Thanks for doing another tvfool report at 16 ft. If you don't enter a number, there is a default that is IIRC about 10 ft. Not much difference between the two, but it was worth a try.
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Placing an antenna in the window for now works, but like I said, the window cant be closed all the way and in the winter it's not ideal.
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Understood. What I had in mind was something like an antenna inside a
closed window that faces NE in an unused spare bedroom on the 2nd floor that doesn't have low-e glass or a metal screen.
It also might be possible to mount an antenna just outside the closed window and bring the coax in using a long F81 coupler. If you can't find a very long F81 coupler to go through the frame, you could use the standard 1 inch length to go thru a piece of Lexan polycarbonate glazing that replaces the glass in the window.
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I ran about 60' of Belden 1855 (with a loss at 1GHz of .4db/100') across the floor and up the stairs to the window. Belden 1694 (RG-6) is a bit better at .24/100 which is what will be the final type of cabling run.
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Belden 1855 RG59 has a loss of 7.7 dB/100 ft at 540 MHz, which is the middle of the UHF band. Belden 1694 RG6 has a loss of 4.6 dB/100 ft. If you use a preamp just after the antenna before the long coax run, it will make the signals stronger before the coax attenuation; signal loss can't be recovered once gone. The preamp will also improve the total system noise figure (NF) because it is at the beginning of the system and its noise figure will be less than the tuner NF which is usually about 7 dB. This shows how much a preamp can improve a system NF:
http://imageevent.com/holl_ands/files/ota
scroll down to and click on file 10,
COMPARE System Noise Figures
With and Without Preamps
which should take you here:
http://imageevent.com/holl_ands/file...=0&w=1&s=0&z=4
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I am suppose to go up there this weekend to help him repair his deck so I might grab a CM-3010 that I have. It doesn't have the built-in pre-amp, but I do have a stand alone amp with variable gain that I can piggy back it on the antenna and try that to see what I get. Like we say at work "Science Fair Project". Not looking at this as the "end all" but more of a "Lets see what this does".
He does have an attic so I might try that, but they do have fairly thick walls and I am not sure if the insulation is foil backed. Again, science fair project.
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Two excellent plans. The 3010 doesn't have much gain, but if you get promising results with a preamp, you will know that an antenna with more gain would do even better. A preamp can't be expected to make up for an antenna that doesn't have much inherent gain, but that seems to be a popular marketing approach to keep the package small.
We used to live in an apartment that had brick veneer walls with aluminum foil backed insulation. I couldn't figure out, at first, why the strong local TV signals couldn't be received with an indoor antenna and why I had to take my cell phone to a window to connect. It was like living in a Faraday Cage.
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Grounding is a must around his place. As you drive through the area, there are many farms. All the barns have multiple lightning rods on the roof with some of the rods blown to pieces from strikes.
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The grounding of the coax and the mast is for electrical safety and to drain any buildup of static charge to discourage a strike, but the system will not survive a direct strike.
To me, grounding the coax shield with a grounding block connected to the house electrical system ground is of first importance, because it will shunt any equipment leakage current to ground. All AC operated equipment has leakage current, and when operating properly the leakage current will not be felt by most people because it will be below the threshold of perception. I learned about leakage current after I had three close calls from electrical shock; one from my own stupidity, and the other two from other peoples carelessness.
http://www.tequipment.net/assets/1/2...9-2_manual.pdf
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/safety.htm#saftes
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...postcount=1022
http://www.go-gddq.com/upload/2011-1...0816318522.pdf
scroll down to page 8
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One unknown factor that hasn't reared yet is the foliage. That's going to be the great unknown and could skew everything.
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Correct. Take a look at these:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html
scroll down to
Trees and UHF
http://www.wrightsaerials.co.uk/refe...-reception.pdf
It's analog and in the UK, but the ideas are still valid.
Thank you for breaking your post into four paragraphs; it's much easier to read than one large paragraph.