Albany NY - 2nd antenna recommendation for channel off axis
 

Here is my tvfool report link: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...1dda43d7b6dfcc

I have an HD7015 antenna pointing towards 240 degrees. I would like to receive real channel 50 (ION) at 312 degrees. I already own a channel 50 Jointenna. I currently have a DIY 4 channel coat hanger 4 bay antenna in the attic separated from my other antenna with equal length cable to the jointenna. My signal strength with channel 50 is very weak.

I am looking for a recommendation for a reasonably priced antenna to pickup channel 50. Any suggestions??

Thanks,
Dan

Attics Are Not a reception friendly environment and Never Will Be a reception friendly environment. Signal attenuation and signal reflections (multipath) in the attic.

Where is the location of the HD7015??
In the attic or above the roof.

Install the HD7015 above the roof in such a manner that reception is not blocked by roof and house in all directions.

Above the roof aim the HD7015 antenna at about 260 degree magnetic compass direction.

As always , the starting antenna aim direction is the --> starting antenna aim direction.

The aim direction can be adjusted for best reception.

Most Digital Tv's have a signal strength meter and some Digital Tv'
s have a signal quality meter.

Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

With the HD7015 antenna above the roof , I suspect that a separate UHF antenna will not be required.

As always , trees and tree leaves do a good job of , reflecting , reducing , blocking , Digital Broadcast reception and so do buildings and other obstructions including your own roof and house.

It is best to install the HD7015 antenna at a location that has the least amount to no amount of obstructions of any type or kind in the directions of reception including your own roof and house.

You could move the Uhf antenna above the roof , however if your are going to do that , then move the HD7015 above the roof.

With the HD7015 above the roof , More Tv stations/channels looks like will be received.

_______________________

Yes you can try a Channel Master CM4228HD UHF antenna in the attic or above the roof.

It is fun to Experiment and try.

I oriented the antenna to 260 ish and removed the jointenna and DIY bowtie antenna. I have an hdhomerun tuner and using its computer software I get three reading for each channel: Signal Strength, Signal Quality and Symbol Quality (units are 0 to 100%)

With the hd 7015 antenna in the attic (preference for aesthetics) main stations are rock solid 95 to 100%. Channel 50 I now get approx 64% for signal strength, 74% for Signal quality and 100% for symbol quality. Its only been a day, however the reception has been good for channel 50...no dropouts yet.

Dan

With the HD7015 in the attic.

Are these Digital Tv stations being received??

WYBN-LD UHF channel 14 , http://www.windhammountain.com/desti...ide/wybn-tv-14.

http://www.tufftv.com.

_______________________________________________________


WNCE-CD UHF channel 31 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNCE-CD.

http://www.americaone.com.

Channel 14 and 31 have less than 30% signal strength so they do not lock in at all.

Also as an update channel 50 with my main antenna oriented to 260 is hit or miss. I am wondering if a Winegard HD-9032 might work with my Jointenna. Rooftop mounting is not an option as we do not plan on staying in this house and it is not worth the amount of work to receive the one extra channel.

Dan

I am doing you a disservice with the following recommendation.

However here it is.

Install a Channel Master CM4228HD antenna in the attic.

Aim the CM4228HD at about 326 degree magnetic compass direction.

Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

Run Separate coax from the CM4228HD to the Tv.

Do not use the jointenna.

The HD7015 and CM4228HD are 2 Separate antennas systems.

And are not connected together on to 1 coax.

Use Remote control A/B antenna switch at the Tv location to change from one antenna to the other antenna.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com , #32-4425.

Thanks for the suggestion. It won't work for my setup however. I use SageTV as a DVR to record shows that I want to watch, so it would not be able to changing the antenna source. This weekend I am going to play some more with my existing hd7015 and see if I orient it toward Channel 50 if I can reliably receive that channel. My thought is that if I do, it will give me an idea of the gain needed to receive this channel. If I can lock it in reliably, maybe I will try a cheap direction antenna like the 9032 with the jointenna.

Dan

Quick update...I was in the attic again and decided to hook my diy coat hanger antenna up to the hdhomerun tuner. To my surprise with just this antenna connected I had 85% signal strength and 100% signal quality and 100% symbol quality! Since the jointennas are custom, I am wondering if it was made wrong or the labels were wrong...I tried a couple of combinations but in general I was not impressed. So I decided to use a splitter in reverse to connect the hd7015 and diy coat hanger antenna. I have read many threads that have indicated that this can result in a multipath problem. I am not sure what I would see if I had a multipath problem, but I can tell you that I get all of the channels that I was looking to receive and they all look fantastic! If I don't have a multipath problem on day one does this mean I am in the clear?

Thanks,
Dan

The Jointenna is a fairly simple set of tuned coils and capacitors. It may not have been set correctly or it may have gone out of tune by being dropped... etc.

The HDHR is a very flexible and useful tool as you can already see. When aiming an antenna, strength is important, but not as important as signal quality. You'll find that stable signal quality of 65% or better will allow you to get reliable recordings and few if any drop outs. If you maintain 100% signal quality over several days, you're doing extremely well.

Using a splitter in reverse works in a few cases, you'll know as soon as you look at the HDHR signal quality... fluctuating signal quality as reported by the HDHR would be a symptom of multipath, a very common problem for antenna combinations via reversed splitter.

GroundUrMast,

Thanks for the tips on using the hdhomerun to diagnose multipath. I definately have multipath...if I stay tuned to a station with the hdhomerun gui, I see signal quality bouncing from 100% down to 73% (lowest observed). That being said so far my recordings have not had any dropouts...Do you think I will be OK long term since I am still above 65%. Is there anyway to check/diagnose the jointenna to see what is wrong with it? I popped the case open and see the capacitors and tuned coils...I don't recall it ever getting dropped. At one point it was hooked to an antenna that had a preamp with a 5 volt power supply...could that have caused an issue?

Dan

I would certainly expect either a problem w/ the Jointenna, or the power injector, if the Jointenna isn't capacativly coupled.