plug the antenna directly into the TV????

GroundUrMast · 28-Jul-2011, 10:27 PM

What is the make and model of your TV?

If it is only capable of analog reception, you will need a converter to view the ATSC format OTA digital signals. (Or you may want to upgrade to a new TV capable of tuning and displaying ATSC.)

It sounds like the cable in your wall is connected to cable TV service which has some analog channels.

sbikes · 7-Aug-2011, 4:13 PM

Alright, I'm slowly chipping away at this and appreciate all the feedback.

I bought a cable box to convert to ATSC and set the antenna up in our family room to make sure everything worked before installing it in the attick...and it worked great!

So after installing it in the attic and connecting the antenna cable to the cable running through the house ( RG6/U Cable) and then from the jack to the cable box and lastly from the cable box into the TV...I couldn't get one channel.

When the cable box was scanning for stations it came up with a very low signal for maybe 3 channels total and that was it. The cable running through the house doesn't have any other services running through it and it doesn't have any splitters. There is a marking on the RG6/U cable that says 0475 feet...maybe that's the issue if it's really that long?

Thanks in advance for any feedback, i'm obviously new to this.

GroundUrMast · 7-Aug-2011, 5:02 PM

That leaves me wondering if the antenna is connected to a piece of coax which connects to an output port on the 4-way splitter you refereed to earlier. If you need to split, antenna needs to be connected to the input port of the splitter. If you only have one set, don't waste signal power in a splitter.

Coax can be bad, for many reasons, nail through it, loose connector, crushed or cut, etc.

The footage label on the coax will help you determine the length of an un-cut section... you need to find both ends of the section, then compare the difference between the footage marks at each end. I doubt the section of cable is marked '0000 feet' at the opposite end in your case.

John Candle · 7-Aug-2011, 5:18 PM

The feet marking on the cable shows how many feet , so the numbers can start at 475 and then a bunch of cable is reeled out and the number is 575 , you know how many feet that length of cable is. Unless you are living in a mansion I do not think you have a 475 foot run. It is more likley the cable or connectors or splitters or amplifier is bad. Inside of connectors on the ends of the cable look for the outer foil shied and shield wires pushed in to ward the center wire of the coax , if so , push the foil shield and shield wires away from the center conductor. Also look for a shield wire wrapped around the center conductor. I suggest a L o n g known to be good coax to use as a test jumper. Connect the 'test jumper' at the antenna and 'jump in' at places in the coax system to locate the bad componet or componets. Connect the coax 'test jumper' to the antenna and direct to the Tv , then work through the system to find the problem or problems.

John Candle · 8-Aug-2011, 1:07 AM

GUM is correct , No extra splitters in the system , No splitters that have nothing connected to the output ports , if the splitter has a coax connected to a output port and nothing is connected to the other end of the cable , then that is nothing connected to the output port and the splitter and coax is using signal that can be used at a Tv that is connected some where else.

John Candle · 8-Aug-2011, 1:32 AM

Some cheap coax , the center conductor with the foam surrounding the center conductor is so loose in the the rest of the jacket of the coax that the center conductor slides in side of the outer jacket and the center conductor does not make contact with what the coax is connected to. Just because something has to be good , does not mean that it is. . If any thing can go wrong - It Will. . If the coax is tagged as to where it goes , it does not mean the tag is correct , the tag could say . liv room but really go to m bed room - master bed room. If any thing can go wrong - It Will. Cut coax , nails , screws in coax , coax that is installed and goes no where. Coax that is not connected behind wall plates. Just because it is supposed to be Ok does not mean that it is!! If any thing can go wrong - It Will !!

sbikes · 11-Aug-2011, 4:09 PM

Well I tested all the cables and individually they all work without any issues, including the RG6/U running through the wall. I'm not using any splitters but I do have 2 F jack to jack couplers.

The only other thing I can think of is that the signal is somehow blocked by the roofing material (asphalt shingle roofing). Which is why it works when I set it up in the family room but not when its mounted in the attic.

Still chipping away at it when I can, thanks for the input and keep it coming if there's any other ideas.

GroundUrMast · 11-Aug-2011, 4:41 PM

So...

You have proven the antenna "good", it's able to receive a usable signal in the family room. Was the antenna connected to one set using one cable with no splices or any other accessories? If so, you have three "known good" components, Antenna, Cable & TV.

If the the above is correct, add one component at a time... you should be able to isolate and prove trouble to one or more parts.

(I met my wife working on a telco circuit that had three failed parts and maladjustments of virtually every other component in the system. As JC already said, "If any thing can go wrong - It Will". It's very easy to think you have solved the trouble after proving one part bad. It becomes difficult to trust your diagnostic skills when you find the a second or third failed part. So start at the beginning with proven good parts, then logically add one unproven part at a time.)