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Old 5-Mar-2015, 5:21 PM   #1
Pussyfoot
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Antenna needed for Ronkonkoma, NY (Suffolk County)

Cablevision raised my rates and I can't get FiOS TV (Internet and phone only) in my area. I finally took a stand and cut the (TV) cord. Hulu works great, but having a live HD feed is something I want.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f0a389f39e3b

It looks like in order to get NBC, I'm going to need an outdoor on-the-roof antenna. I don't mind spending for top quality since it's a one time sunk cost. I'm wondering if I'll need a rotator. All the channels I care about receiving (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, PBS, CW, My9) are probably transmitting from the Empire State Building. I do worry that one day some of these stations will move to the freedom tower and require reorientation of the antenna. BTW, what's the reason why NBC is so much weaker compared to CBS, for example? They're both UHF. Also, something is changing with the Fox network when switching to the "pending" option. It looks like the signal strength is going to be improving in the future.

I don't want to do the install myself. I'd like to hire someone. If anyone does this in my area, please reply. I can't attach the antenna to my chimney. Is that going to be an issue? I'm assuming I'm going to need a Hi-VHF and UHF antenna. How big is it?
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Old 7-Mar-2015, 8:04 PM   #2
GroundUrMast
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You're correct, you'll have the best success with NYC signals if you use an outdoor antenna of combination of antennas.

A basic option would be to point a Winegard HD7698P or Antennacraft HBU-55 west, toward NYC.

If you want to try to add WJLP to your line-up, consider the Winegard HD7084P instead.

I'd expect some of the stronger signals from the NE to be received via the rear of those antennas.

I'd use an Antennas Direct 'Juice' preamp if you were to connect two or more TVs or have more than 50' of coax from the antenna to a single TV.
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Old 7-Mar-2015, 8:32 PM   #3
Pussyfoot
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Thank you. I found the preamp here:

https://www.antennasdirect.com/store/JUICE.html

What makes it superior to the ones made by the antenna manufacturers?

http://www.antennacraft.net/Antennas...ifiersDCB.html
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Old 7-Mar-2015, 10:41 PM   #4
GroundUrMast
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The 'Juice' preamp is able to handle a mix of both strong and weak signals. It's housing provides excellent shielding to prevent interfering signals from entering and behaving as a form of multipath interference. It provides an appropriate amount of gain for most residential applications and has very competitive noise/distortion specs relative to competing products.

Bear in mind... The primary purpose of a preamplifier is to overcome losses due to coax and splitting. No amplifier adds to the performance of an antenna. If you feed an amp with 'garbage' it will only push 'garbage' down the line. Just like a pump, if you put polluted water in, don't expect the output to be fit to drink.

Again, a preamp will not be of much use if neither of these conditions exist:

Splitting to multiple TVs
More than 50' of coax between the antenna and tuner
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Last edited by GroundUrMast; 7-Mar-2015 at 10:47 PM.
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Old 8-Mar-2015, 1:00 AM   #5
Pussyfoot
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Yes, I plan on splitting this to 3-4 TVs, so I'll need it. Considering all the channels I care about are transmitting from the same location (presumably) I guess I don't need a rotator. Is it a good idea to get one "just in case" or are they prone to failure?
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Old 8-Mar-2015, 1:41 PM   #6
timgr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pussyfoot View Post
Yes, I plan on splitting this to 3-4 TVs, so I'll need it. Considering all the channels I care about are transmitting from the same location (presumably) I guess I don't need a rotator. Is it a good idea to get one "just in case" or are they prone to failure?
You can always add one later. My understanding is that they are troublesome, and you need a TV that has the capability to manually add channels to the lineup. It's not realistic to rescan at each new heading.

My preference, if I was trying to acquire channels from multiple markets, would be to use separate antennas and tuners for each heading, all connected to a HTPC and the HTPC connected to the TVs by wireless. This eliminates moving parts and should be significantly more reliable. It should also eliminate the need for amplification and splitters, if the tuners can be located relatively close to the antennas.
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