need help with reception
 

Please help me improve my reception; signal analysis report is attached. I am using a Mohu Leaf indoor antenna with 30-mile range. I get real channels 26, 30, 34 (variable quality), 17, 24, and 23 (comes in great even though has a yellow background on the table). I would really like to get real channel 10; it comes in but signal is extremely broken up. That clump of stations in the southwest quadrant of the radar plot is no doubt due to the fact that I live within a couple of miles of Sharp's Ridge, where most of the transmitters are located. You can see their lights blinking from the window across from my antenna. I searched the forums briefly for the Leaf but did not find any indication that they would not receive VHF stations. Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

Here's your MOHU FAQ - http://www.gomohu.com/faqs/

▶ I heard that the Leaf doesn’t receive VHF or Hi-V band stations. Is this true?
This is false. The Leaf® does receive VHF or Hi-V stations. The Leaf® is optimized for UHF stations, which comprises about 95% of the TV stations today. The Leaf® will still receive VHF stations but it will not be able to receive them from as far away as the UHF band stations.

So it's false but no different from any other small antenna. The Leaf is optimized for UHF frequencies, which have a much shorter wavelength than VHF. It's not deaf to VHF, but the VHF station has to be comparatively stronger than a UHF station to be received. How much stronger they are not saying - I'd guess a lot stronger.

Indoor reception operates at a significant handicap compares to an outside installation. One test you could do is take your Leaf up on the roof and see if it receives 10 from there. You'll get a significant boost in signal power by going outside the shell of your house and higher.

Take a look at this thread - http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=15160 - mostly addresses the same issue that you are facing. In your case, ch 10 will be easier to receive with a moderate sized antenna than ch 3 talked about in the thread. You'd probably get all your stations, 10 and more with a modest antenna like the RCA ANT751 http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Dur.../dp/B0024R4B5C in your house somewhere. You'd do even better with it on the roof, pointed at ca 220 magnetic.

Solid Signal published a comparison (done for them by Winegard) between the Leaf and the private-labeled Flatwave that SS was then selling (they don't anymore, they went to a cheap Chinese antenna almost a year ago).

In that set of test results, they characterized the Leaf as having around -21 dBi gain on channel 7 which improved to about -14 dBi on channel 13. The comparison is posted at http://blog.solidsignal.com/showthre...=3654#post3654 Based on comparisons I've done in-house, my numbers are in the same ballpark.

So, in other words, it will receive VHF about as well as any other UHF antenna that was designed for purely UHF frequencies. Trust me, I know this situation all too well. :rolleyes:

The outdoor solution offered by timgr is clearly better than any indoor option. That said, a $10 rabbit ear style antenna will do far better receiving VHF signals than the Leaf.

example: http://www.homedepot.com/p/RCA-Indoo...111R/203707067