Omnidirectional recommendation

[billkater]

Ready to cut the cord. I have a 40ft free standing tower and would like to put a omnidirectional antenna on top of it. Need recommendations based on my tvfool report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...903863aa8fa84d


Thanks all

Bill

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by billkater

Ready to cut the cord. I have a 40ft free standing tower and would like to put a omnidirectional antenna on top of it. Need recommendations based on my tvfool report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...903863aa8fa84d

Hello, Bill; welcome to the forum.

Thank you for the signal report. Here is a report from rabbitears.info that should be more up to date:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...study_id=37391

This is an extract from that report:



You have one very strong local signal and a lot of very weak channels in different directions.

What channels are most important to you?

I'm not a fan of omni antennas; they receive poorly in all directions. They sometimes work OK if you have fairly strong signals in different directions. The antenna element in an omni is low gain; a preamp is usually included to compensate for that low gain element. If the signals coming out of the antenna element are weak and poor quality, the preamp will make them stronger but their quality will still be poor; GIGO.

However, to satisfy your curiosity, you can try an omni to see how it does at your location.

I think I see your tower (in attachment) with two antennas on it in a street photo taken in July 2014. The tower will help get your antenna above the trees which can block weak signals.

I suggest you try an antenna for UHF and VHF, like the Winegard HD7694P, aimed at Terre Haute, for
WTWO NBC
WAWV ABC
WTHI CBS/FOX/CW/ION

You should get WUSI PBS off the side, but I can't give you a guarantee.

If the HD7694P doesn't have enough gain you would have to upgrade to the bigger 7698P or use separate UHF and VHF antennas as you see in the old Google street photo.

You could use a directional antenna and a rotator, but that wouldn't work very well if you have many TVs and I don't see much more in other directions.

You do have one strong local FM transmitter, WSEI, that might interfere with the reception of WTHI on real channel 10. It's coming from the south, so it will be at the rear of your antenna (which makes it weaker), and you can add an FM filter if necessary.
http://www.fmfool.com/modeling/tmp/3...3/Radar-FM.png

[billkater]

Yes, I will be mounting on that tower. It is a freestanding 40ft or so. There will be 2, maybe 3 TV's using at a time. I would really like to get WTHI 10, WFIE 14, and WAWV 38 for sure. As those are the locals for us now..

Money wise and lift time cost to install the antenna, would I be better off just going with the HD7698P up front?

Thanks

Bill

[Tim]

Originally Posted by billkater

Yes, I will be mounting on that tower. It is a freestanding 40ft or so. There will be 2, maybe 3 TV's using at a time. I would really like to get WTHI 10, WFIE 14, and WAWV 38 for sure. As those are the locals for us now..

Money wise and lift time cost to install the antenna, would I be better off just going with the HD7698P up front?

Thanks

Bill

If it is going to cost you lift time, I would definitely go with the biggest antenna possible. With the HD7698P recommended by Rabbit73 aimed towards Terre Haute you have a good chance of receiving WTWO (NBC), WAWV (ABC) and WTHI (CBS/FOX/CW). You have some hills about 10 miles from you interfering a bit with the signal. Also as Rabbit73 mentioned, your local PBS station WUSI is strong enough that you might receive it off the side of your antenna.

WFIE in Evansville is off in another direction, weaker and far enough away that the curvature of the earth begins to interfere with reception. You can get your NBC programming from WTWO.

[billkater]

Thank you for your help