Is there an omni-directional antenna for me?

[real_goose]

Greetings,

My information: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9c6b08396b9be8

Ideally I would like good reception on the Southfield towers of Detroit stations and a selection of Canadian stations.
US: 39, 43, 44, 41, 45, 14, 21, 7
Canada: 9, 32, 42, 16, 29, 51
(22 & 29 are the same network – 29 comes in better now)

In the pre-cable days, we watched more Canadian TV. Now I have cut back to limited basic and replaced my Comcast DVR with a TiVo that also handles OTA. I am rediscovering how good some shows on Canadian TV can be, but I need to improve the fuzzy picture to make them truly ‘watch-able’.

Currently I have a Radio Shack 15-1634 Low-profile Omnidirectional Amplified TV Antenna that was on a close out table. It is not a good performer, but it receives enough stations that I think it is a ‘proof of concept’ that a good omni-directional antenna should work OK. Now that spring has come, I am ready to put up a replacement.

I stopped in at a local independent electronics store and asked about an omni-directional TV antenna that would work for the Detroit stations and the Canadian stations that almost surround us. They suggested that I would need to go with 2 antennas: one pointed west for Detroit stations and one pointed east for Canadian stations. But they have not sold such a setup and don’t know if it would work.

If I replace TVs, I will probably move them to OTA to receive both US and Canadian stations. Right now the Tivo is used to watch and record OTA stations in addition to Comcast feeds via CableCard. I’m impressed with how good the OTA tuner appears to be in the TiVo HD. Much better than the digital converter boxes I’ve tried.

One reason I’m keeping cable is because we have several analog TVs scattered through the house and my wife is in the habit of watching one show in the basement while doing laundry and another in the kitchen while cooking dinner. When Comcast moved WADL to digital only she suddenly couldn’t watch her favorite dinner preparation program and I needed to ‘do something’.

I found a plan B that worked for me at no additional cost. We keep the current (wife approved) TV in the kitchen and I provide 2 new channels to all the analog TVs. I am using an old Channel Plus 3025 distribution system. I used 2 government coupon digital-analog converters to tune (41) 7-2 & (39) 38-1 and fed them composite into the 3025. So now she can see Retro TV Network and WADL on channels 65 and 67. It works for me because Comcast trapped the line and left me a big open hole to add analog channels with no interference. (Amazingly, the 3025 is still for sale at Newegg, but I can't imagine there are many others who could use such a setup.)

[real_goose]

Would I have luck with 2 antennas? Perhaps 1 pointed west for US: 43, 44, 41, 45, 14, 21, 7 and 1 pointed south east for Canada: 9, 32, 22, 16? 39 is so strong that both antennas would receive it. I'm concerned about ghosting and unsure how to combine the signals.

[real_goose]

The link from teleview says results are often disapointing with a omnidirectional antenna. I'm open to other suggestions. Is there any other way to get both the Detroit stations to the west as well as the Windsor stations to the south and the Sarnia stations east to north east and supply them to multiple TVs?

I also said the only way to find out is to try it. You will be spending bucks on your on going project so what the heck.

[kb2fzq]

Not unlike many, many of us, you have signals coming from many different directions...my advise, purchase 1 antenna that covers all the bands of the stations you want, and get a rotor to turn the antenna towards the station you want to watch at the time...an omni directional antenna will only disappoint you in the end...a good, high gain directional antenna (and maybe a pre-amp) and rotor will get all the stations you want and probably some you didn't even expect to get...
But, of course, that's just my 2 cents...

[skyryan]

I think Omnidirectional TV Antenna sometimes get a bad rep.
I am using an HD-360 Omni directional tv antenna and am receiving channels I wasnt "supposed" to...sometimes they are great for receiving deflected signals where directinals dont.

got it at:

https://www.nationalantennas.com/sto...a-Package.html

Was thinking of modding it ... the inside design is MUCH different than the one shown above as it has 2 PCB boards.. I believe one is a PCB Balun..and the other is the amplifier.

[omnifan]

You best choice based on your post would be two standard antennas, both aimed halfway between the transmitter towers you want to receive, one pointed halfway between the towers for the US and the other half way for the Canadian stations connected through an A/B switch. The drawback of an omnidirectional antenna is usually its low gain but if those stations are within the omni range and are spread apart on the horizon, an omni directional antenna is a great choice. For my location I've had excellent result with the model found at www.omnitenna.com