Help in Monroe, CT (Upper Fairfield County)

[hovey]

Hi All,

Looking for some help and suggestion on getting OTA broadcasts at my home in Monroe CT. Was using Aereo and loving it until the SCOTUS killed it off Anyhow now I'm looking for a viable alternative. Never had any experience in this so need some help on what kind of antenna I will need in my location to pick up signals from the NYC broadcast area. A friend of mine gave me a second hand Mohu Sky 60 that I tried mounting in the attic of my 2 story house but I only really pick up 1 channel well.

Here is the link to my report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2fb2dfb28700

Any help is very much appreciated!
Thanks!

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The tvfool report says , Resolved to block level only.

For accurate tvfool reports please make and post tvfool reports using the Exact Address.

Make and post 2 tvfool reports with antenna heights of 25 and 40 feet antenna heights above ground.

[hovey]

I've created 2 additional reports using Lat and Lon coordinates as my address does not seem to resolve correctly.

25 FT: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2fb70f845fbe

40 FT: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec2f0a9a36c312

[StephanieS]

Greetings,

40' has some potential. What market do you want to receive? New Haven will be the easiest...

Cheers.

[hovey]

Would ideally like to pick up NYC market, but I realize that may be difficult. What kind of antenna would you recommend for this kind of setup?

[StephanieS]

NYC is technically possible, however you have quite a bit of co-channel interference going on. What this means is that while there may be enough usable signal from NYC to decode, another signal on the same frequency is providing enough signal to keep a NYC broadcast from decoding.

So the answer for NYC is, you have to try. The co-channel situation is unpredictable. You just have to put something in the air and see. You may see all of NYC, you may see only a couple. If you do try for NYC, you have to go in with the mindset that they are weak and iffy to begin with, thus you may not see them reliably.

If trying for NYC, a 2 antenna set up will be required:
Antenna 1 - Antennnas Direct DB8e (for real channels 14-51)
Antenna 2 - Antennacraft HD1200 (for real channels 2-13)
Orientate both antennas to magnetic heading 238
Combine Antennas into a single lead via Antennas Direct EU385CF
HD1200 into EU385CF VHF input/DB8e into EU385CF UHF input
Single coax lead into home

If trying for New Haven:
Antenna 1 - Antennas Direct DB8e
Antenna 2 - Antennacraft HBU 22 (for ABC)
Orientate antenna 1 to magnetic heading 50
Orientate antenna 2 to magnetic heading 81
Combine via EU385CF combiner
DB8e to UHF input/HBU22 to VHF input
Run coax into home.

If I were mounting either of these set ups, I would use a roof mast mount or a tripod mount with a 10' pole. When installing antennas make sure to have them 4' or so apart on the mounting mast.

Best of luck.

Neither are the easiest, but New Haven in my opinion has a much higher chance of being reliable. NYC just has too many co-channels going on to make any sort of concrete prediction - it's "just put something in the air."

How many TVs do you want to serve?

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For reception of the , New Haven , Hartford , area , Digital Broadcast Tv Stations/Channels.

Above the Peak of the Roof in such a manner that reception is not , obstructed , impeded , block , by the , attic , roof , building , in the directions of , North East , East , South , South West.

Install a.

http://www.antennacraft.net.

HBU44 antenna.

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Aim the HBU44 antenna at about , 52 degree magnetic compass direction.

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Here is how to aim antennas.

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antenna , do not trust a , cell phone , tablet and etc. compass.

Most Digital Tv's have Signal Strength Meter and some Digital Tv's also have a Signal Quality Meter.

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Install a , http://www.antennacraft.net.

10G201 preamplifier.

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For 1 Tv connected use No splitter.

For 2 Tv's connected use a , Holland Electronics , HFS-2D , 2 way splitter.

For 3 Tv's connected use a , Holland Electronics , HFS-3D , 3 way splitter.

Buy the , HFS-2D , HFS-3D , splitters at , http://www.hollandelectronics.com , or , http://www.amazon.com.

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Install the HBU44 antenna at no less then 25 feet above ground.

Here are some above the roof antenna mounts.

Ronard antenna mounts are Over Built to Last a Long Time.

http://www.ronard.com/909911.html. Install the , ronard(911) , 5 foot tripod antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/712.html. Install the , ronard(712-50-10) , 10 foot tripod antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/34424560.html. Install the , ronard(4560) , eave antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/ychim.html. Measure around the chimney and use a , ronard(2212) , ronard(2218) , ronard(2224) .

http://www.ronard.com.

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Home Depot has , 10 foot 6 inch length , 1 and 3/8 inch diameter , TOP RAIL , chain link fence , PIPE , that makes excellent antenna mast/pipe , the price is low at about 12 dollars.

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Also know this.

As always , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , have a Negative Effect on Broadcast Tv Reception and so do buildings and other obstructions including your own , attic , roof , building.

Some and not all Negative Effects are.

Absorbing and Blocking Reception.

Multi-Path Reflecting Tv Signals Bouncing All Around.

The Best Practice for Reliable Reception is to install the antenna at a location that has the , least amount to no amount of obstructions of any type or kind including your own , attic , roof , building , in the directions of reception.

The directions of reception at your location are , North East , East , South , South West.

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Can also Test reception of the New York , Digital Broadcast Tv Stations/Channels.

Aim the HBU44 antenna at about 240 degree magnetic compass direction.

And Rescan for channels.


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The Tv/s Must Channel Scan for the , OTA=Over The Air , ATSC Digital Broadcast Tv Stations/Channels , often named the ~ Antenna Channels ~ ATSC Channels ~ DTV Channels ~ Air Channels ~ in the Tv Setup Menu because the Tv transmissions travel through the Air from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna.

Channel Scan for the ATSC Digital Broadcast Tv Stations/channels.

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DO NOT Channel Scan for Cable Tv Channels.

[tomfoolery]

I grew up in that area, and can testify that location means everything as far as reception from the NYC area goes, and it's likely only gotten worse since 9/11, and from the digital transition. #1 WTC was supposed to host TV transmission from most NYC stations going forward, but I don't know where that sits now. If they move from the Empire State Building, it could help more distant NY, NJ, and CT locations if they don't also lower their power output. CT is hilly, and it's easy to get behind a hill or ridge and have poor reception, even relatively close in. My parents' house won't get DTV at all now, and even analog was poor but receivable growing up. Except for the few UHF stations, which were so ghosted they were unwatchable.

Playing with your GPS coordinates, it looks like height above ground yields big benefits as you go up, but the coordinates are only a rough estimation of your actual location (truncated), so moving the location to the top of a hill also makes for huge improvements.

Any chance of putting up a tower?

I might suggest you try the mapping function, dragging the location right on top of the planned antenna, to see if it's better. You can use the satellite view to verify actual location.

I can understand wanting the NYC stations (the virtual channel numbers and call letters are like old friends, except for WNYW which used to be WNEW), but unless you're on top of a hill and/or they move the transmitting antennas up another 300 ft by relocating to #1 World Trade Center, it's going to be tough to get reliable reception from there.

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Yes is Ok to Test reception of the New York City Digital Broadcast Tv Stations/Channels.

Aim the HBU44 antenna at about 240 degree magnetic compass direction.