how can I join-stack 2 uhf and one vhf antenna?

[toddbailey]

So I live in a pretty poor reception area with the stations color coded in red, blue and violet, the few that are yellow are don't care, go figure eh?

According to the tv's signal quality indicator all the stations are marginal.

virt act strength sn id
4 30 52 20 komo/abc
5 25 49 19 king/nbc
7 24 68 kiro/cbs
7 23 56 22 kiro/cbs secondary alt channel
16 25 48 19 kong/abc
33 33 73 30 kwpx/ion
46 12 56 22 kuse
51 30 51 20 kuns
56 34 74 30 kwdk

poor or no reception

6 6 kymu
9 9 kcts/pbs
11 11 kstw/cw
13 22 38 22 kcpq/fox
22 31 kzjo
22 36 kzjo
44 16 kffv/metv


Currently I have a 40 ft mast with a cell antenna and a original cm-4228 bowtie pointed west connected to 100 ft lmr-400 that feeds into a cm-3414 4 way powered splitter.

I am thinking about adding (stacking) a RadioShack U-120 uhf and a VHF antenna (model unknown at this point) and adding cm-7777 preamp with the hopes of getting more signal

I do have several trees about 100ft west of the antenna that should probably be removed, and a hill 4 miles away that basically blocks line of sight


any thoughts, suggestions or advice on this project?

thanks

[rabbit73]

For people trying to help toddbailey, he has separated his reception problem into separate threads instead of keeping it all in one thread. You will find the basic information in this previous thread where I gave him my advice:
looking for advice
https://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=16822

He also posted here:
Antenna Identification help please
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=16823

His rabbitears.info signal report:
https://www.rabbitears.info/searchma...tudy_id=234296

[toddbailey]

sorry if i violated forum posting policy, the dual post was intended to keep the 2 topics separate.

my first post was advice on what antennas I should use,
the second post was on how to combine multiple antennas.

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by toddbailey

sorry if i violated forum posting policy, the dual post was intended to keep the 2 topics separate.

my first post was advice on what antennas I should use,
the second post was on how to combine multiple antennas.

It's not exactly a rule, more a matter on convenience.

I understand your point, but now anyone who wants to help you has to read 3 threads to have a complete understanding of your situation.

This forum isn't as active as it used to be. You probably would have received more attention if you had originally posted on Help With Reception:
https://forum.tvfool.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7

how can I join-stack 2 uhf and one vhf antenna?

Combining them will be the problem.

You can combine a UHF antenna with a VHF antenna with a UVSJ (UHF-VHF Separator-Joiner) so that they don't interfere with each other, but any VHF channels picked up by the UHF antenna will be blocked.

If you combine two antennas with a splitter in reverse, it often doesn't work well because when the same signals reach the combining point they will interfere with each other if they aren't in phase (arrive at the same instant).

If you don't have all the signals when combined that you had when the antennas were separate, that method of combining doesn't work for your location.

You will just have to try different methods of joining to see what works.

My favorite inexpensive method of adding another antenna is to use a separate tuner (like the $40 Mediasonic HW-150) for the second antenna and connect its output to the HDMI input of just one TV.
TV SNR and Mediasonic HW150 Signal Quality Comparison
https://forum.tvfool.com/showthread....3462#post63462

There is a device that can combine up to 4 antennas, the Televes Avant X, but it is expensive.