The Right Antenna For Me?

[BigD]

I’m new to this and would love it if someone could help me out in picking the right antenna for my needs. My wife doesn’t want me putting the antenna on the roof so I would like to do an attic mount.

My house is a one story with brick walls and asphalt shingles.

This is my TvFool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...267e43a909c8f6

I’m hoping to get the ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX stations that are all within 35 miles.

I’ve been looking at a few antennas and one that has caught my eye is the AntennaCraft HBU33. Will this work for what I want to do? Also any suggestions or tips for attic mounts are more then welcome.

Thanks for the help!

[Dave Loudin]

For the Waco stations to the northeast, that will be fine. If you were interested in Austin to the south (which is doable), I would go a bit larger in the HBU line with either a separate antenna and feed into an A/B switch or a single antenna with a rotor (not terribly likely in an attic.)

[BigD]

Thanks for the quick response Dave.
I think for now I'll stick to the Waco stations but if this works good I may add a second antenna to pick up the Austin stations.

I do have a few more questions for you Dave or anyone that can answer them.
With the antenna being in the attic do I still need to ground it?
This antenna is a directional antenna but will it pick up any of the stations that it's not pointed at like the PBS station that is about 6 miles away?

Thanks again for the help!

[Electron]

Install a Winegard HD7696P antenna , no preamp , aimed at about 46 degree magnetic compass. The antenna can be suspended with heavy duty string or cord or hang a pipe from the roof rafters. Get the antenna as high as possible in the attic pointed at about 46 degree magnetic compass. Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. Here are places to buy antennas and etc. , http://www.winegarddirect.com , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com . KNCT 46 PBS is a very strong signal and will most likley be received on the side of the antenna.

[BigD]

Thanks for the links Electron.
Any idea about if I should ground the antenna if its in the attic?

[Electron]

Grounding a antenna that is in the attic is not required. Radiant Barrier metal backed insulation is very popular in Texas if Radiant Barrier has been installed on the underside of the roof , the Tv transmissions will be reduced or blocked.

[Electron]

If you have not watched or listened to Digital Broadcast Television you are in for a very pleasant suprize the picture and sound are better then cable or satellite. . The Tv/s Must Scan for the Digital Broadcast Tv Channels sometimes called the 'Air Channels' or 'Antenna Channels' in the Tv set up menu because the television transmissions travel through the air from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. Do Not scan for cable tv channels.

[Electron]

FYI .Here is the Federal Law that says Yes you can install and use antennas that are mounted above the roof. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-r...n-devices-rule , this Federal Law over rules all , hoas , housing coven-nuts , neigh-boor hood restrictions , cities , counties , states , and all other crazies that do not like or even hate antennas.

[Electron]

If you have a old analog tv or monitor , here are some converter boxes that convert Digital Broadcast Television to analog or a signal that the monitor can use. http://www.channelmasterstore.com

[BigD]

Currently we have Dish but we noticed we spend more time watching Netflix and Hulu then we do Dish. The hope here is if we can get the local networks (mostly the Sunday Football Games and local weather) then we can drop Dish.

We don't have the radiant barrier insulation just looks like plywood and asphalt shingles.

After Dave posted this morning that the AntennaCraft HBU33 looked like it would get the job done I ordered it on Amazon. Should I cancel this order while I can and get the Winegard HD7696P?

[Electron]

The average antenna gain of the HBU33 is 7.6 on VHF high and 7 on UHF. The average gain of the HD7696P is 10.25 on VHF hi and 12 on UHF. The HD7696P is a heavy duty well constructed long lasting antenna. The HD7696P antenna has a built in matching transformer (balun) that connects the antenna to the coax. The HBU33 has a separate transformer. The HD7696P has more gain , collects more signal then HBU33. It's your choice. I go with HD7696P antenna.

[Dave Loudin]

Everything about antenna gain that Electron said is true. However, let's look at your requirements.

Our basic premise is providing a noise margin (read the Signal Analysis FAQ that's linked on your report) at the reciever of 15 or so dB to protect against the odd propagation conditions that are not handled by propagation models. All the Waco stations have noise margins of 40 dB or more. That means you have 25 dB or more to give in signal strength before running into trouble.

At the very worst case, you could lose 20 dB by being in the attic, plus lose 3 dB or so in the cable down to the TV. We're still good! You don't need to max out on antenna gain. The HBU-33 will be perfectly fine.

[BigD]

Update:

Because this is going to be installed in the attic I decided to stick with the HBU33. It is 25 inches shorter then the HD7696P and should give me more room to move it around.

I received my antenna last night and assembly was easy. The best thing was the elements fold in which made it really easy to get it into the attic. Once in the attic I folded out the elements, connected the cable, and just placed it on top of a box pointing in what I believed was the general direction of the broadcast stations. I turned on the TV, started the scan, and was very surprised to see it picked up 28 crystal clear channels.

All I really wanted was to pick up the big 4 (NBC,ABC,CBS,and FOX) which I got no problem. So getting this many stations was just a bonus.

Now that we get all of our local channels, with the combination of Netflix and Hulu I think its time to drop my satellite provider.

Thank you to everyone that helped!

[Electron]

Many people are still living in the past when there were only a few Analog Broadcast Tv channels to receive and the pictures were , snowy , fuzzy , with multipul images called ghosts. Many question askers come here with these images and expectations firmly fixed in there mind and ingrained into there being. The time of analog broadcast tv is almost gone now. This is Digital Broadcast Tv and Many channels will be received weather you like it or not.

[Electron]

It is interesting that pay satellite and pay cable tv providers continue to rise prices and offer packages of services that are designed to remove money from your pocket. While losing more and more customers.