Help I don't know what type of antenna I need

sarahmark97 · 6-Jul-2011, 9:41 PM

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9d62c50fc7b

I live in a mountainous area and we are receiving channel NBC 12.1 consistently, sometimes even without a booster. We would love to get more of the networks and I really don't know what type of antenna we need. We have a homemade UHF right now and it picks up those and about 9 PBS stations. It actually picks up better than the one we were using. We sometimes get 45.1 and 20.1 on a fluke, usually very early morning and sometimes at midday. I would love to get more channels consistently. We have never picked up the channels that are shown in the green or red categories on this list even though they are closest. We used to use a VHF/UHF antenna from radio shack and it picked up more analog before the digital transition. We could get almost every network channel. Thanks for your help.

ETA: It shows the higher we go, the worse the channels get so I just put in 5 ft. We have the ability to go up to 25 feet with our antenna pole.

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 4:30 AM

How many Tv's will be connected?? And what is the city , state , or the location is close to what city??

sarahmark97 · 7-Jul-2011, 5:25 PM

We have 4 TVs connected currently. We are in the North Western NC mountains close to Boone. The stations we are interested in picking up are the ones in High Point/Winston-Salem/Greensboro. We do have a pre-amp on the antenna and a booster before the split. We have tried a straight line to the antenna and it gets the same signal strength as with the split. Currently, channel 12.1 and 12.2 come in at 87 percent. They are an NBC out of Winston-Salem.

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 8:24 PM

What is the preamp and booster amp you have now. Do you know the make and model numbers?? You might be able to use one or the other when I make my recommendation for reception.

sarahmark97 · 7-Jul-2011, 8:48 PM

They are from Radio Shack. There is no number on the preamp thing. The booster says 120 V AC 60 HZ 4 Watt max with a Cat NO 152507.

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 10:12 PM

Ok I suggest a AntennaCraft U8000 UHF antenna aimed at about 102 true - 109 degree magnetic compass and a AntennaCraft CS600 VHF antenna aimed at about 325 true - 332 degree magnetic compass. The 2 antennas are connected together with a UVSJ = UHF / VHF , separator joiner , http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=UVSJ . The UHF antenna is connected to the UHF port of the UVSJ and the VHF antenna is connected to the VHF port of the UVSJ. The antenna amplifier that you have is connected to the port on the UVSJ that says LINE. The radio shack antenna amplifier that you have (like most all of radio shack branded products) is not the best of quality and design. How ever give it a try. Here are places to by antennas and etc. , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.amazon.com , http://www.3starinc.com

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 10:19 PM

Read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695. Googling the the tv stations call signs I found that WLNN-LP 24 analog channel is http://www.americaone.com

sarahmark97 · 7-Jul-2011, 10:44 PM

Thank you so much for the information.

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 10:46 PM

By Googling the tv stations call letters I found that. WCYB-TV 5 is NBC and sub digital channel is The CW , WJHL-11 is CBS and sub digital channel is local weather. The radio shack 152507 is a 2 piece amplifier , one will not work with out the other and each piece by it's self will not work with any thing else. For the strongest reception it is best to have the UVSJ and the preamplifier close to the antennas. The UVSJ and the coax connections can be isolated from the weather by putting it in a up side down bucket and you can even put the preamp up in there also.

John Candle · 7-Jul-2011, 11:43 PM

Receive Free Satellite Tv Channels with a small KU band dish and receiver. http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=265

Dave Loudin · 8-Jul-2011, 3:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Candle

By Googling the tv stations call letters I found that.

There is a well-curated site that keeps full details of subchannels and technical specs. I would recommend pointing users to rabbitears.info.

John Candle · 8-Jul-2011, 7:21 PM

By Googling the Tv stations call signs the question askers will find the rabbitears web site and a Lot More. And the rabbitears web site does not have all the tv stations listed and up dated. Wikipedia has much of the information that is missing from rabbitears. Quote - i would recommend pointing the users to rabbitears.info. My answer , it is Ok for you to point them to rabbitears.info.

Dave Loudin · 9-Jul-2011, 10:50 PM

Rabbitears has the complete story on digital channels. There is no better resource.