Newb alert ~ Help please!!

Powers13 · 1-Sep-2011, 2:06 AM

Hello all!! We have a smallish antenna on our house (don't have a clue what it is) and it gets ok reception, but we would like to upgrade to something bigger and better.

Here is our TV signal report.

We have narrowed it down to an Antennacraft HD1200 or a Wineguard HD7084P or a Channelmaster CM3018 (all with a pre-amp).

So any input on which would work best for us? We really don't want to go to much larger than those options, but if something else will work better for us please tell!!

GroundUrMast · 1-Sep-2011, 5:33 AM

Is WGVK, real channel 5 a 'must-have' station? If so, the large all channel antennas you've listed are worth considering. All of the antennas you have listed will be directional. It's not reasonable to expect to find a single aim point that would provide reception of every station available to you. If reception of WGVK is not of concern to you, you can use a more compact antenna design and still have access to the rest of the stations in the green and yellow sections of your report. A few of the stations in the red section of your report may be receivable but you'll be facing weak signal levels and co-channel interference.

Will you be connecting more than one set? The question is asked because a rotator would allow you to get the most use from a single antenna but would be inconvenient for multiple set viewing. If there is a need to aim the antenna in more than one direction at the same time, who wins, who looses?

There are several ways to approach this situation, your goals, including the number of sets you'll connect along with which stations are important and which are not, will help determine what to suggest.

John Candle · 1-Sep-2011, 6:02 AM

I agree , I need to know how many Tv's are/will be connected , so as to evaluate the antenna/antennas situation.

Powers13 · 1-Sep-2011, 4:40 PM

Right now we have 2 tv's attached, the main one in the living room and one in our bedroom, rarely are they both on at the same time, at least for over the air viewing. 2 kids = one wants to watch Qubo and the other wants to watch a dvd

We do have a rotor & if I want to watch say the local news in bed I just set the box to the right direction before toddling off..... Also sometimes we can get channel 5 (52.1) but sometimes we can't no matter how I turn it

I think my hubby didn't use the best coax when he put up the antenna we have now, plus I think there is a huge coil of it somewhere, which I am sure is a big no-no... I figured if we were going to go to all the trouble of redoing all the coax we might as well get a better antenna too.

Ok I rambled a ton, hopefully the answers to the questions are in there somewhere

GroundUrMast · 1-Sep-2011, 4:57 PM

I'll join the Winegard HD7084P camp. An Antennas Direct CPA-19 preamplifier is going to tolerate the mix of strong and weak signals better than most other amplifiers.

The extra coiled coax does not help but in reality, 2 or 3 dB of loss is not going to be a 'make it or break it' issue. Be sure the coax connectors are installed correctly, physically and electrically secure. Use coax seal on all outdoor connections, once water gets in to the coax... it's done.