New house/ setup suggestions needed

[KarTajan]

Moving to a new house, and planning to lose the cable. HOA will require a hidden antenna, so planning to install an antenna in the attic.

EDIT: 2 story house, prewired for cable
EDIT 2: I really want to avoid the need for any kind of rotator device due to attic install and W.A.F.

http://www.tvfool.com/modeling/tmp/0...getdigital.php

only looking for the following channels, my question is what would I really need (attic antenna/ amps/ etc), as not all stations are at similar azimuths....

channels of insterst w/ info from here and antennaweb:
TVFool details:
NM(db) Pwr(dBm)
KABB 30 (29.1) 17.4 miles at 164° (159° Mag) 63.7 27.2- LOS
KENS-DT 39 (5.1) 18.9 miles at 164° (159° Mag) 62.4 28.5- LOS
WOAI-TV 48 (4.1) 18.9 miles at 164° (159° Mag) 61.2 29.6- LOS
KSAT-TV 12 19 miles at 163° (158° Mag) 56.4 34.5- LOS
KMYS 32 (35.1) 33.1 miles at 279° (274° Mag) 22.8 68.0- 2Edge
KCWX 5 (2.1) 44.4 miles at 339° (335° Mag) 20.4 70.5- 1Edge
KPXL-DT 26 (26.1) 42.5 miles at 278° (273° Mag) 11.3 79.6- 1Edge

Antennaweb details:
KABB-DT 29.1 FOX RF Channel: 30 18 miles at 163° UHF Yellow
KENS-DT 5.1 CBS RF Channel: 39 19 miles at 163° UHF Yellow
KSAT-DT 12.1 ABC RF Channel: 12 20 miles at 162° VHF Yellow
WOAI-DT 4.1 NBC RF Channel: 48 19 miles at 163° UHF Yellow
KMYS-DT 35.1 CW RF Channel: 32 32 miles at 279° UHF Green
KPXL-DT 26.1 ION RF Channel: 26 42 miles at 278° UHF Red
KCWX-DT 2.1 MNT RF Channel: 5 44 miles at 340° VHF Violet

[Electron]

The hoa Can Not require a hidden antenna. Here is the Federal Law that says Yes You Can Install A Antenna On The Outside. This Federal Law over rules , hoa's , housing covenets , cities , counties , states and etc.. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html. Hoa's are well aware of this Federal Law , and still try to Scam people into believing can not have a antenna or must hide the antenna. This Settled Law , Hoa's and etc. have challenged the Federal Law time after time in court and lost time after time in court. Yes You Can Install A Antenna.

[MisterMe]

Redo your TV Fool Radar plot with your exact address. Attaching a picture of the plot is of little use. Do what everyone else is required to do. Post a link to your TV Fool Radar plot.

[Electron]

Looks like your location is surrounded by airports. This is not good. Reflected tv transmissions off of moving planes causes a lot of multipath - reflected signals , moving reflected signals , not good. I will return with some antenna recommendations.

[Electron]

Metal foil backed insulation like Radiant Barrier is very popular in Texas. Does the house have foil backed insulation??

[KarTajan]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...0b86e982908104

reposted link... I guess I posted just the image vice the actual page... sorry...

As far as the HOA thing, I based my comment off what they told me; if an attic mount works that is preferred, as I would rather avoid the argument that they are FUBAR unless absolutely neccessary...

metal foil is in the walls, but as far as I recall not in the attic... will have to double check the property this weekend...

[Electron]

Reflected signal are weaker of signal strength and out of time with the main signal. Broadcast Tv digital tuners have circuits that reject weaker out of phase/time signals , however the tuner can be overwhelmed. With your situation , attics can sometimes help with reception. The roof material will reduce the signal strength of the main signal and the reflected signals. Reducing the signal strength of the reflected signals is important so the tuner not overwhelmed. I recommend try a Winegard HD7000R antenna in the attic aimed at about 305 degree magnetic compass as a starting aim point. 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.

[Electron]

Connect it up and see what happens. Do Not use a preamplifier , a preamplifier will likley make the reception worse. Let's see what happens with only the antenna connected for now. How many tv's are/will be connected??

[KarTajan]

actual TV's: 3
Computer w/ dual TV Tuner: 2

(The computer's are my "Tivo", running Win 7's media center application for tv and recording)

I am assuming that a 305 magnetic with the recommended antenna should pick up all of my intended channels, at least in theory, yes?

The house is due to be completed this month, so depending on how long it takes to get through closing, it could be a while before I can test....

[Electron]

Yes the antenna pointed in the direction of 305 is to receive the channels you will like to receive and then some. Thats why I made the recommendation. If you are reading the question askers posts and the answers here at tvfool and you are reading the complaints across the net about , Tivo and the digital broadcast tuners that are installed in computers and windows media then you know that there are problems. The companies use sub standard tuners. This is not true for Tv's , Tv manufactures use the latest tecnology. Yes I know that you will search and find the one brand and model number of a tv that has a sub standard tuner.

[KarTajan]

Actually, my PC's have one of the better constructed tuners as far as computer based is concerned. I have minimal difference in the reception strength when compared to the regular HDTV's that I have. (1 channel that comes in over the clear QAM on the TV I do not get on the PC, and this is in a rental home with seriously substandard cable lines. Antenna based is only slightly worse than the TV's for the few that I can pull in out of the reception hole I am in)

And I have no desire to bash those who are providing me with recommendations and good advice in respect to cutting the cable...

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by KarTajan

... I have minimal difference in the reception strength when compared to the regular HDTV's that I have. (1 channel that comes in over the clear QAM on the TV I do not get on the PC, and this is in a rental home with seriously substandard cable lines. Antenna based is only slightly worse than the TV's for the few that I can pull in out of the reception hole I am in)

....

You a conflating several issues and are drawing very bad conclusions:

• Obviously, those of us on this forum do not have a wiring diagram for your cable installation. However, the cable that runs from the wall to the TV belongs to the resident. Usually, everything else belongs to the cable provider. It is the cable provider's responsibility to ensure that its paying subscribers receive the service that they are paying for. I certainly would not consider my cable provider to be a paragon of customer service, but it has never failed to ensure that my cabling was working properly. If necessary, then your cable guy will replace all cables and splitters in your home. That is his job.
• Cable uses Clear QAM. OTA digital broadcasts adhere to the ATSC standard. You cannot draw a conclusion about the OTA performance of a device based on its performance with Clear QAM.
• Although they don't do it in all cases, your cable provider is supposed to provide equally high quality signals on all cable channels. If you have a device that receives some channels by not all available channels, then the device has an issue.

Based on the information that you have given, then I would say that Electron is correct. Your PCTV tuner is substandard.