need help in cutting th cord.

[Rooster52]

Currently have a 5 tv setup.
1 downstairs, 4 upstairs.
1 spliter downstair and 2 spliter upstairs.
No current image problems with Fios feed.
Coax to all locations with no amp.

want to attempt to install antenna in atic,but wiil install outside if need.

any recomendations on equipment would be appreciated.

tvfool report -
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e77986e7c9ffda

The Tv transmissions at your location are Very Strong and Many channels will be received.

If the house is wood frame with wood or vinyl siding , standard non metal backed insulation , composition shingles.

Then install a Terk HDTVi (not HDTVa) antenna at each Tv location.

Aim the HDTVi antenna at about 260 degree magnetic compass direction.

Here is how to aim indoor antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

If the house has , metal siding , metal backed insulation , concrete walls , concrete blocks , cinder blocks , bricks from ground to roof , big rocks for walls , metal roof , solar panels , indoor Tv antenna reception will be reduced or blocked.

If the downstairs Tv is actually in the basement then reception will not be good in the basement with a indoor antenna.

The Tv's Must Channel Scan for the Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , sometimes named the 'Air Channels' or 'Antenna Channels' in the Tv setup menu because the Tv transmission travel through the air from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna.

DO NOT channel scan for cable channels.


http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com.

[GroundUrMast]

First, unless you try the antenna in the attic, you can't be sure the attic will be a good reception site. Construction materials can include metal and other base materials that may impair reception.

If your attic is a reception friendly site and depending on how much room you have in the attic, an Antennacraft HBU-33, 44 or 55 could provide plenty of signal power to drive a passive 8-way splitter. If you need to move the antenna out of the attic, the Antennacraft is fairly easy to re-fold without damage.

Ideally, you would use only one splitter, with exactly the number of ports needed. By doing so, you'll keep losses to a minimum. 6-way splitters exist: http://www.3starinc.com/holland_6-wa..._splitter.html and if you have a couple of very short runs, you may also consider a 4-way splitter with a 2-way splitter fed off a port. The 2-way would have lower output so it would be the source for feeding the shortest cable runs.

The Digital Tv stations/channels are Very Strong at your location.

For a attic installation of a Tv antenna install a Antennas Direct Clear Stream 2 Complete UHF/VHF antenna , http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/...VHF-Combo.html.

Remove the Reflector Screen from the CS2 Complete antenna and the CS2 Complete will receive at the front of the antenna and back of the antenna.

The 2 groups of Tv stations are to the west and east.

With the reflector screen removed aim one side of the CS2 Complete at 80 degree magnetic compass direction and the other side of the CS2 Complete at 260 degree magnetic compass direction.

The coax cables and splitters and etc. that are in or on the house that are used for the antenna system Can Not be connected to a coax that has Any Type Or Kind of active FIOS service.

If the attic is wood with standard composition shingles and no metal backed insulation and no metal roof and no thick roof tiles , reception should be fine.

No preamplifier or distribution amplifier should be required.

Try the CS2 Complete antenna connected to the current splitter set up , the signals are so strong it will most likely work Ok.

[Rooster52]

wow..thanks for all the input. I didn't think about the fact that if I were to keep the fios internet, it would need to not share the same coax as the OTA.

I am also glad that it appears I will be able to get a good signal from the towers near me.

[Rooster52]

Teleview,
I took your advice and finally got the Clearstream 2 complete antenna and I'm going to install it this weekend. From what I am reading, you suggest removing the reflector and just use the CS2 complete only (the loop element bow tie part)....Is that correct ? If so, should I use the reflector for Any thing at all?
Should I use the collapsable dipole adjustable arms that are attached to the reflector?

As I specific stated and provided a link , to make a point , It is the Clear Stream 2 Complete VHF/UHF antenna. The Clear Stream 2 Complete has the 2 loops UHF antenna part and the VHF Rods , dipoles , at the top of the antenna.

