Please help with antenna signal
 

Hello,

I am using this antenna from Radioshack http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2253765 .
Here is my TVFool link: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c87d46fbf9d9

I put this antenna on my roof next to chimney. I could not get channel 7(wjla). But I got all others, 4(nbc), 5(fox), 9(cbs)...Please help.

Thank you,

WJLA is the lowest frequency (RF 7) station that you are trying to receive. Generally, lower frequencies need larger antennas to work well. Yours is a small antenna that uses a strong internal amplifier to compensate. I do not see what else you can do except to raise the antenna higher to see if you can catch more signal. Your best bet is to find another antenna that is designed for both VHF and UHF without having to include an amplifier. The moderator has some solid suggestions.

Hello and welcome!

As Dave said, what you need is an antenna with VHF reception capabilities. You have two local channels broadcasting in VHF. WJLA (ABC, ch 7) and WUSA (CBS, ch 9). The other low numbered channels you see (4.1 and 5.1) are actually broadcasting on UHF frequencies (48 and 36, respectively) and only "show up" as low numbered channels through the magic of virtual channel mapping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_channel). With digital TV, the channel number you see on the screen is not necessarily the same as the channel it is being broadcast on.

The Radio Shack DA-5200 is designed for UHF-only. You might get lucky an get a little bit of VHF signal through this antenna, but it's not what it was designed for.

A good high-VHF and UHF combo antenna for your situation would be something like the Antennacraft HBU-44 or Winegard HD7695P. These kinds of antennas are too big for a living room installation, so you're looking at either an attic or rooftop installation.

Signal quality is better if the antenna is installed on the roof (less building material to go through and fewer objects to get in the way), but some people prefer an attic installation because of the better protection from the elements. It may be necessary to go up one antenna size (like HBU-55 or HD7696P) for attic installations to compensate for the building loss, but that really depends on the building construction, and can vary from one situation to another.