Considering a Winegard MS-2002 360 Metrostar
 

Here is my TVfool report; http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f02c036d9556

I currently get channels 62,21,7 and 4 with a cheap Ebay antenna and I am trying to add channel 13 which is in the opposite direction of my current channels, so I am looking for a Multi or Omni directional antenna.

Anyone have experience with the Winegard Ms-2002? I thought I may be able to pick up channel 13 since it is a Omni directional antenna. I plan to mount the antenna in my garage attic which would be around 12 ft from ground level.

Thanks in advance.

WLOS is too weak for an omnidirectional antenna mounted in an attic.

Your first TV Fool report is flagged, "WARNING: Address was only resolved to block level and might not be that close to your actual location. For more accurate results, try entering a specific address or coordinates."

Please consider reviewing the following, http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=14508 and then posting two more reports, one based on the proposed 12' AGL and another base on 25' AGL.

Thanks

Here is the 12' report; http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f0b3ae4926b6


Here is the 25' report;http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f08493971dab

Thanks for your help.

What you recommend instead of an omnidirectonal antenna?

Assuming that you want to avoid a rotator I'd suggest a 4 bay UHF aimed roughly south plus a medium sized VHF antenna (Y5-7-13) aimed at CBS plus a similar antenna aimed at ABC. Couple the two VHF antennas with a jointenna a for channel 13 and then add the UHF antenna with a UVSJ.

Thank you for your input and yes I do want to avoid using a rotator. You are suggesting a 3 antenna system with jointenna for Ch 13 and a VHF combiner. Any brand of antenna I should use or ones that I should avoid? I currently have an Ebay special that picks up the UHF very well but Ch 7 VHF is spotty and Ch 13 not at all. Any suggestions on the best place to purchase these antennas? What would your go to place be?

Good luck finding one of those. CM no longer has them in stock. However, they do still show the Ch 7-12 Jointennas available.

I have googled for a Jointenna Ch 13 but no luck so far. Would there be reception problems if I did not use a Jointenna? The antenna configuration suggested by Tower Guy was a three antenna system with two of the VHF antennas pointed in opposite directions. I can always set it up without the Jointenna and see what happens but I am just wondering what your thoughts are.

Whoops! Looks like CM doesn't have them available any more after all.

Personally, I'd put up the high-VHF antenna aimed at WLOS an see if WSPA comes in off the back side anyway making the second VHF antenna and its combining a moot issue.

Thanks. I am not sure I will be able to get WLOS at all but I will try. Along with my cheap Ebay antenna I also have a very old 130 inch boom antenna I will point in the WLOS direction first. If that monster antenna is not able to pick it up then I believe nothing will. I may have problems maneuvering it in my attic.

If you find that you need a channel 13 Jointenna post back here. I have one around that I don't need.

Hi All, I am looking for help getting a better signal for one channel, WLOS CH 13 VHF in Asheville, NC. I can get Channels 4,7,21 and 62 without an Antenna, all of these channels except 7 and 13 are UHF. I tried my cheap Ebay antenna and an old 130" boom antenna but neither brought in Ch 13.

I purchased a Antenna's Direct Clear Stream 5 VHF antenna, pointed it at Ch 13 tower and I am able to get CH 13 sporadically, it also brought in Ch 33 as well as channels 4,7,21,62. I believe Ch 13 and 33 are on the same tower per DTV.gov.

Signal strength for channels 4,7,21,62 are all somewhere between 80 to 97%. Channel 13 signal strength is 10 or 20 % and Ch 33 is around 30 to 40%.

I have tested the signal strength for Ch 13 by directly attaching my TV to the antenna with a 10ft cable and it will vary from 0 to 30%. The antenna was attached to an 8ft ladder inside my garage. I hope to mount the antenna in my attic but my signal strength is even less in the attic. I may mount it in my garage since I have 11ft ceilings. From the garage the antenna cable goes to the side of my house to a 3 way splitter to feed 3 TVs. The signal strength does drop a little bit going through the splitter but not much.

Here is my TVfool at 12'; http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...f1f0b3ae4926b6

I would like to try a preamplifier to increase the signal for Ch 13, without overpowering my other channels.
What would you guys suggest?
Thank you for any suggestions.

First things first. Install an FM Filter.

WLOS' signal is forecast to be "very strong". Most likely, you're getting interference, either from FM or some other, less obvious noise source, and it's clobbering WLOS' signal. If you amplify a noisy signal, you get a bigger pile of noisy stuff.

Thanks for the reply.
Can you elaborate on what type of FM filter and why you think this will help.

Attached is my FMfool image;

Attachment 1186

If you still have any Radio Shack stores nearby still open, a 15-0024. Otherwise, our FM filter on our web site. Call customer service and see if they can hook you up with one.