The UHF loops and the VHF rods are what receive the UHF and VHF channels.

The UHF loops and VHF Rods are required to receive UHF and VHF transmissions.

The ->Screen<- is what is removed. With the removal of the ->Screen<- the the UHF loops and VHF Rods will receive the UHF Tv channels 14 thru 51 and VHF Tv channels 7 thru 13 in 2 directions at the front of the antenna is 1 direction and the back of the antenna is the 2nd direction.
___________________________

And Yes I know what Antennas Direct says about there own CS2 Complete antenna ,

They call the VHF Rods , VHF reflectors.

The VHF rods Are Not VHF reflectors.

The VHF rods are metal VHF RECEPTION Elements.

I did my best to tell the person at Antennas Direct I was talking to on the phone the VHF rods Are Not reflectors , But in typical human behavior the person I was talking to at Antennas Direct dug in there heals and insisted on calling them VHF reflectors.

[Rooster52]

Thanks for help in clarification of terms. I did get the Clearstream 2 Complete VHF/UHF antenna referred to in your link.

When I first read your description of what to do, I saw how you indicated to not use the reflector screen. After reading your last email, I went back and took a closer look at the antenna and can now see that the VHF rods are not attached to the reflector grill, they are their own piece. Thanks for helping me out on the VHF part....I was wrongly thinking I needed to use the reflector grill and VHF rods, because I thought they were one piece.

I will be putting it in this weekend...thanks again for your advice!

[Rooster52]

Well, looks like your advice was successful. Installed antenna in the attic and results were very good...only one station was occasionally stuttering. Adjusted the anntenna slightly to a south western position fixed that issue, and now all stations are coming in clearly.

Thanks again teleview for your advice and recommendations.

Ok that is very good thanks for the feedback.

I am curious , as an example WVEC channel 13 ABC.

As the example , using the station call sign , channel and network.

What was the channel that was stuttering??

[Rooster52]

It was WGNT channel 50 CW.
It was a surprise to me since it appears to be the closest to the house. Like I wrote, a small adjustment in antenna direction seems to have corrected the issue. I have been looking at the signal of all stations since then and they are coming in good.

Not a surprise.

Strong signal and multipath.

The signal is Very Strong at 74.7 NM(dB).

The attic environment is close in and creates A Lot of multipath - reflected signal bouncing all around in the attic.

Digital Tv Tuners have a circuits that reduce the signal strength in the tuner and can process and eliminate multipath up to a certain point,

And then the Digital tuner is overloaded.

By turning the antenna , you changed some of the multipath reflections to a amount the Digital tuner can deal with.

The 'popular knowledge' is that the stronger the signal the better , ' yea - slam the juice to it!! , more power please!! , crank up the amp's!! , super charge it!! , and so forth!!.

To much signal strength on a Tv channel and the Digital tv tuner will shut down and , No Tv channel for you.

Multipath is not always a negative , sometimes the main signal is not avavliable or good enough to receive.
But the reflected signal is.

__________________________________________________________________

I am curious , is WSKY-Tv channel 9 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSKY-TV , being received??

[Rooster52]

WOW...I sure have learned alot from you on this subject.

I was definitely one of those people that thought strong was best. Multipath signal was a term I had never heard of. After getting the antenna and installing, I kept coming back to this site to learn more about NM(dB)
and Pwr(dBm) and other terms. The webapage called TV Signal Analysis FAQ was also very helpful...but... there is nothing like speaking to a PRO.

Thanks for the education.

Rooster52

I am Curious , is WSKY-TV being received??

[Rooster52]

yes. I actually get WSKY-TV channel 9 IND as both a virtual channel 4.1 and 4.2

4.1 is HD and 4.2 is SD. They come in clear. no break in signal even during stormy weather.

Thanks for the info of WSKY , The direction of the transmitter is more to the side of the antenna makes the signal harder to receive , however WSKY is being received no problems , thanks.