horrible reception in 60099

[eric12341]

I have it sitting in a stack of chairs since the roof is not able to have anything mounted onto it. 75% of my location is surrounded by trees, there is a small gap in between the trees in my neighbors yard between their house and garage that I aim the antenna through. Sometimes this works well but other times I lose reception on both the channels I watch the most (WSNS and WGBO). currently staring at a black screen right now with the signal strength rising into the 40s

[GroundUrMast]

So it's entirely possible that TV Fool has provided you with a signal prediction that is reasonably accurate and the obstructed mounting location close to the ground leaves you with little useable signal.

If you can afford about $30 worth of hardware from Home Depot, you can make a guyed mast 10' or 20' high. Their fence top rail makes an adequate mast. Combine that with some 1/4" Dacron rope for guys and you can at least 'test' the reception at 10' or 20' AGL.

[eric12341]

Originally Posted by GroundUrMast

So it's entirely possible that TV Fool has provided you with a signal prediction that is reasonably accurate and the obstructed mounting location close to the ground leaves you with little useable signal.

If you can afford about $30 worth of hardware from Home Depot, you can make a guyed mast 10' or 20' high. Their fence top rail makes an adequate mast. Combine that with some 1/4" Dacron rope for guys and you can at least 'test' the reception at 10' or 20' AGL.

It's not accurate at all, it said that an indoor set top antenna is sufficient to receive the stations I want. That's far from the truth because the indoor set top antenna I bought barely worked ,if at all till I sat it outside. It then worked till about March or April when I decided to buy the ANT751. I threw the set top onto the roof in rage thinking it would work better up there but the cable came loose before I got to hook it up.

[GroundUrMast]

I'm truly sorry that you're frustrated, but I'm not at all convinced that your circumstance proves or even suggests a deficiency on the part the information this service has provided.

The TV Fool Signal Analysis FAQ addresses the issues you raise. Along with quite a bit of other helpful information, the following disclaimer is included in-part because of situations such as yours.

Please understand that this is a simulation and can only be treated as a rough approximation. Reception at your location is affected by many factors such as multipath, antenna gain, receiver sensitivity, buildings, and trees - which are not taken into account. Your mileage may vary.

So, no, it did not say,

that an indoor set top antenna is sufficient

Given that TV Fool has no way of knowing what trees buildings or RF interference sources are present, it's reasonable to expect the user to make allowance for the additional factors unknown to the free service provider.

So, it's up to you... you can choose to try what's suggested or you can choose not to. I can assure you, your anger and frustration will do nothing to overcome the challenge.

[eric12341]

My parents are looking into getting the cable back on but I need a meantime solution. Anyway I just turned my antenna towards Milwaukee and managed to pickup TheCoolTV from grand rapids but not any channels from Milwaukee at all.

[GroundUrMast]

Sounds like a good day.

[eric12341]

Originally Posted by GroundUrMast

Sounds like a good day.

What I also discovered is that it's frequency is the same as WGN- (RF19) is on. It's been a struggle getting even that in recent months and its likely possible that the signal from this station is interfering and over powering it.

[GroundUrMast]

I presume WXMI, real CH-19 is the signal you're seeing from Grand Rapids. If that's the case, once the atmospheric conditions revert to a more normal state you'll not be able to receive that signal.

But you're right, day to day some signal may be bouncing off layers of the atmosphere, causing interference to the local WGN signal. In a perfect world, you'd have access to the roof or your own tower and you could use a high gain directional antenna that would ensure a stable signal from WGN.

[eric12341]

Ok really getting tired of this. Turned my antenna back locally so I could watch my telenovelas and my reception problems are back. I can receive a distant signal flawlessly but can't even receive a local signal. My mom ordered cable again as we were finally able to pay that bill. So now its just down to enduring this week which seems to be an important week as far as these Telenovelas are concerned then I can be over and done with this. That is till I get my own place which won't have so many trees in the way.