Inland Empire CA channel reception help needed
 

For background I am not a newbie. I sought and received help a couple years back with setting up my first OTA in the same general area. I installed a Winegard HD7697p then added a winegard preamp AP-8275 (model # from memory) approximately a mile from my new location. I had a pretty darn good signal then with minor intermittent dropout on these important to me channels; CBS & NBC.

I am approx 1 mile southwest of my prior location. In my test set ups so far I get 107 channels. First test failed to get ABC. Second location a few feet higher (currently at approx 20 feet) and 6 feet to left now gets ABC (7.1 rf 7) but reception of CBS (2.1 rf 43) is not improved. Most of the time it's offline. My goal is 97% up time on this channel as well as NBC (4.1 rf 36) My tvfool report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2f10f6a30876 shows 2.1 at dbm -97.9 . My former install had a dbm of -101 and I had very good reception of CBS.

My new location has a tree about 50-60 ft to the front right of my antenna test location. I can clear part of it if I go higher. I can also move to roof mount that would clear it completely from my 288 degree magnetic aim. I'd like to not roof mount for a few reasons. I will test it soon though.

All feedback appreciated. For instance, does anyone have experience with http://www.kitztech.com/ ultimate preamp? Do you think adding a UHF DB8 antenna to my Winegard setup would get better reception of CBS & NBC?

FYI

The operators of Sutro Tower are performing maintenance on their facility off and on all this week. Consequently, there will be times when stations from Sutro are operating at reduced power or from backup antennas that will have different coverage patterns. Do not make any decisions on anything regarding reception from Sutro Tower until these activities have been completed.

AdTech:

I never heard of Sutro Tower or so I thought till I googled it. Sutro is the massive mast(s) on Twin Peaks in San Francisco near as I can tell. I lived below that long long ago in a summer of love. I fear it will be beyond amazing if anything, maintenance or otherwise affects my reception from Sutro. I am an easy 500 miles plus from there. The Inland Empire is due east of Los Angeles. My signal generates from Mt Wilson north of Pasadena CA. I am approx 70 miles from that location.

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Signal Strengths are Very Weak.

To see if signal strengths improve at higher antenna heights , please make and post 2 more tvfool reports with antenna heights of 40 and 60 feet.

Doh! I had Sutro on my mind from a preceding in-house exchange and, when I saw the "CA" in your location, I put 2 and 2 together and got 2.5 and didn't notice it... Kindly disregard the oversight.

Anyway....

I'd expect the DB8e, 91XG, or the DB8 (in that order) to outperform the 7697 on UHF (only). I've also found that any tree in front of a UHF antenna is usually bad news, so keep the consideration of the UHF antenna in mind as you plan out your install.

I tested a KT100 several years ago and found that it's noise figure measured very close (within several tenths of a dB) to it's advertising claim. However, that ultra-low noise figure is achieved by leaving the front end wide open to anything and that makes their amps particularly vulnerable to ESD, static, or impulse discharges that blow out the front end. Additionally, they do not come in an outdoor housing which must be acquired separately.

I'd separately amp the UHF antenna with one of our PA18s and use your existing AP8275 and 7697 for VHF service only, then combining the signals after the power inserters using a standard UVSJ. It's a bit more complex of an installation, but it allows for fine-tuning not otherwise possible.

I did as Teleview asked and ran reports at 40 and at 60 feet. I noted that in the 60 foot report the signal reads just slightly weaker at -99.1 db on my target station CBS 2.1. That's OK cause I sure would not try to reach that height or honestly even 40 feet at my location. Here's reports:
@ 40 ft http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2f403df71931
@ 60 ft http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2f17ffb07a92

Before I continue I will remind you that I have posted that I received reception of CBS with a good up time well over 90% for almost two years no more than a mile from here at a height of 19' with my Winegard antenna.

Yesterday with help I was able to test my antenna in a couple of locations. I went higher than the 20' spot I had the Winegard mounted on a short eave mast. Here's pics of that location: http://s807.photobucket.com/user/j_rapp/library/Antenna

The tree is approx 10-14 feet higher than the antenna. I can raise the antenna but as I'm in an HOA I don't want to go as high as 30'. Perhaps my installer can test a higher placement at this location. I think 26' would put it as high as the top of the tree.

The horizontal picture is taken from the spot where I last tested the antenna (about 21' high) on the same mast with bottom of mast on peak of roof. Yesterday I got no signal until I moved the antenna here. My Panasonic TV showed a signal strength of 67%. The best reading the few times I got one behind the tree was approx 47%. Line of sight to Mt Wilson is 100% clear of that tree while at the eave location the left side of tree blocks the right side of the antenna.

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Install a.

Antennas Direct , DB8e , Current UHF channels 14 thru 51 antenna.

http://www.amazon.com.

Aim the DB8e antenna at about 288 degree magnetic compass direction.

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Install a.

Winegard , HD5030 , VHF channels 2 thru 13 antenna.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com.

Aim the HD5030 antenna at about 288 degree magnetic compass direction.

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Here is how to aim antennas.

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antennas , do not trust a , cell phone , tablet and etc. compass.

To assist the best reception , most Digital Tv's have a Signal Strength Meter and Some Digital Tv's also have a Signal Quality Meter.

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Install the , HD5030 antenna about 3+ feet below the DB8e antenna on the same antenna mast/pipe.

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Here are some above the roof antenna mounts.

http://www.ronard.com/909911.html. Ronard(911) , 5 foot tripod antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/712.html. Ronard(712-50-10) , 10 foot tripod antenna mount.

The tripod antenna mounts are moved around on the roof to find the location of best reception and then bolt the tripod antenna mount in place

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Home Depot has , 10 foot 6 inch lengths , 1 and 3/8 inch diameter , TOP RAIL , chain link fence , PIPE , that makes excellent antenna mast/pipe , the price is low at about 12 dollars.

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A Antennas Direct , EU385CF , UVSJ=UHF/VHF - Separator/Joiner , can be used to connect the DB8e and HD5030 , together.

http://www.amazon.com.


The DB8e UHF antenna is connected to the UHF connection of the UVSJ.

The HD5030 VHF antenna is connected to the VHF connection of the UVSJ.

The remaining connection of the UVSJ is connected to ,

Test antenna system amplifiers of your choices.