Losing my mind!

[CRIA]

Hello all,

Any help I can get would be much appreciated. My location information is as follows:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b5a3f376cbf3

I've gone through a lot of trouble with indoor and outdoor antennas. I finally caved and bought a LAVA 2805 antenna at the recommendation of a coworker who has had fantastic success with that model. I've since read some snide comments online that these are cheap, but I've seen many others who say they work great.

I've mounted the antenna to a mast about 8 feet above the peak of my house. I've found that with some tweaking, I can get most of my UHF stations to come in. I have found that the VHF signals won't come in at all, however. In an effort to troubleshoot the problem, I moved the TV upstairs and hooked the antenna directly to the TV, completely bypassing the amp that came with the antenna. Lo and behold, I get both 9 and 7! (These are ABC and NBC, respectively). Thinking my gain was up too high, I reconnected the amp and turned it down all the way. Again, no dice. What's most frustrating is that I can get Fox (at 27/28) with no amp, low amp, and high amp, so I'm confused about why the lower frequencies refuse to show up when amplified. My preferred stations are as follows: PBS (32), Fox (27), ABC (9), and NBC (7). I can pick up a bunch of other channels I could care less about (though they are a nice bonus). Fox isn't an issue, but the other three are consistently giving me trouble. I would just go unamplified, but when the TV is in the spot it belongs, I have a much longer cable run. Unamplified does not work in that configuration.

If anybody can offer some tips for troubleshooting, I would greatly appreciate it. I think my hair is going to fall out if I keep this up by myself.

[Electron]

A simple reception situation. With a simple modification to a tv antenna. Remove the reflector screen from a Antennas Direct , Clear Stream 2 Complete , CS2v , UHF/VHF antenna and the CS2V will receive at the front of the antenna and back of the antenna. The flat side of the loops and rods are what is directed at the Tv stations. Aim the antenna at 140 or 320 degree magnetic compass and the antenna will receive the Tv stations to the , west , north/west , south , south/east. No rotator is required because the CS2v receives the Tv stations in both directions at the same time. http://www.antennasdirect.com. http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/ClearStream-C2-VHF-Combo.html . The Tv stations/channels are Very Strong of signal strength , no amplifier is requried for 1 , 2 , 3 ,4 tv's connected. For one tv connected use no splitter , For 2 Tv's connected use a 2 way splitter , For 3 Tv's connected use a 3 way splitter , For 4 Tv's connected use a 4 way splitter. You said something about a much longer cable run , how long do you estimate the run is??

[GroundUrMast]

Your experience with the Lava 2805 is not uncommon. Your frustrating struggle adds to the anecdotal evidence that suggests the performance claims for the 2805 are exaggerated marketing hype.

Take @Electron's suggestion.

[CRIA]

Electron,

I've found that I can get either 7 or 9 through the long run if I go completely unamplified. Problem is, I get 7 when the antenna is pointed towards the signal, and 9 when it's pointed the opposite direction. Can't get both at the same time, despite them coming from almost the exact same direction. The other problem is, I can't get any of my other stations without amplification. I'm so confused as to how it's possible to have "too much" signal (isn't this 2012?). I already own three different antennas, and am about ready to just start paying the cable company again. I cannot fathom how 70 year old technology can be so perplexing.

GroundUrMast,

That antenna was definitely cheap, but the problem seems to be that my signal is too strong in many cases. I'm at my wit's end, here. I HATE Mediacom, and refuse to pay them for service.

Believe it or not, I'm actually very good at troubleshooting devices, and work on computer hardware professionally (though radio is clearly out of my realm). I've attempted to systematically work this out, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to this. Sometimes I'll get a perfect signal with one configuration, and then I'll change it to try to get other stations, only to return to the initial configuration and have no luck. I take it everybody's answer is that this antenna just sucks? My buddy at work rants and raves about his success with the exact model.

[Dave Loudin]

Correct, your VHF signals are too strong for the preamplifier in the LAVA. I'm sorry that you don't get the results like your friend does. It could be that the paths to his location that the signals take knock them down just enough to not be a problem. It's hard to tell from a distance.

You said that you have several other antennas? What are they? You may already have the antenna you need. If not, @Electron's suggestion is good. I would also consider the Antennas Direct ClearStream 5. It is designed for VHF, but also serves as a low-gain UHF antenna, which should be perfect for you. If you get the CS5, aim it towards the ch.12 station at 141 degrees. The ABC and NBC stations can be received through the back of the antenna just fine.

You should get a balanced result of your locals to feed to your TV.

[Electron]

I bought 3 of these type and kind of cheap china antennas some time ago for the purpose of evaluation. The antennas are cheap flimsy junk. The plastic is cheap flimsy plastic , the aluminum is a cheap flimsy aluminum alloy that easy to bend aluminum , the tiny little toy rotation motor will not last long , the antennas wobble when they rotate and some times stop and require a push to get them going again. I have had people say , now wait a minute almost ever thing we buy is from china and that merchandise is ok. Here is the truth , most of the merchandise that you by from china has controls put on it by , Walmart , Target , Home Depot , and other main stream stores. These cheap china antennas have no such controls and the quality of the product reflects that. Many of the cheap china antennas are defective right out of the box , many break down a short time later and some by some miracle keep on working. Here is a true story , during the building and economic boom that is gone now , the US could not produce drywall fast enough , so drywall was brought over from china with no controls , the drywall is loaded with carrosive chemicales that eat pipes and plastic and stink real bad. Many of the buildings that this drywall went in to are condemned and in many locations the buildings just sit there because there is no place to legally put the defective drywall and the now defective building structure and pipes and plastic and carpet and etc..

[Electron]

Here is another true story , I took a cheap china junk antenna to the swap meet and put the cheap china junk antenna out along with Real Honest antenna by Antennas Direct , The people were drawn to cheap china junk antenna like Iron to a Magnet and did not even give to Honest antenna a second look. Here are other Honest antennas that have quality controls. Winegard , Channel Master , Antenna Craft.

[signals unlimited]

Spot on! I can't beleive people are still buying this junk. Every time I drive thru the country side I see another LAVA....I just mark that as a potential customer for a real antenna system sometime in the near future.