Interactive (Exact location) TVFOOL report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8d174fa24f04f0
Antenna selection advice needed: HIGH and LOW NM(db), Pwr(dbm) -weak stations (30 miles,1st Edge) about 180 degrees opposite strong (4.6 miles, LOS)
Appox 3 months a ago (January) replaced a huge worn-out 20yr old Vhf/Uhf OTA antenna due to age/damage unit had sustained over the years from falling tree limbs.
(Hugh old oak tree over house)
(Old antenna was not 100% of course but wife for sure is not impressed with RCA ANT751 that was recommended on another board- so while leafy vegetation is a factor, it's not all a case of installing in dead of winter and getting perfect reception and once leaves appear reception dropping.)
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House: 1930's, wood frame, asphalt shingles... with aluminum (yuk) siding
Hugh old oak tree over house- Limbs /branches leafy sections 10+ft above antenna.
Clear shot to stations located to S.E. (@225 degrees)
Trunk of oak tree just about in line with stations 60.1, 44.1 (Right outside of house -28ft from antenna.)
Oak tree =percentage of leaves/vegetation showing= 35% (Leaves coming back)
Airport to North 2-3 miles, flightpath does not go over stations to SE 4.6 miles (225 degrees). Do have small planes fly directly overhead sometimes but do not notice signal loss 99.99% of time. 44.1 (ION), 60.1 in flight path.
New RCA ANT751 mounted at around 15ft- so it sees over roof-line.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C
Using 75-ohm balum packaged with ANT751.
Antenna mast is 2-inch water pipe cemented into fence pipe. Currently no bracketing at roof edge so pipe/antenna sways during windy weather.
Antenna mast appox 4ft from 1930's stone chimney= ANT751 itself appx 4 ft above chimney
New RG6 with compression fittings running into basement to (old) grounding block- then new RG6 to (1) new HDTV via it's built in ASTC tuner.
Length of RG6 run: 25ft to grounding block, 12ft to HDTV. I have tried splitting signal to DTVPal Plus converter box thinking reception problems are due to high signal strengths causing signal overload.
(Have been unable to use PC-based media center with (2) Silicon Dust HDHomeRun tuners- for a total of 4 PC tuners which really makes wifey unhappy..)
RCA ANT751 is currently pointed @ appox 45 degrees, (towards weak stations) backside picking up stations 4.6 miles away.
RCA ANT751 is not tuned for Vhf-Low- but Vhf-low 6 (23.1) @4.6 miles LOS with a db 79.2, dbm -11.7 comes in surprisingly well.
Desired channels- All down to 44.1 (ION), minus :
20 (34.1)
18 (17.1) CW -repeat of 21.1 CW
33 (33.1)- ABC repeat of 9 (40.1) ABC
Most problematic channels wifey is reporting- which may be incomplete:
*WBRC**50*(6.1)Fox4.1*LOS*74.8
*WABM-DT**36*(68.1)MyN4.6*LOS*70.8
WTJP-TV**26*(60.1)Ind26.2*1Edge*41.6*
Rain/bad weather affecting 60.1 and 44.1 (ION) of course...
Any and all suggestions welcome. Next couple of days hope to get on roof and try pointing towards strong stations (4.6 miles) to see if they behave and maybe swap out 75-ohm balum at antenna /grounding block.
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