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Old 17-Feb-2010, 2:47 AM   #2
mtownsend
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 632
Hello and welcome!

It looks like you've tried the right things and still have not had complete success on all channels. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the way it is with indoor antenna reception. You can't always tell what is in the walls or other buildings that might be interfering with your reception (pipes, ducts, electrical wiring, wire mesh, insulation with foil backing, transformers, etc.).

With rabbit ears, the optimum reception for high VHF (since you're going after channels 11 and 13) is to have the elements extended about half of their maximum length and laid out fully horizontal (roughly 40" from tip to tip). If you extend the elements out too long, it will actually optimize the antenna toward lower VHF channels.

If this is not enough to help you, then the next thing to try it to move the antenna to the second floor, attic, or whatever you have that allows the signal to be received more directly (passing through fewer walls, trees, neighbors' houses, etc.).

Beyond that, the only other thing to do is get a higher gain antenna. For VHF, the next step up from rabbit ears is significantly larger. That's because lower frequencies mean longer wavelengths, and that means longer antenna elements are needed. It looks like you only need to focus on channels 7 thru 69, so a "small" antenna for this would be something like the Antennacraft HBU-22. A Winegard HD7080P would also work. These types of antennas are too big to be placed in the living room, so you're looking at either an attic or rooftop installation for something like this.
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