Antenna recommendations, southern IL

Smith · 25-Oct-2010, 4:20 PM

Hey ya'll,

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...cef3541da7e105

I am 20 miles east of Marion, IL and about 8 miles west of Harrisburg, IL.

Perhaps someone could offer an opinion as to a useful antenna option(s), please? Is there such a thing as an omni-directional for my situation, or will i need a rotator?

If I have to put an TV antenna up for the television, I may as well put up an outdoor FM antenna for my AM/FM stereo receiver , so if you have knowledge on that subject and can offer a recommendation, that would be great. I presume I would want to run that FM connection in coax, yes?

Is there value in hanging some type of AM antenna outdoors, or is that unnecessary? I don't think I have an AM antenna on the receiver at the moment.

There is a threaded coax-looking connector on the back of the receiver that currently has a regular FM wire antenna with a push on adapter on it at present.

One last item, I have seen discussions regarding plugging in a cable tv connection and receiving whatever channels they are broadcasting in the clear. I have a cable coming into the house from a previous resident which goes out to a telephone pole. I have tried doing what was suggested, but there is no signal.

My TV is a LG 47LH90, just purchased last year. The tuners (I think that's what they are) listed are: NTSC-M, ATSC, 64 & 256 QAM
VHF 2-13, UHF 14-69, CATV 1-135, DTV 2-69, CADTV 1-135.

When I plug in the cable and let it run an auto-tune, it comes up with no channels. The cable does come from the pole, run down the side of the house, and then goes underneath and apparently to the other side where it comes up through the floor. I haven't actually checked the cable underneath to be certain it isn't cut, but I am going to do that.

My question is if it is uncut, is there something else I need to do? I suppose the test for whether or not there is available signal is the TV showing a picture.

Is that common for the CATV companies to leave a line for local channels with live signal? I should think it would be turned off at the pole, or can they not do that? If I could acess the local stuff this way, I would obviously do it if it is not illegal. It does not seem to be, from what I can tell.

This whole CATV point is probably moot, as it will probably turn out that there is no signal because it isn't turned on, when I finish checking the cable.

Thank you.

GroundUrMast · 25-Oct-2010, 9:48 PM

It's not uncommon for the cable company to disconnect the drop at the pole. Even if you were to find unencrypted channels on the cable, I doubt they would be in HD. Also, more and more cable companies are encrypting all of their channels for various reasons that benefit their interests.

Much of the OTA programing is in HD, so I choose to go to some effort and one time expense to make use of it.

I seriously doubt an omni antenna will reliably receive any but the top three stations listed in your report.

You may want to re-run your report using the highest practical height above ground that you could mount an antenna. I used the ZIP for your general area and found that the available RX power at 20' AGL was about 4 dB higher, which is significant.

Some folks are more inclined to recommend rotors than I am. I find a rotor to be a little bit inconvenient. In your case I would offer two options.

1.) No rotor. A High-Band VHF like a YA 1713 http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=615798304867 aimed at 311° true (to rx the PBS affiliate on CH 8)
A Large, high gain UHF like a HD9032 http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...0Antennas&sku=
or 91XG http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=853748001910 aimed between 249° and 211°

This option may not provide the CBS feed and has little chance of getting CW.

2.) The same antenna combination as above but with a rotor. This would give you a good chance at the CW and much better chance at CBS.

With either option I would use a mast mount pre-amp like a CM7777 http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...ku=02057207774 to combine the VHF and UHF antennas.

GroundUrMast · 25-Oct-2010, 10:02 PM

Do you have a list of favorite FM stations or do you wish to try for as many as possible?

GroundUrMast · 25-Oct-2010, 10:04 PM

Does your receiver have a connector for an external antenna?

Smith · 26-Oct-2010, 2:21 AM

Hi GroundUrMast,

Well, as far as radio goes, I would like to get WKMS, in Kentucky. I get it now, just not very clear as the signal fades in and out.

The FM fool signal shows that station to be 60 miles southeast of zip 62917.

Other than that, I thought it would be nice to get as many stations as possible. At the moment, I have two receivers that I thought I might run each to an antenna or splt the signal. They are in separate rooms.

The provision for the AM antenna on the receiver has two threaded posts that you would put eyelets or a open spade on and then tighten the finger nuts.

