WLIW New York | It's a stretch, can I reach?
 

Good Evening, All:

I've been a list lurker for, well, a while. But now, I'm sort of stuck, so I'm sticking my hand up.

The setup right now:
Solid Signal HDB91x antenna on a 4' mast at the peak of the roof (about 35' AGL). Roof is just asphalt shingles over plywood.

There are some trees about 200' in the line of sight toward my target. Neighbors property; I can't do a thing about it.

Feed is RG-6 Quad-shield.
No amplifier - straight into the TV, no splitters.
The signal map: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d24329ac74a363

The problem:
I'm trying, trying, trying to get this station in: WLIW - Channel 21, broadcasting out of Plainview, Long Island, NY. It's 45 miles away as the crow flies.
It doesn't even come up on the signal map for my house, but if I play with the map and go a few towns over to the East, it shows up, albeit weakly. I was using my spec when I was aiming the antenna; couldn't get a thing in the 515mhz area, which is where WLIW transmits. The noise floor was about -95dbm, and I still had zip signal, hence no amplifier yet.

My question:
Before I invest in a much larger, and more expensive, antenna, do I realistically stand a chance of actually getting a solid lock on this station, or am I just asking for too much? I don't have a lot of experience with terrestrial signals, so I figure that someone here is a lot smarter than I am with what I might be able to get away with.

Thanks for any input!
-Chris

If you saw no signal at -95 dBm noise floor in the SA, there isn't any signal there to be had.

In the interactive maps feature, pinpoint your location, set elevation to 500', then locate and click on the button for WLIW. That will get your the calculated coverage including the effects of terrain. WLIW only puts about 50 kW in your direction, so, unless you are on top of a hill with a clear view east, you'll likely never see their signal.

Hey ADTech: Thanks!
I didn't think of a trick like the 500' elevation.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243a9c4366468

That's the map with the elevation set to 500'. So, the theoretical signal is there at -85dbm. But, sadly, I'm not on a hill and I don't have a really clear shot East. I'm in the valley with some highish terrain about 10 miles out. Boo. :(

-Chris

Yeah, that's what I concluded....