Help with suggesting an antenna for Denver CO

Bill57 · 11-May-2012, 1:33 AM

Hi,
I have gone through 11 antennas and none of them will pick up all the digital stations at the same time, and I have never been able to get FOX without intermittent signal loss. I live south of Wash Park and have trees and wires in my back yard which results in signal loss constantly. I have tried everything from installing these antennas outdoors on my roof (15') and inside, however I can never get all the channels.
I do not want to install a huge antenna outdoors, but I do need an antenna that can penetrate trees and utility wires.
Please, any suggestions for a good small antenna for either outdoors or indoors?
Thank you in advance for your reply.

Electron · 11-May-2012, 2:05 AM

Do as the other question askers do and Do This-> http://www.forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=4. Use the exact address of your house to make the tvfool radar report and make the antenna height 25 feet. How many Tv's are/will be connected?? If you do not understand how to get the tvfool radar report into your post then do it this way. Get the tvfool radar report on the computer screen. And copy the address bar at the top of the computer screen , the address bar starts like this , http:// . Above the box like this one where you type in you information you see a blue circle with a chain link , click on that and copy the information from the address bar in to it.

Bill57 · 12-May-2012, 1:11 AM

Hello Electron,

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...de650332dde321

Above is the web address you suggested and I have only one TV to hook up.
Thanks and I look forward to your reply and thanks for the suggestion.
I am pretty certain though that I can not install an antenna 25' in the air and I do not want to put that Weingard antenna you suggested to others that is huge.
Bill

GroundUrMast · 12-May-2012, 1:20 AM

Have you considered the RCA ANT-751 or the Antennas Direct CS-5?

Aimed west, either of these should easily provide reliable reception provided they are not blocked by a building or dense trees.

Avoid any amplified antennas, the signals are plentiful and powerful.

Bill57 · 12-May-2012, 1:26 AM

I did consider the RCA one, but after reading the reviews, decided not to look into that one, but did consider the one from Denny's Antenna that is very similar. I will check into the other one at Antennas Direct. Unfortunately, I have dense trees and power lines that affect the reception at different times of the day for some reason and can only assume that the power lines are affecting the reception.
Also, I have beaten my head against the wall for two years trying to this out, and have literally destroyed every antenna that I have purchased through frustration. I have even tried building my own antenna, such as the ones portrayed on YouTube. Worthless!
Thanks for the advise.

Electron · 12-May-2012, 6:11 AM

The Tv transmitters are about 14 miles away or so to the west on Lookout mountain. The reception is LOS = Line Of Sight. You can see the Red lights of the transmitter towers at night , Yes? . I lived in Denver for 12 years. Right now I understand that a , ANT751 or ANT751R antenna with No Amplifier , mounted above the roof and aimed west. And as a test , A Known to be good matching transformer (balun) connected to the antenna and A Known to be good coax is connected to the matching transformer , and the Known to be good coax is run through open window or door direct to a Known to be good Tv that will receive the DIGITAL Broadcast Tv Transmissions will receive , many , many , many , Digital Tv channels. What is the make and model number of the Tv?? Is a converter box being used??

Bill57 · 12-May-2012, 12:19 PM

I had forgotten that I purchased the RCA 751R antenna from Lowe's and mounted it to the roof, facing west towards the towers and still was not able to get all the channels, including FOX. I ended up taking that one back too! I changed out the coax cable and installed new, and still has not picked up channels. I can't win with this DTV crap. I could pick up all the stations with analog, but not anymore.
My TV is a Pioneer Elite Pro1140HD Plasma TV and not too long ago, I thought maybe the ASTC tuner might not be strong enough, so I purchased a converter box and that did nothing. My problem has to be the trees or the power/utility wires that run across the back! Its even more of a slap in the face when I can pick up all the Mexican channels, which I don't watch, and I can not get NBC or CBS and FOX.
Oh well, I appreciate your help.

Electron · 12-May-2012, 5:06 PM

Digital channels 7 and 9 are reception trouble prone VHF high band channels. I recommend a Winegard HD7210P antenna. The HD7210P antenna is a highly directional in the forward direction and rejects signal reflections and interference from other directions other then the front. Try the HD7210P antenna above the roof for reception , position the antenna so has clearest shot past the trees. Also try the antenna down lower to the ground to shoot under the utility wires. And try the reception on the west side of the utility wires both low to the ground and up higher. Put the HD7210P antenna on some antenna mast pipe sections and probe for best reception. Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html Here are some places to buy the HD7210P antenna. http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com , http://www.winegarddirect.com.

Bill57 · 15-May-2012, 3:28 PM

Thanks for the suggestion on the Winegard product, but I purchased one of their antennas a couple of years ago and the directions could have been written better by a monkey. They were so bad that I could not figure out how to put it together, so I boxed it up and shipped it back.
You state that I need to overcome the trees which is impossible, however their website states that its good for going through trees!
Oh well, I appreciate your help and if you have any other suggestions, feel free.
Thanks

ADTech · 15-May-2012, 6:19 PM

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/fixes.html

Scroll down to the section on "Short delay multi-path"

Additional resources from Ken Nist's HDTV Primer site which may provide insight:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/glossaryR.html#trees
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/g...l#interference
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html (Scroll down to "Trees and UHF")

An excellent (and sometimes humorous) read regarding UHF and trees was published in 1990 by a British "aerial" installer in the trade publication "Television". A reprint is available here: http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/referen...-reception.pdf Although written back in the analog-only days, the situation is much the same with one huge difference. A lousy analog signal was often viewable and the viewer just accepted it since they could figure it out. However, the same reception problems that caused a "lousy analog" experience will completely spoil digital reception as the "computer" in a digital tuner can't correct the numerous data errors and reception fails, either partially or completely, with the infamous "Weak or no signal" message. Please note that the terminology used was particular to the British market during analog days, so some information might require translation to common terms used on this side of the Atlantic.