HDX1000 vs DB4e

[Orion0485]

Hello all,

I've been using the HDX1000 antenna for several months now with relative success. I am having issues with intermittent signal loss (most notably on 46.1). I have the antenna mounted outside on the southwest corner of my house facing north and about 20 feet above the ground. My question is if I invest in the DB4e, will I be able to get more channels and stronger reception on the channels I am currently able to get?

HDX1000
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...tenna-(hdx1000)

DB4e
http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/...v-antenna.html


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...5b945e0f830dff

Thanks for the help!

[GroundUrMast]

I'd opt for the Antennas Direct DB8E + Antennacraft Y10713.

I'd point the Y10713 south toward WOLO & WIS, hoping to also see WTVI from the rear angle.

I'd set the two panels of the DB8E to face the two major groups of signals NW & NE.

Combine the two antennas using an RCA TVPRAMP1R if driving a long coax run or splitting to several TVs. If the run is short and only one TV, try an Antennas Direct UHF/VHF signal combiner and no amplifier.

[dmfdmf]

Originally Posted by Orion0485

I've been using the HDX1000 antenna for several months now with relative success. I am having issues with intermittent signal loss (most notably on 46.1).

If this is a new install I'd check your work and check your aim. I like to use True azimuth not magnetic measures. Go to this site http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html and you can zoom into your house and put way points on each corner of the wall the antenna is mounted on and record the Lat/Lon. Then go to this site http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html and punch in the Lat/Lon numbers and it will calculate the direction of that wall. Once you know that, simple trig can figure out where the antenna should be aimed. I'd measure and calculate the current aim and then cheat toward the West 5 deg. to try and get a better signal for Fox, without knocking some other station out.

I am not familiar with your current antenna but can you disable or bypass the amp and see what you lose? You can't just unplug it or it becomes a giant insertion loss but if you can bypass it might be helpful to know what you are getting without the amp in the way. How many TVs are you driving with this antenna and how my feet of coax run?

Also, rerun your fool report and raise the elevation to 25ft and compare the results. I've installed antennas where I had to add as little as 3ft extension to a J-pole to get an antenna out of a dead spot or increase signal enough to fix a flaky station. I'd use the antenna you've got to experiment before rushing to throw another antenna up. The more you know the better chance you have of selecting the right antenna and/or addressing other possible causes.

[Orion0485]

Originally Posted by GroundUrMast

I'd opt for the Antennas Direct DB8E + Antennacraft Y10713.

I noticed the DB8e in my search for an antenna, but I preferred the smaller size of the DB4e. Perhaps the addition of an antenna rotator with the DB4e would accomplish the same as the DB8e?

[Orion0485]

Originally Posted by dmfdmf

I am not familiar with your current antenna but can you disable or bypass the amp and see what you lose? You can't just unplug it or it becomes a giant insertion loss but if you can bypass it might be helpful to know what you are getting without the amp in the way. How many TVs are you driving with this antenna and how my feet of coax run?

I'm not sure how to bypass the amp. I currently have one TV connected with a rather long coax run. I've installed a radioshack inline signal amplifier with 12db gain to try to overcome the long coax run. Due to the location of the antenna, there has to be a 50' coax run before I can get to the amplifier. From there it goes about 20-30 feet (I'm guessing since it is in wall cabling). I will try to raise the antenna, but I've noticed the signal loss is not constant. It typically happens at night around 8-9pm. I don't live near an airport, so I don't think I'm getting airplane interference. I was hoping the increase in antenna gain would help overcome this.

[Orion0485]

Originally Posted by GroundUrMast

I'd opt for the Antennas Direct DB8E + Antennacraft Y10713

Hi, sorry if this is a repeat post, but I don't see my reply on the thread.

I preferred the DB4e over the DB8e because of it's size. Would I be able to achieve the same results as the DB8e if I used an antenna rotator with the DB4e?

