Bay Area, CA help switching from Satellite to Antenna

NickEl · 18-Oct-2010, 11:25 PM

I live in Burlingame, CA and am interested in "ditching the Dish" and switching to antenna. We've never had an antenna at this house, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

TV Fool Report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...a36237238c92e3

The antenna will be roof mounted (eave mount), about 15-18 feet above ground, and will connect to the existing coaxial cable (roughly 50 feet length) to one TV.

On the TV Fool report, I will only be interested in the channels broadcasting from San Francisco's Sutro tower (13.1 miles, 322 degrees mag azimuth) and KNTV (8.4 miles, 314 degrees mag azimuth).

Any suggestions on what size/type of antenna?

Will I need an amplifier?

My TV is old, so I'll have to buy a digital converter box (didn't need one with satellite receiver before).

Thanks for the help,

Nick

GroundUrMast · 19-Oct-2010, 12:05 AM

A simple set of rabbit ears may work well for you... But if you want the added margin, A Channel Master CM-2016 ( http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...0Antennas&sku= ) will cover everything except the few channels that are on low VHF (2 through 6). Hopefully not a problem. That antenna will likely mount very easily on the wall or eave.

If you decide that you need any low-VHF channels a CM3016 has the all channel coverage but will not wall mount easily.

You should not need an amplifier. In fact it could cause problems given how much signal you have available.

Yes you will need a DTV converter box. It seems the available choices are becoming fewer... I own a Zenith DTT-901 and would recommend it. I hope you can find one at a reasonable price.

John Candle · 19-Oct-2010, 2:09 AM

http://www.ktvjtv.com is transmitting on real channel 4. . I recommend the Winegard HD7082P all channel Tv antenna. You will not need any kind of amplifier the signals are strong. You can try a simple indoor antenna http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233

John Candle · 19-Oct-2010, 2:16 AM

I recommend the Channel Master CM 7000 set top box or the CM 7000PAL DVR set top box.

NickEl · 19-Oct-2010, 3:27 PM

Well, I was able to find a Channel Master CM 7000. Not much demand for converter boxes nowadays...

Ordered a Channel Master CM2016 antenna.

Coaxial cable is next. Is solid copper rg6 necessary, or just the regular rg6?

Thanks for all the info,

Nick

GroundUrMast · 19-Oct-2010, 3:40 PM

A standard grade RG6 will be fine. Expect it to be double shielded which means that it will have a foil shield and a braided shield over that. You don't need to spend the money on hyped advertising claims or satellite grade quad shielded cable.

John Candle · 19-Oct-2010, 11:22 PM

Copper covered steal , center conductor RG6 is used by cable companies because it is strong. Copper covered steal center conductor does have a higher resistance then solid copper center conductor. Stores such Homedepot , Lowes , Stores that sell Tv's and electronics such as Fry's Electronics , Radio Shack , Walmart , Target. Stores that sell computers. Satellite systems such as DishNetwork and Direct Tv and Business satellite systems and more. All sell and use solid copper center conductor RG6. I recommend RG6 solid copper center conductor. However if you have copper covered steal center conductor or you are getting some from the cable installer , then use that.

NickEl · 2-Nov-2010, 4:50 AM

Just thought I'd follow up on this thread. It's been a total success. Finally got all the hardware installed, and I get great signal quality on all the channels I wanted.

Interesting that with my analog tv and a converter box, the picture quality is better than what I had before (Direct TV).

Thanks again for the suggestions..

Nick

GroundUrMast · 2-Nov-2010, 5:36 AM

Love to hear the success stories... Enjoy!