Another "help me pick an antenna" thread

[Limewater]

Grrr... I just wrote a very detailed post and I guess I took too long and the forum logged me out and ate it. Darn. I'll have to type faster this time.

Here is my TV Signal Report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...990016685dfefd

I live between two major metropolitan areas about 15-20 miles in either direction. I figure I'll be wanting to point my antenna to the one to the southwest, since it has more stations. I am colorblind, though, and thus have a hard time with the signal strength indicators on the plot, so let me know if I am misguided.

I want to mount the antenna in my attic because I would like to hold off on putting any more new holes into my house. This will put it about 25 feet off the ground. There are tree obstructions, but I think that height should be enough to clear most of it. I'm in a suburban area, next to farmland, so multipath is not a huge issue. I expect a cable run of about 50-80 feet to the television. No splitters, but a couple of barrel connectors.

So, my questions:

Can I get away with an omni antenna? It would be cool to not have to buy two antennas or have to rotate, but still get both cities.

For directional, I lean toward the Winegard 7000R or the 7010, primarily because I'm cheap.

Is there a better cheap option that will get the job done? Or do y'all think these will be insufficient?

Thanks for the advice, and have a nice day!

[GroundUrMast]

I tend to avoid omni-directional antennas because they lack the ability to reduce reception of multipath and they often have negative gain compared to a cheap UHF/VHF 'rabbit ear' style indoor antenna.

Your situation lends itself to a directional antenna because most directional antennas have reduced but usable gain to the rear. The two main groups of signals are 180 degrees from one another, so you're a prime candidate for using a directional antenna for reception in two directions at the same time.

The 70XX series is wide due to the length of elements tuned to the real CH-2 through CH-6 band. These type antennas may be appropriate if reception of the analog real CH-4 is imperative. If that's the case, you'll want to go large... As in HD7082P or HD7084P. My research into WIAV, real CH-4 came up with little information... it's unclear whether it's on the air or what type programming it may carry. It's licensed to ASIAVISION, INC. http://www.rabbitears.info/facility_...168063#station and the CH-4 assignment is a construction permit, the current licensed channel is 58 with a construction permit on file for a digital transmitter on real CH-44 http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=2962 The final bit of info found is that the FCC indicates the status as "LICENSED AND SILENT" http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....cility_id=2962

I would suggest you try an RCA ANT-751 pointed at the NE group of signals. If your attic is a good receiving location, then you can expect both the NE and SW groups and may even see the strong signal from WMPT from the side.

The ANT-751 is small because it lacks elements for CH-2 through CH-6. If the attic fails as a good reception location the ANT-751 lends itself to wall mounting as well as conventional roof or gable mounting. http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751R-Ou...ywords=ANT-751

[Limewater]

Thanks a lot for the advice! Yeah, I'm not too worried about channel 4. For a while I was looking for a full-range VHF antenna, because I wanted channel 1, but I didn't realize that it was actually a virtual channel on the UHF band.

I had glanced at the RCA-751R earlier, but wasn't sure what I needed at the time, and then I found this place and y'all seem to really like Winegard. I'll probably order this one later today.

Thanks!

[Limewater]

I had to order a lot of stuff, and it took a while for everything to arrive, but I finally have the antenna hooked up and run properly to the television. I followed GroundUrMast's advice, and it worked great. I am now getting a lot of channels from both D.C. and Baltimore. Thanks a lot!

[GroundUrMast]

Thanks for the report...

Did you mount the antenna in the attic?

What call signs are you receiving reliably? If you have signal strength/quality meter info to go with each, your reception report would be even more helpful.

Cheers

[Limewater]

Yes, I did mount it in the attic. Unfortunately, from the way I mounted to mast pole, I don't think I can quite point it optimally, but I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting.

I can tell you which stations I'm getting. My television doesn't have a non-dumbed-down signal strength meter, and I don't have an external meter or a spectrum analyzer, so I'm not sure I can provide terribly useful signal strength measurements. My television just seems to give a goofy signal reading between 0 and 100. I can give that information if you wish.

I'm getting:
Real Virt Callsign Janky Signal Strength
38 2 WMAR 90
48 4 WRC 15-30
36 5 WTTG 90
7 7 WJLA 100
9 9 WUSA 90
11 11 WBAL 100
13 13 WJZ 100
35 20 WDCA 60
42 22 WMPT 75

27 26? WETA 0-75 (Shows up at 26.1, but no virtual channel listed in my location report. Also, I was getting 0-15 on this channel earlier today, but am now getting 75.)

24 30 WNVC 45 (Actually, I got 45 earlier and tonight I'm getting 75)
33 32 WHUT 15 (15 earlier, tonight I'm getting 45)
46 45 WBFF 90
50 50 WDCW 60
40 54 WNUV 90
34 66 WPXW 75

I also previously got 67 (WMPB), but when I tried to "improve" the pointing of my antenna after I finally found my compass, I lost it. I guess maybe I should try to undo the damage, but I think I already have enough PBSs.

I only checked the signal strength at different times on the stations I noted. There have not been significant weather changes over the five hours between measurements. Does day/night make a significant difference at VHF and UHF frequencies?

Also for reference, there's approximately 70 feet of cable, including 3 barrel connectors between the antenna and the television. The antenna is pointed roughly toward Baltimore.

[GroundUrMast]

Thanks for doing all that work.