Looking to reach out 70 miles or so - ChannelMaster products?

[Tommy22]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e6a4b7c5c8b400

I'm about 45 miles North of the St. Louis towers. I can get most major St. Louis channels (big networks) decently with a Amazonbasic 50 mile amplified indoor antenna in a 2nd story window.

For fun though I would like to try to pull in channels from Hannibal/Quincy market that are right about 70 miles N/NE of me. There are also channels in Columbia/Jeff City.

So in other words I'd like to pull in channels from multiple markets in different directions. I hardly even watch TV, just thought this would be a fun project.


This is what I'm thinking of buying but wanted to get opinions first:

For antenna: Channel Master 3020
Rotator: Channel Master 9521A
Amplifier: Channel Master CM-7777HD (or maybe the cheaper 7777 Titan 2)

Also am considering the Channelmaster DVR

Antenna would be mounted about 25ft up or so.
It would run on RG6 to 1 television on the first floor.


Another antenna I was considering was the Marathon: https://www.amazon.com/Marathon-Dist...rathon+antenna

Seems to have great reviews and would probably be easier to mount and be less directional. A lot of professional installers seem to use this type.

Is that design as or more effective than the old style?


Also the TV I'd be running this to is a Vizio that does not even have a Coax input. So I have to either have a DVR or some type of conversion box. I would probably go with the Channelmaster DVR - but I have heard some people say it doesn't translate the best signal. It's interesting how some TVs will get certain channels better even when the antenna setup will be exactly the same.


I appreciate any opinions!

[JoeAZ]

Welcome Tommy,

I would forget about the marathon antenna. It's not likely to provide
the gain you require.

The CM 3020 is a decent antenna but personally, I'd go for the Winegard
7698 available at Walmart.com for just over $100.00 including shipping.
I'd forgo any rotor, at least initially. You can manually rotate the antenna
to see what out of market stations you can receive before putting down
more money on a rotor. I'd also forgo any amplifier initially until you see
what you can get without one. I'd stick with a name brand amp if you
decide to get one. Several on the site have far more useful info than me
on what to look for in a good amp.
Hope this gets you started..... Happy Independence Day!

[Tommy22]

I appreciate the suggestions!

I should also add I live buried in the woods.. Our cell reception is worse in the Summer months. so I can only assume TV reception will be much better in the Winter. I'd love to get an antenna above the trees - but probably would be looking at a 60ft or so tower to accomplish that lol.

We've cleared some trees near the house and will probably clear more in the future.

[JoeAZ]

Tommy,

Those trees will essentially block your signals, unless you can get
higher than the canopy. With weak signals to start with and add
in trees to block those signals, the chances of distant reception
becomes less and less likely.

[Tommy22]

Luckily they are not super close to the house, but being as decent as the signal is with a small indoor antenna, I'm sure anything outdoor up about another 10-15 ft should be better.

I am also considering the Clearstream 4V antenna. Anyone have opinions as to how that would stack up against the ChannelMaster CM3020?

The clearstream is rated at 70 miles, and the Channelmaster is rated at 100..but I know that is obviously very subjective.

I'd like to just try them all to test them, but obviously that will start adding up $$$ really fast.

[JoeAZ]

The CM 3020 and Clearstream 4v are not really comparable.
The CM 3020 is VHF and UHF. The Clearstream is UHF only
unless you add an optional VHF dipole. The VHF dipole is
for local/suburban distances. Your St. Louis stations are
all UHF but the stations you are most likely to receive out
of your market are Hi-VHF. The CM 3020 is Hi and Lo VHF.
The Winegard 7698, I recommend, is Hi VHF only. There
are no Lo VHF channels of importance anywhere near you.
The long elements on the CM 3020 are more subject to
damage than the shorter elements of the Winegard 7698p.

As far as "ratings" go, all antennas are limited to about 60
miles. The curvature of the Earth is why. In some instances,
range can go beyond 60 miles but either the transmitter or
the receiving antenna or both must be very, very high.

[Tommy22]

Appreciate the help. I plan on buying everything and getting it going in the next couple weeks. Will post an update at that time with some photos.

If anyone else has any other opinions or are in the same TV market - Feel free to share them.

Also - if anyone has an opinion of the Winegard HD8200U - And how that would compare to the CM3020 or Winegard 7698P?


I notice now the Winegards have more elements than the Channelmasters. Does that generally mean they are better?

Thanks!

[jrgagne99]

Originally Posted by Tommy22

Also - if anyone has an opinion of the Winegard HD8200U - And how that would compare to the CM3020 or Winegard 7698P?
Thanks!

7698P ~= HDB8200U with VHF low elements removed:
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.p...8167#post58167

I believe the CM3020 and HDB8200U have approximately equal performance.
http://dennysantennaservice.com/best-tv-antenna.html