Setup advice for NW Pa location

[jalberth]

We moved late last fall and I brought along our 4 bay bowtie and Winegard AP-8275 (I think) booster. It is pointed at Erie to the NW and brings in WJET channel 24 most of the time. Clearfield to the SE WPSU 3.1, 3.2, & 3.3 come in somewhat on the back side of the antenna. We would like to get the Erie channels better. Any other channels would be great but not that important.
The antenna is 22 feet above the ground on a mast. I can raise it another 10 or 15 feet if that would help. There is 90 feet of cable from the antenna to our one TV. We are located on a hill top with 15 feet of higher elevation above us before dropping over the other side. Reception was better before the leaves came on the trees. The woods start 350 feet from the antenna.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we have never had cable or satellite TV and don't want to start now.
Here is my signal analysis Thanks

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e1c651cfe202e0

+=>

The signal strengths are Very Weak at your reception location.

Do not delete the first tvfool report with the 22 feet antenna height above ground.

Please make and post 2 more tvfool reports , 40 feet and 60 feet antenna heights above ground.

[StephanieS]

Greetings Jalberth,

Reception of WJET ABC is indeed an extremely favorable result. I would not have expected reception of it based on the provided map. What model UHF antenna are you using?

WJET is the strongest Erie broadcast on your map. The others are down in the negative double digits. This doesn't bode well for reception. Generally, once you start getting to about +8-6 db in signal strength, you arrive at the bleeding edge of reception. This is the place where signal strength falls below decodable levels. Signals that flirt with this line come and go even in optimal conditions.

Trees are a signal killer as you have noticed. They reflect and slice it up before it can reach your antenna. The better winter reception due the less foliage. Many people with trees in their signal paths don't like our advice here, but it is important, for the best chance at reception you either:

A. Get above the trees
or
B. Cut the trees down

Building an antenna system even sparing no expense, you will be handicapping it greatly attempting to make it overcome foliage.

Before we get too much deeper, you say you have the chance to raise the antenna another 15'. Please repost TV fool maps for 37', 50' and 100'.

You may not be able to get all of Erie to decodable levels, Johnstown and Altoona broadcasts though may respond well to the additional elevation.

Cheers.

[jalberth]

Thanks for the help. My antenna is a Terrestrial DB8. At our previous house which was 4 miles closer to Erie and with the antenna on the 2nd story roof we received channel 12,24,35, & 66 with no issues. There were no trees and the property is about the same elevation as our new location.
Here are the signal analysis you requested.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e1c651cfe202e0

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e1c6944da7203e

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e1c64f1b2d8957

[StephanieS]

Thanks for the added information. It appears there is some benefit around 100 feet, but not a great deal.

The best I can suggest is raise the antenna that additional 15 ft. and play with the aiming of Erie (magnetic 329) and Johnstown (magnetic around 150) and see what you get. You could purchase and test a RCA TVPRAMP1R to see if this aides.

If you see WJET that's a good sign. This map may be a bit more negative than your reception reality.

Sometimes we have to suggest "just do it" and see what you get. This is one of those cases. You have a hill to work off of and you experience better than predicted results already.

There may be an option for FOX if you get the majority of affiliates, but no FOX.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers.

[jalberth]

Thanks again for your help. I will raise the antenna and remove the trees closest to the tower. Do you think my antenna is suitable for this location or are there others you feel might work better? I appreciate you taking the time to help me and sharing your knowledge. Joe

[StephanieS]

No problem, that's what we're here for.

When you mention 4 bay bowtie is it this design?



Or this?



Without a make and model number of the antenna, I'm not 100% sure which antenna you are running.

I'm reluctant to suggest any antenna changes at this point. If you are running a U4000 or similiar (the first picture) and you have favorable improvement on elevation a DB8e might be something to discuss as it is one of the best weak signal UHF specific antennas on the market.

The only other thing you *might* add would be a VHF beam in the Antennacraft Y10713. This would be dedicated to attempt reception of WWCP real channel 8 for FOX network service.

If this is something you chose to do, the RCA Preamp would come in handy as it has dedicated UHF and VHF inputs. Your Winegard has only a single input design.

Again though, were into "just do it," lol. We're outside of the normal TV fool map parameters due to being on a hill and doing these tweaks will give you a good idea if its a venture you want to put more money into.

Cheers.

[jalberth]

Mine is the second design. It's a Terrestrial Digital DB8
The previous owner had used a very long (about 13') channel master antenna with a rotator. It is out behind the workshop and not in good shape or I would try it.

[StephanieS]

You have one of the best options for your situation in the DB8. The DB8e is only favored today due to being more tuned to the current UHF band instead of the outdated one (real channels 14-51 vs 14-69) and offers a touch more gain in addition to some nifty panel adjustment abilities.

Those channel masters are beasts. An antenna of a mostly bygone era now (aggressive low/high VHF with UHF). A 13 to 16' monster in the air... they were something to see indeed.

Cheers.

[jalberth]

Well, I haven't had time to raise the antenna and cut some trees but I did try aiming the antenna in different directions. When pointed SW looking over our hay fields (no trees!) we picked up 5 stations. All other directions were unsatisfactory. My question is -- is it possible to use one antenna pointed towards the NW to get channel 24 (Erie) and WPSU Clearfield ( on the back side) and another antenna pointed to the SW for the 5 stations I wasn't aware were obtainable? If so would you please explain how this is done? I have another antenna identical to the Terrestrial DB8 but is a Channel Master which we used at our previous home.