Setup and Reception

[Tower Guy]

Which CBS pixelates; 3-1 or 11-1?

[rickbb]

I had a big long reply typed out, but my log in timed out and I lost it all, man I hate that. lol

Anyway long story short;

Before you buy anything, get up on the roof, use as short a piece of cable as you can that runs to just one TV. Move the antenna around in different places on the roof. Don't forget to change the up and down direction as well. Sometimes just a few feet can make a big difference.

That dish j pole may not be the best place for your antenna. Based on your report those signals should be popping in clear as a bell.

Generally speaking, (there are exceptions), but you normally want your antenna as high up as you can and facing the towers with no or few obstructions between your antenna and the towers. Trees are the number one thing that blocks UHF signals for most people. You have seen this with the loss of stations when the leaves came out, it will get worse.

Only after you have gone through this trial and error exercise and located your antenna in the best place you have, then start thinking about a bigger antenna or distribution amp, better cable, better splitter setup, etc.

[OTAFAN]

GypsyCowgirl:

Looking at the Longley-Rice information at rabbitears.info for your area, it seems to me that the quality of reception at your house will depend on your exact location and height of your antenna, of course. It appears to vary by station because of the terrain; stronger or weaker.

You could send a PM to rabbit73 and I'm sure he could check your area out and graphically show you what would be optimal at your location; your privacy would not be compromised but you could get more definite answers to your issues. Or, take up ADTech on his offer to help you offline as well. He would also give you excellent help, I'm sure. And Tower Guy, rickbb, JoeAZ and Bobsgarage, are all experienced Techs who are offering clear advice. I'm just the piano player here on this forum.

Good luck to you and I look forward to resolutions to your issues!

[kb4]

just a different thought.

Since the reception seems to change when antenna position adjusted, and different in different rooms etc it could also be a bad connection or a bad piece of coax in the run etc. or bad splitter. I suggest , like rickbb did but for a different reason that you run one coax directly from a single tv to the antenna. Try to make sure all connections are tight etc. This should be the best you can do with that antenna in that location . Might try moving coax a little and see if signal changes. Next would be different antenna location. Also you might ask friends or neighbors in the area what their reception is like and you can often see what antennas are being utilized in the area just by driving around.

Second, pics are generally helpful and certainly can't hurt. Would like to see pics of trees at about 164 degrees preferably from roof near antenna location and antenna installation.

[GypsyCowgirl]

Originally Posted by Tower Guy

Which CBS pixelates; 3-1 or 11-1?

CBS here, is Channel 11-1 out of Houston.

[GypsyCowgirl]

I am just now able to post anything. I have not adjusted anything, or changed anything. We have had a lot of rain, or either I am not available until late, so I have not been able to get outside and look at anything or take pictures of the setup. I was finally able to take pictures. Is there a way to post images on this site.

About a week ago it was pouring down rain, and reception so pixelated and choppy it was unwatchable.

[kb4]

Yes, you can post pics on this site. The way I do it is to create an account at a free site like Imgur and post the picture there then post a link to it in your post here. This is an example

https://imgur.com/I0bGPmB

I have been able to copy and paste images also as the following example but then you have to watch file size etc . Rabbit 73 just posted the file size etc restrictions for different file formats generally 500kb or 1024 by 1024 in a reply to OTA thread Distance between antennas.

IMG_5281.jpeg

Glad to see you posting again.

[kb4]

As you can see the copy and paste image didn't work. If you look below the box you are typing in when posting where it says ADDITIONAL OPTIONS one of them is ATTACH FILES click on manage attachments and it also gives you the file size limitations and the ability to attach files or pics etc. from your device.

[rabbit73]

Originally Posted by GypsyCowgirl

I was finally able to take pictures. Is there a way to post images on this site.

Post Reply > Manage Attachments > Browse...> Select your photo > Open > Upload > Save
or
Quick Reply > Go Advanced > rest as above

These are the TVFool max attachment sizes for file size, pixel width, and pixel height. Anything larger will not be accepted as an attachment. I like to keep the width of jpg photos to no more than 750 pixels so that the posts don't get too wide. If the posts are too wide, the type in a post gets too small when trying to view the whole image.



I crop and resize using a photo editor or Paint.

So, there are two ways you can post a photo: as an attachment or as a link from an image host that stores your images.

If your photo is in an attachment to your post, we can click on it to see it. It is possible to also show the image in your post as I have done in this post, but that requires an extra step.

[Tower Guy]

Originally Posted by jrgagne99

..........you might consider the RCA ANT-751 which will have more VHF-high gain, and probably adequate UHF, given your strong, LOS signals. Go for an outdoor mount, with a clear view (no trees). If you have trees, it is a bit more dicey, and a larger antenna such as the 7694P may be required.

So in summary, a small-ish UHF/VHF-hi combo antenna should work. No 8200U and no CM-7777.

I agree! You need more gain on VHF.