New to tucson

[JoeAZ]

Greetings Everyone, Unable to post, "New to Tucson" asked me
to post until they are able to do so.



could use your help
I'm sorry but can't seem to get permission to post on the forum for help. I would really appreciate any help that you can give us. Thanks so much in advance !

We are located in the NW part of Tucson about 18 miles north of the city center and about 4miles to the base of the Catalina Mountains. We would like to receive the following stations:
04 NBC
13 CBS
16 ABC
28 PBS
Our signal analysis results are at:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...90383f69b0b72e
Currently testing with a Clearstream 2Max:
Inside at 6’ height and pointing at 207-208 magnetic degrees, we receive channel 13.
Outside at 10’ height and pointing around 190 degrees, we receive channels 4 and 16.
We have no reception for channel 28.
We are using temporary coax cables to test (30’ inside, 80’ outside). We would like to finally connect to the internal house coax since we don’t have cable service. The cable box is at the SW corner of the house. The house coax run may be 80-100’ in length to our only TV. It seems that we will need to circumvent our neighbor’s trees by mounting the antenna on the roof top and running the coax to the cable box. That’s about 20 feet plus the antenna height. That is in addition to the interior coax house run.
After much reading of the forum, it sounds like we should ditch the multidirectional Clearstream and buy a directional antenna that shields from the mountains on the east side.
What would be the best setup to receive these channels? There seems to be one website where we can still buy the Winegard HD7210P Ghost Killer which receives VHF-LO and HI along with UHF. I’ve also read that the Channel Master CM3016 and Winegard HD8200U might be good alternatives. However, I really don’t know that much and am looking for advice.
Would we need a FM filter for the PBS channel? How about an amplifier to make up for the long coax run? There is a fire station situated about 1 mile away south east of us. Would that complicate our reception?

[JoeAZ]

Welcome to TV Fool, New to Tucson!

Northwest areas from Tucson have always been a reception
problem. Some but not all stations have translators to "fill in"
those areas not served by transmitters atop Mt. Bigelow.
Fox 11, KMSB moved their transmitter from near Green Valley
to Mt. Bigelow and in so doing, switched from one set of problems
for another, since they do not have a translator for NW Tucson.
It would seem you have two issues: Long cable runs due to
tall trees blocking your signals. Is there any way to shorten the
RG6 cable and still avoid the trees???? If not, then an amplifier
is the only alternative. A rooftop mount is the only solution
unless there is a "hole" where the antenna can see all the stations
you want to receive, which is highly unlikely. I would not give
up on your Clearstream antenna just yet. If you can return it,
I would advise doing so. Since KVOA NBC 4 still uses low band
VHF, you'll need an antenna capable of low band VHF reception.
I believe Channel Master still has some antennas that would
work well in your situation. I'm certain you'll get other responses
to help you along to better reception. I'm still half asleep in
Prescott, AZ.

[jrgagne99]

The link to your TVFool report doesn't work for me. Looks like you might have pasted an abbreviated link?

[ADTech]

Repaired TVFool link: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...90383f69b0b72e



Tuscon is one of the more screwed up cities for antenna usage due to an unfortunate location for the primary transmitters up on Mt Bigelow. Most areas of Oro Valley and Catalina will find that the signals from that site simply go over their head but don't reach their lower elevation due to terrain blocking the signals.


Several of the stations have installed translators on either Tumamoc Hill or Tower Peak to the southwest of the city, but not all have done so. Most notably, the Fox affiliate, KMSB virtual channel 11.x, never did this and will be unreceivable at your location.


If you can get your C2MAX mounted in a location that gives you a clear and unobstructed signal path towards both of the southerly sites, it should work fine. If you mount it where the signal path is blocked by trees or buildings, reception will likely fail. An amp can help somewhat, but it would be like applying a Band Aid to a very serious wound.

[JoeAZ]

From NEW TO TUCSON

Luckily for us, we are only interested in the few stations that have translators SW of Tucson. They are located around 187 and 207 degrees from us. We were able to return the Clearstream 2Max and are looking for recommendations for an antenna (or multiple) that can pick up the VHF LO, UHF and VHF HI signals from the SW.
We have been planning to mount the antenna on the roof; it’s just a matter of motivation to get up there when the temp is around 100. So we think that we can possibly get a clear path to the translators.
As far as shortening the coax cable; we could install the antenna on the north side, run the line from the antenna down, along the roof eave and through the wall at an exterior outlet. By doing this, the coax cable can be less than 50 feet. But could the roof line itself deflect the signal? Moving south towards the towers increases the coax cable length.


If I understand correctly, you can mount the antenna on the north side of your home
and reduce the cable run to less than 50 feet??? Would the "peak" of the roof be
higher than the antenna??? How long would the mast have to be to be above the "peak." How far away are the trees at 187 and 207 degrees??? You can order a Channel Master CM 3018 antenna from either
Lowe's or Home Depot and have it delivered to a store near you for about $80.00 That antenna would
cover KVOA NBC 4 on Rf 4, KOLD CBS 13 on Rf 13, KGUN 9 ABC on Rf 16 and KUAS PBS 6 on Rf 28.
Hope this is clear to you......