I was checking out the Sony XDR-F1HD Radio tuner, but I don't think I really need it. I probably just need an outdoor antenna. Or antennas, if it is better to just give these receivers each their own. Are these FM antennas inexpensive?

Smith · 26-Oct-2010, 2:35 AM

Ok, so you are saying I need two antennas, and a pre-amp?

I may be able to figure out a way to get the antennas 20 feet up. It is probably better than going the rotor route for my household.

Any other advice you would care to share? Like what kind of cable or installation tips?

By the way, if I mount an antenna for the FM receiver on one end of my house in a convenient spot right outside the window at the roof line, would I use coax cable to go from the antenna to the receiver?

Thanks.

GroundUrMast · 26-Oct-2010, 6:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smith

Hi GroundUrMast,

Well, as far as radio goes, I would like to get WKMS, in Kentucky. I get it now, just not very clear as the signal fades in and out.

The FM fool signal shows that station to be 60 miles southeast of zip 62917.

Other than that, I thought it would be nice to get as many stations as possible. At the moment, I have two receivers that I thought I might run each to an antenna or splt the signal. They are in separate rooms.

The provision for the AM antenna on the receiver has two threaded posts that you would put eyelets or a open spade on and then tighten the finger nuts.

I was checking out the Sony XDR-F1HD Radio tuner, but I don't think I really need it. I probably just need an outdoor antenna. Or antennas, if it is better to just give these receivers each their own. Are these FM antennas inexpensive?

Because you have a favorite FM station, I suggest a directional antenna like this http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...0Antennas&sku= When aimed at WKMS it will favor other station in that direction, but not prevent you from receiving others to the sides and rear (though the signal strength will be less for the off aim stations).

I would keep the TV and FM signals separate, running RG6 coax from the FM antenna to a 2-way splitter that would feed each of the FM receivers. I don't think an amplifier will be needed in the FM antenna system.

GroundUrMast · 26-Oct-2010, 7:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smith

Ok, so you are saying I need two antennas, and a pre-amp?

I may be able to figure out a way to get the antennas 20 feet up. It is probably better than going the rotor route for my household.

Any other advice you would care to share? Like what kind of cable or installation tips?

By the way, if I mount an antenna for the FM receiver on one end of my house in a convenient spot right outside the window at the roof line, would I use coax cable to go from the antenna to the receiver?

Thanks.

Yes, I am suggesting the large, high gain UHF antenna in part to give you the best chance at getting a reliable signal from WPSD (32) and KBSI (22). Both signals travel 'edge' paths which may make them more prone to fading or multipath. If you can not find a single aim point that provides reliable reception for those stations toward the top of the list, you will still be able to add a rotor. This and other UHF-only antennas are designed to receive RF (real) channels 14 and up.

The VHF antenna I have suggested is designed to receive RF (real) channels 7 through 13. I am suggesting this antenna for reception of WSIU (8) specifically. WSIU (8) is far enough off line from the other stations and the predicted signal level is such that a combination UHF/VHF antenna would very likely fail for two reasons. First it you could only aim at one group of stations or the other, two, even the largest UHF/VHF combo antennas do not have the gain (ability to gather signal) that the specialized antennas I am suggesting have. I suspect that WSIU (8) will be more challenging than the other stations but I think it's do-able.

I am suggesting the amplifier because some signals will be relatively low and the CM7777 amplifier has separate inputs for the UHF and VHF antennas, which is a very easy way to combine the signals into one coax.

I recommend RG6 coax. An installation like this will very likely call for field installation of connectors which should be high quality compression style.

Connectors, tools and kits: http://search.solidsignal.com/?cart=...w&u1=q&x=0&y=0

I keep offering links to SolidSignal.com only because they offer as much or more information about each product than any of the other good retailers... shop around.

I can sound like I'm lecturing but if you are going to work off a ladder or roof, please think the job through and work safe. My personal opinion about grounding an antenna system is that it's like an insurance policy, hope it never needs to pay off. The install instructions that come with antennas will usually provide general guidelines about safety and grounding.

GroundUrMast · 28-Oct-2010, 5:08 AM

Re. the AM antenna, I would experiment with 20 to 50 feet of wire perhaps in the attic. you may need to try different placements to minimize hum / noise pickup from nearby or parallel power lines.