[Orion0485]

Originally Posted by dmfdmf

I am not familiar with your current antenna but can you disable or bypass the amp and see what you lose? You can't just unplug it or it becomes a giant insertion loss but if you can bypass it might be helpful to know what you are getting without the amp in the way. How many TVs are you driving with this antenna and how my feet of coax run?

I am not sure how to bypass the amp. I am driving one TV currently on the first floor. I have a long coax run from the antenna to the TV since the antenna is on the roof of the second floor and the TV is on the first. Furthermore, the power inserter for the antenna is at the end of a 50' coax run (from antenna to power supply in attic). Unfortunately this is as close as I can get the power inserter. From the inital 50' coax run, I estimate another 50' run of coax in wall to get to the TV. I have installed a Radioshack 12db gain in-line amplifier right after the antenna power inserter to help overcome the loss in the last 50' of coax.

My inital install pointed the antenna at magnetic north, but after that I used the TV's (Sharp Aquos) signal meter to tune the channels in. For the most part I get good reception on 46.1, but it becomes unwatchable later in the night (8-9pm). There are also some PBS channels that I get poor reception (42.1/2/3 for example)

Antenna-->power inserter->amplifier-->TV

[dmfdmf]

Originally Posted by Orion0485

I am not sure how to bypass the amp.

It may not be possible, from the description it is a built-in pre-amp.

I am driving one TV currently on the first floor. I have a long coax run from the antenna to the TV since the antenna is on the roof of the second floor and the TV is on the first. Furthermore, the power inserter for the antenna is at the end of a 50' coax run (from antenna to power supply in attic). Unfortunately this is as close as I can get the power inserter.

That should work fine.

From the inital 50' coax run, I estimate another 50' run of coax in wall to get to the TV. I have installed a Radioshack 12db gain in-line amplifier right after the antenna power inserter to help overcome the loss in the last 50' of coax.

So you have two amps? I'd try it without that second amp. Your TV Fool report indicates that you have plenty of signal in the "air" and the pre-amp is adding 10 db with 2.5 db loss factor at the antenna so this should work with one TV. It should look like this;

<Ant. w/ pre-amp><50ftCoax><Pwr Injector><50ftCoax>TV

Are these 50ft continuous runs of coax RG/6 or is it piecemeal RG59 with any splitters, couplers in there other than the power injector?

My inital install pointed the antenna at magnetic north, but after that I used the TV's (Sharp Aquos) signal meter to tune the channels in. For the most part I get good reception on 46.1, but it becomes unwatchable later in the night (8-9pm).

This seems like an atmosphere issue. Fox is 1Edge so I think moving the antenna around will help. If you could move it higher that would probably work the best. Alternatively, as a test can you tilt it up a bit, above horizontal, instead of changing the azimuth. Sometimes that helps with 1 or 2Edge stations but I think you might need to raise it a few feet, you are probably right in a refracted dead zone that changes at night.

There are also some PBS channels that I get poor reception (42.1/2/3 for example)

42.1 is a virtual channel number, its real channel is RCH11. This is important because RCH11 is a VHF station and from the looks of it that antenna probably doesn't have much gain at the lower frequencies. However, you should be getting a strong connection to PBS from WNSC on VCH30/RCH15, so its probably not worth changing out the antenna to improve signals on duplicate stations. If you wanted get 42.1 reliably you would probably have to get a different antenna.

[dmfdmf]

Originally Posted by Orion0485

...I estimate another 50' run of coax in wall to get to the TV.

If this is a prewired home you might want to check where that wire goes. Ideally it should be a straight shot to the TV you are trying to feed. Sometimes these in-wall coax runs snake all over the house if there are TV ports in other rooms they probably also have a -3 dB splitter or tap at each location. See if you can find the path and then remove any taps/splitters at each TV outlet and replace them with straight through couplers. Read the wire and see if it is RG/59 or RG/6 in the wall.