Help in San Diego

[lostagg]

Hi everyone. I need help with my reception. I currently have a Winegard FL6550 FlatWave antenna mounted on my roof about 10-12 ft off the ground. It is connected to two sharp TV's with coax runs of 50 ft. and 30 ft. respectively. As of now when I run the channel set up, the tv locates 40 stations but I can only view 3 of them. Below is my tv fool report. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8e035eebf4d5cd

[Jake V]

What stations are you trying to get?

What direction is the antenna aimed?

If you're not interested in the stations at 166 degrees (mostly in Spanish?) you'd probably do best by aiming at 146 degrees for the major networks (Fox, PBS, NBC). The stations at 221 degrees (CBS and ABC) are strong and might be picked up.

The downside is that all your stations are two edged.

You might re-run your TV Fool plot at a higher elevation and consider getting the antenna higher than 10 feet.

[lostagg]

What stations are you trying to get?
Fox, PBS, NBC and any other not Spanish channels.

What direction is the antenna aimed?
It's roughly at 221 degrees. I'm not sure I understand the "two edged" reference.

I will try at 146 when I get home and see what happens. I'm not opposed to a different antenna. Should I look into this as well?

Below is the antenna at 20 ft. What do you think?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8e03f93c996fb5

[Jake V]

Check this for an understanding of diffraction: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html

As for another antenna, maybe. I would not have chosen the one you have for your location. However, since you have it it costs nothing to re-aim it. Start at 142 degrees (using a compass) and see what happens. If you loose CBS and ABC start moving it back towards 221 and hope you can find a sweet spot that gets everything you want. If not, let us know.

[lostagg]

Thanks for all the good info. So I got out a compass worked my way from 142 and ended back at roughly 221. The closer to 141 I could only get one channel. So I ended up where I started basically. I can still return the antenna if that is the solution. Any ideas are still welcome though. Thanks

[ADTech]

It helps tremendously if you provide specific information about the channels received because that info helps us understand what is and isn't working.

Your location relative to the desired broadcast towers means an out-of-the-box antenna is unlikely to be satisfactory. Your location is also terrain-obstructed which will increase the difficulty dramatically.

Also, using an amplified antenna in urban and suburban areas often has undesirable side effects.

For most areas around Poway, I usually recommend a two-antenna setup or a setup with one of our versatile combinations of a UHF antenna combined with one of our VHF dipole kits mounted at a right angle to the UHF antenna. For example, you can pick up a ClearStream 2V or 4V locally at Best Buy. Aim the UHF antenna to the south and a bit east, and then mount the VHF module so it's (nearly) perpendicular to the aim of the UHF antenna. The 20" mount sold in the retail store packages isn't long enough to accommodate the VHF module separately, you'll need a longer mount or will need to extend the short one.

If your signal paths aren't clear, don't expect miracles. See and study the "siting" link posted above.

[Tower Guy]

I'd be looking at a directional VHF antenna for channels 8 and 10 coupled to a broad beamed UHF antenna aimed at about 165, favoring the US stations but also able to receive Mexico.

Directional VHF antennas are rare these days, but here are two choices:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produc...-2475-/30-2475
http://www.abilityhdtv.com/product-i...nna-pid66.html

Your UHF antenna could be a C2, DB-4e, or any other 4 bay UHF antenna.

At your location you have no problems with FM overloading a preamp, so install a TVPRAMP-1R with the FM trap on and the VHF antenna connected to the VHF port and the UHF antenna connected to the UHF port.

[lostagg]

Thanks everyone. I came home and tried tweaking things a little further and I now have channels 8.1, 8.2, 10.1, 10.2, 15.1, and 39.1(only on one TV). Do I stand a chance of getting anymore channels with the mentioned setups? Thanks again for all the feedback and suggestions.

[rickbb]

Originally Posted by lostagg

Thanks everyone. I came home and tried tweaking things a little further and I now have channels 8.1, 8.2, 10.1, 10.2, 15.1, and 39.1(only on one TV). Do I stand a chance of getting anymore channels with the mentioned setups? Thanks again for all the feedback and suggestions.

You won't really know until you try. I will second Tower Guys recommendation for a 4 bay bowtie though, they have worked really well for me.

I think with a 4bay with the reflector removed and mounted as high as you can get and aimed at 57 degrees you should get more channels.

But I think your bigger problem is your channels are all 2edge, you are down behind several hills putting you in their shadow from the towers. Which is why the higher you can get the antenna the better, (usually that is, exceptions abound).

[ADTech]

Leave the reflector on the 4-bay and aim it SOUTH (that's where the network stations come from), about 165-170° TRUE.

Separately, aim a high VHF antenna at La Jolla, 233° TRUE.

Combine the two antennas with either a dual-input medium gain preamp set to "COMBINE" or with a UVSJ then amplify with a medium gain preamp.

The terrain is indeed the biggest challenge. The subject location is 300' below the hill to the west and 500' below the hill to the south so signals will be SEVERELY weakened before they ever get to the antenna, assuming they do and there are no other impairments in the signal path.

[Jake V]

Fox, PBS and NBC are at 146 degrees and are all UHF.
CBS and ABC are at 221 degrees and are both VHF.
CW (VHF LO) and numerous Spanish language stations (VHF and UHF) are at 166 degrees.
Some non-network stations at 46 degrees.

The stations at 221 degrees are the strongest. You'll have to experiment until you find the best of what you can get. ADTech & Tower Guy provided good recommendations. If this were me, I'd probably go with a 4 bay UHF and one of the separate VHF antennas recommended by Tower Guy.

[ADTech]

CW (VHF LO)

CW, virtual 6.x, is UHF 23. All analog stations in the area went off the air two years ago.

When specifying aiming headings, be sure to include the notation of either magnetic or true. This becomes very important the further one travels east or west of the (approximately) Mississippi River Valley. San Diego has about 12° west declination.

[Tower Guy]

You should pick up 12 stations plus many .1 and .2 subchannels. At least five of the 12 would be Spanish.