Working on OTA system

[afton]

I've started assembling my antenna system.
Here is my report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f0280778a341
I found an old version CM-4228, it is mounted at the top of the mast.
Five feet below that, a CM-3020.
They are pointed in the same direction on the upper section of mast which extends about 15 feet above the peak of the roof.
They are connected via RG-6 quad shield to a RCA TVPRAMP1R with separate inputs. I have the FM trap set to OFF.
The upper section is attached to a CM-9521 rotor with a TB-105 support bearing.
The assembly is kind of heavy so I didn't want to setup a wall mount. I got a Rohn H50 mast and gable mount kit to support it at the top. I will also connect at least one wall bracket part of the way up the mast. I plan to firmly attach the mast to the house and not use any guy wires.
Based on my tvfool report, I should have no trouble picking up the Tri-Cities stations at 64 degrees, and might even have too much signal. I really want to be able to pick up the Knoxville stations at 259 degrees. Based on signal strength and antenna gain, it seems like I should be able to get the stations up to WVLT.
What I don't really understand is how the 1edge and 2edge terms come into play.
Am I way out in left field or do I have a chance?
The system is mostly assembled on the ground now, I need to get a gigantic ladder to install it.

[GroundUrMast]

To be sure we understand, are you testing reception at 50' AGL as your TV Fool report suggests? Or are you reporting ground level testing results?

What signals are you seeing reliably?

If you aren't receiving any signals, Have you configured your tuner(s) to scan for 'air' or 'antenna' format signals? (Cable mode is the common default, and is incompatible with over the air digital signal format.)

Reliable reception of Knoxville signals is going to be challenging. Edge-path signals are those that have some amount of terrain obstruction between the transmitter and your location. This warning suggests that there will be additional transmission impairments to contend with besides simple signal attenuation. Multipath interference and fluctuations in path loss (both rapid and longer term) is common when facing edge-path conditions. Edge-path conditions often reduce the overall quality of the received signal. Reliable reception of a signal is dependent on the quality of the received signal. Signal strength alone does not assure the quality of the signal.

[afton]

I haven't got the mast put up yet so I'm still paying Comcast right now.
The mast is a Rohn 50, but it actually extends only 34'. Then on top of that I have a 16' section that the antennas are mounted on. The top section is on a rotor. The 4228 is at the top of that section, so it should be right about 50'. The 3020 is 5' below the bottom of the 4228, so it will be about 43' high.

I'll be picking up a ladder this weekend so I should be able to test it in a week or so. I really wanted to see if there was anything else I should do before sticking it up in the air.

I have 3 different tv sets, the Samsung and the Sceptre tuners seem to work a lot better than the RCA, they will at least pick up some of the cable channels without a DTA box. The RCA doesn't find anything. I've swapped places for the sets and the problem follows the TV instead of the wiring. I'm hoping the ones with the better tuners will pick up the Knoxville channels. The other one will just have to get by with the Tri-Cities stations.

[GroundUrMast]

So the antenna reception you've seen thus far is with the antenna(s) at or near ground level... Getting them up to 34' AGL and fine tuning their aim should provide a great improvement.

As far as improvements to consider, avoid a mounting location that forces you to aim through trees or structures, even if this means adding to the coax length. If you're going to have any chance at Knoxville signals, you need as clear a shot as possible.

If your TVs are still set to tune 'cable' formatted signals, don't expect to see any over-the-air signals.

[afton]

OK, it's up. Still have a little bit of work to do with finishing up the mounts and grounding and still need to route the wiring permanantly. I temporarily ran the wire under the garage door to the tv in the basement, the one with the weakest tuner.

Turned toward Knoxville, it tunes in 37 channels. Almost all of the Knoxville channels come in, the exception is surprisingly the one with the strongest signal rating on the charts. It is also on the VHF band rather than UHF band. Maybe it will come in on one of the other tv sets.

All of the tri-cities channels as well as the Asheville channel come in good from the back or side so I could have probably skipped the rotor and just mounted it permanently turned toward Knoxville.