What Antenna do I need?

Cotton · 18-Aug-2022, 3:51 PM

Does anyone have a suggestion as to which antenna would work well for my location? My Lattitude is: 36.230094 and my Longitude is: -83204248. Plan to mount the antenna 10 feet high. Any help would be appreciated.

Note: Am thinking I may need a Televes Antenna but am not sure which one would be the best or if another name brand would do just as well.

OTAFAN · 18-Aug-2022, 10:58 PM

Hi Cotton:

So you're in SE Kansas, is that right?

Where is your market? That is, where are you receiving your TV stations from? Kansas City, Missouri, Oklahoma or other? A rabbitears.info report would help clarify.

In the meantime, flying blind here so to speak, the Televes brand of antennas have excellent feedback from users, as I understand it. JoeAZ, a long time poster on this forum, but haven't heard from as of late, swears by his. He's in Prescott, AZ and pulls in signals from Phoenix about 100 miles away with the help of repeaters. Hopefully, he'll see your post and reply.

I can also recommend Channel Master antennas. They are robustly built and work very well pulling in signals. You might want to check their website.

Hopefully, this will help you get started. One of the forums good techs is Tim from Georgia. I know he's active and I'm sure his input would be appreciated. Tripelo is also currently monitoring. And there are others as well, too numerous to mention.

When you hit pay dirt, please let the forum know how it turns out for you. I'm sure it would be instructive to others.

Thanks and all the best.....

Tim · 21-Aug-2022, 2:08 AM

Those coordinates came up about 45 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN when I plugged them in. Here is the link to the Rabbit Ears report with the antenna mounted at 30 ft.
https://rabbitears.info/s/606563
If you click on the Transmitter Distance, it brings up a terrain map showing the signal path from the transmitter antenna to your antenna. Looks like you have a high ridge near you that is blocking the signals out of Knoxville. Here is what the signal path for WATE (ABC) looks like.Capture.JPG
As you go higher, the signals look better. See this report for an antenna at 50 ft: https://rabbitears.info/s/606563 The signals are better and it looks like you should have success with the major networks out of Knoxville.

So the big question would be, do you think you would be able to mount an antenna at about 50 ft in height above ground?

bobsgarage · 8-Sep-2022, 2:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTAFAN

Hi Cotton:

So you're in SE Kansas, is that right?

Where is your market? That is, where are you receiving your TV stations from? Kansas City, Missouri, Oklahoma or other? A rabbitears.info report would help clarify.

In the meantime, flying blind here so to speak, the Televes brand of antennas have excellent feedback from users, as I understand it. JoeAZ, a long time poster on this forum, but haven't heard from as of late, swears by his. He's in Prescott, AZ and pulls in signals from Phoenix about 100 miles away with the help of repeaters. Hopefully, he'll see your post and reply.

I can also recommend Channel Master antennas. They are robustly built and work very well pulling in signals. You might want to check their website.

Hopefully, this will help you get started. One of the forums good techs is Tim from Georgia. I know he's active and I'm sure his input would be appreciated. Tripelo is also currently monitoring. And there are others as well, too numerous to mention.

When you hit pay dirt, please let the forum know how it turns out for you. I'm sure it would be instructive to others.

Thanks and all the best.....

Hi OTA and Tim and O.P.

I can confirm Televes is the most progressive company selling antennas these days. I have tested many of the pre repack DAT LRs and the post repack DAT LRs and compared them. The difference is there to see.

I don't like the new Channel Master on principle and value. There were the leader -arguably. They are just a holding company now outsourcing all their overpriced and rarely available products. They have bastardized the Channel Master name by selling products that don't live up to the hype. The new CM-1776 is a great example. For about $290 including attachments you only get a suburban style antenna that is weak. Some older offerings have been available but disappear as they are only small batches.

Winegard hasn't come out with anything new since the first digital dividend when channels 70-83 were deleted.

Televes seems to be the way to go these days...

OTAFAN · 8-Sep-2022, 11:41 PM

Hey Bobs!

Glad you made it back to the forum. There have only been a few of us poster's holding down the fort, so to speak, lately. But I suspect there are many other's reading posts and just have nothing to offer as of late.

I agree with you regarding Televes being more progressive currently than Channel Master, specifically with R & D. I've spoken with a rep in their US office some time ago and received helpful and friendly advice. I'm not privy to Channel Master's present "inner workings" in AZ. I just know they have always shipped my orders quickly and securely. And their antennas build quality and performance have surpassed any other's I've used, except Televes. As far as CM-1776, it seems to be a best seller according to the user reviews on their website. But I suspect the key to its performance (without extensions), is their newer metal balun, CM-3203, that comes with the antenna. It seems to be quite efficient according to reviews.

Winegard is another viable option with good performance and build quality, depending on your particular situation.

Anyway, keep the posts going forward, Bobs! It's always helpful to hear from your experiences.

All the best.....

eggman531916 · 24-Nov-2022, 3:07 AM

I had not realized they came out with a new balun. I wonder if it's any good? Of course, I didn't realize anyone was still posting here, but, I'm glad they are. I came here out of curiosity to see if anyone still posted or if the site still worked. This was one of the best tools out there and it was easier to use the map than rabbitears. Thanks for the info on the balun.

OTAFAN · 24-Nov-2022, 10:57 PM

eggman:

If you're referring to the CM-3203 balun, it's their newest balun with metal casing. I tried to get rabbit73 to review it a couple years back, but no reply. I think he's still "alive and kicking," but he hasn't posted here for some time now. I saw a recent post of his over on the AVS forum.

But as far as the CM-3203 goes, someone finally put it on their bench and posted results here:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/the...81623/page-969

Scroll down about half the page to post #19,371 on 10/21/22 by ChiwaukeeOTA.

The balun appears to be very efficient and robust. However, if you're on a budget take a look at this tip from rabbit73 a few years ago on TV Fool:

https://forum.tvfool.com/showthread....ed=1#post58266

I've done the above mod and it probably is just about as good as CMs new balun, minus the metal housing and chip inside. But no complaints about their new balun either!

Let the forum know how you come out on all of this, eggman. Let's keep the conversation's going. I know it's helpful to all who read these postings.

Good to hear from you and all the best.....