Why? Because I've done this enough to have learned (often the hard way) about what's usually most likely to help. Besides, a spectrum analyzer is a lot more expensive so it's worth spending a few minutes or bucks on something inexpensive that has a good chance of working. ;)

I will pick up an FM filter and give it a try. I will post my results after I have tried it. Thanks again.

Hi all, Just installed the Radioshack FM filter and there was no improvement in the signal. What do you think my next step should be? Thanks in advance for any responses.

Are you using the C5 or the cheap ebay special?

Where did you install the FM filter?

Where is the antenna mounted? What direction is it aimed in? What's out in front of it?

I am using the C5 currently mounted inside my garage on top of an 8ft aluminum step ladder. Want to permanently mount it in my attic above my garage. I installed the FM filter between the antenna and my feed into the house. 10ft cable from antenna to filter and then into my house cable.

The antenna is pointed at 313 as best as I can tell with my compass and faces my non insulated garage wall. It is about 8 ft from the garage wall. The garage ceilling is about 11 ft. The house sits on a hill and there are lots of trees in the uphill direction to WLOS CH 13. No other homes are very close to mine.

Please get the antenna out of the garage and at least 5' away from that metal stepladder.

Please use a known good cable to run from the antenna (filter) to your TV set. You need to eliminate as many variables as possible as well as correcting issues that are likely to cause your symptoms.

I have tried moving the antenna onto a wooden bookcase with no difference in signal with the metal ladder well away from the antenna. I did move the antenna outside but lost all signal maybe because of the length or the cable, it was an RG6 U Quad shielded cable but 50ft. I plan on keeping the antenna in the attic, so going outside with was not as important. I was surprised I lost all signal. I did buy a dist amp from Lowes and it did increase the signal strength a little bit but it was a 4 outlet dist amp so I returned it.

Here is the latest on my attempt to bring in Ch 13 WLOS in Asheville, NC. I was able to bring in Ch 13 using a 10db Dist amp that only boosted the lower range of 50 to 400 MHZ while it was sitting on my ladder with a TV directly connected to the antenna. I moved the antenna to my attic and lost Ch13. I have 11 ft ceiling in my garage so I mounted the antenna on the ceiling of my garage but I was only getting a 10% signal for Ch 13 with an SNR of around 16. I was getting a better signal when it was mounted on my 8ft aluminum ladder but I am surrounded by trees to the northwest of me where the Ch 13 tower is located. And the trees have filled out some since I started this project. I do not want to mount the antenna outside.

I replaced the dist amp with a Winegard preamp LNA-200 preamp but it did not change the SNR by very much if any. I am not sure where to go from here. Do you guys think this is the best I can do? I am open to any and all suggestions. Does anyone think the Antenna Direct Juice preamp would fair any better than the Winegard?

One other important piece of information I want to add is that there is a cell phone tower about a 1/2 mile west of my house.

I think the trees and being in the attic are the bigger problems. You may have something in the shingles or the underlayment that is interfering with the Ch. 13 signal. Foil facing on some underlayment or insulation material is a common culprit.

You may have stated, but I haven't read the whole thread, why you can't go roof mount? Your test showed you can get it that way.

There is no reason we can not go out on the roof other than my wife and I do not like the look of having an antenna on the roof or side of the house. I can currently get a 20 - 25% signal now for Ch 13 mounted on the ceiling of my garage which is 11 ft. I am curious if being so close to the cell tower that it may be affecting my signal and that the Antenna Direct Juice has a filter for cell signal, it might help my situation.

I think if the cell tower was an issue it would show up in the garage too, not just in the attic. But I could be wrong, the attic/roof could be bouncing/blocking the cell signals in strange ways too.

My garage attic is only 3.5 ft high at the peak, not much room up there.

You really are better off putting the antenna WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE [emphasis added] instead of trying to jerry-rig reception in a poor location with an amp. One works every time, the other, not so much.


The antenna has been speaking to you, you do need to listen to it.

Thanks for your input.

Thought I would update my thread with my final results trying to get better reception for Channel 13 WLOS in Ashevile. I finally settled on using a 10bd CEI 40 to 400 mhz amplifier with the antenna mounted on my 11ft garage ceiling.

I purchased and and compared to the CEI amp the following;
Antenna's Direct ClearStream™ JUICE™ , the Winegard Boost XT and a Trisonic 36 db amp. They all performed the same as the CEI amp so kept the CEI and returned the others. I still do not get the best reception on Ch13 during the summer which I believe is because I am surrounded by trees. Now that fall has started my reception is steadily getting better.
Thanks to all who gave input on this.