Hello and welcome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael-60
I checked with Radio Shack and they said a 85-120 inch fishbone with a rotor to change direction at 30 feet above ground ($150-200). I wanted to talk with the experts to see what they think. We live in Livermore, California, in a single story with a fireplace, our readout looks like 40-66 miles is the farthest station we would ever watch. We would like to recieve some of these channels, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,30,36,38,44,48,54. FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS.
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From where you're at, there are channels available from three major groups:
1) Monument Peak - This is located near Milpitas and is where your strongest channels are coming from. This includes KTEH (PBS), KICU, KSTS (Telemundo), and KDTV (Univision).
2) Sutro / San Bruno - This is where most of the other Bay Area channels broadcast from. This includes KGO (ABC), KOFY, KPIX (CBS), KNTV (NBC), KQED (PBS), KCNS, KMTP, KRON (MyNetworkTV), KTVU (Fox), KCSM (PBS), KBCW (CW), KFSF (Telemundo), KTSF, and KKPX (ION).
3) Walnut Grove - This is located near Stockton and is geared to serve Sacramento and the central valley. This includes KXTV (ABC), KVIE (PBS), KOVR (CBS), KMAX (CW), KCRA (NBC), KTXL (Fox), KQCA (MyNetworkTV), KTFK (Telemundo), and KSPX (ION).
It looks like you're only interested in clusters 1 and 2, which is a good thing. Cluster 3 is behind a taller set of mountains, is harder to receive, and would duplicate a lot of what you get from the other two clusters anyway.
The issue with the rotator is whether or not you'll be able to get channels from both cluster 1 and 2.
If you DO get a rotator, it will make sure that you are able to get the optimum signal from both clusters by turning the antenna.
I'm guessing that you can do without the rotator. It looks like the channels in cluster 1 are so strong that even if you do not point the antenna at these transmitters, the signal will get through the antenna anyway. I would just point the antenna at Sutro to optimally get signal from cluster 2, and then hope that there's enough signal getting through from cluster 1. The way I see it, you can try it this way first, and if it's not good enough, the rotator can be added later.
Either way, you'll still need an antenna and mounting hardware. The only difference might be the cost of the antenna rotator.
I think the preferred antenna would be either the Antennacraft HBU-44 or the Winegard HD7696P. Smaller versions of these antennas might work, but they might be more prone to pixellation/dropouts, especially during bad weather conditions.
If you plan on having a long coax distance between the antenna and your TV (more than say 50 feet), or if you plan on splitting the signal to multiple rooms, then I'd also recommend getting a mast-mounted pre-amp like the Winegard AP-8700. Pre-amps
do not do anything to change the performance of the antenna, but the
do help overcome signal degradation / loss caused by long cable runs and splitters that come after the amp.
Overall, I'd say that the recommendations from the Radio Shack employee were not too far off. I think it's debatable whether or not a rotator is needed, but they are not wrong for suggesting one.
Radio Shack sells Antennacraft and Winegard products, both of which are pretty good. Some of the Radio Shack branded items are not so good (like amps and mounts), so be careful which items you're getting. RS's ratchet chimney mounts are terrible, if you have any plans for a chimney mount (try the Channel Master 9067 instead). RS's mast poles are actually pretty good.