OTA in Atlanta 30318

[jgh30318]

Hi Everyone,

I am building a new house and I am very interested in OTA television instead of paying for cable just to watch the broadcast stations. My plan is to have the electrician run an RG6 wire from the 2 television locations to the peak of the roof where I will mount a J-mast for the antenna. Both runs will be no longer than 20 feet. I will be using a Tivo series 4 for one of the TVs.

I think the plan is solid so far but I have no idea which antenna to buy. Below is my report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...cd729af0230a10

Any suggestion for an antenna or even a better plan for the wiring will be greatly appreciated...

Cheers

[Tigerbangs]

Your UHF stations are scattered in an arc of about 50 degrees: you have 2 VHF stations, WXIA and WGTV on VHF, whose transmitters are separated by only about 15 degrees. I would suggest a simple VHF-high-band plus UHF antenna like a Winegard HD-7694P or an AntennaCraft HBU-33 mounted on the pole and aimed at roughly 100 degrees as measured by your compass. Run the antenna cable into your attic, where you should install a a high-quality 2-way splitter, then make the runs to your TV set from the splitter: you should enjoy excellent reception with that arrangement at fairly low cost.

If you decide to add additional TV outlets in the house, do it while the house is being built, and bring all of the wires to the same point where you plan to mount the splitter and have the electrician place an electrical outlet in the attic You can late add a distribution amp-splitter which will allow you to have TV and/or FM reception is all the rooms of the house, should you choose to do so.

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7694P.pdf
http://www.antennacraft.net/pdfs/HBU33.pdf
http://www.channelmaster.com/product.php?catID=40

Having a home built , I suggest , Structured Wiring. The structured wiring can be as elaborate or as Simple as you choose to do. All communications wiring of Any Kind is located at one place. A room that is for this purpose is the way to do it. In the basement is a good place , or on the main floor. Do not put the structured wiring box / panel / connections in the attic , the heat and dust will ruin it. The structured wiring panel can be as simple as a sheet of 1/4 inch or even 1/2 inch ply wood. Something to mount the componets on. You will find business that do structured wiring at Video and Audio places in and around Atlanta. I suggest 'pulling' 2 RG-6 cables to each location , in and out side of the house. You will thank me later for this suggestion. Take a look at these web sites http://www.broadbandutopia.com . . http://www.swhowto.com . . Find a lot more information on the internet , type in ' structured wiring '. . All coax needs to have a solid copper center conductor , Not copper covered steel. . .At the very minimum the telephone wiring and coax wiring need to be at the same location , the structured wiring main location.

[jgh30318]

Tigerbangs and teleview,

Thanks for the advice. I found out today from my builder that the house will have structured wiring with an RG6 and CAT6 wires running to all Bedrooms and Living room, which is where the main TV will be.

Teleview, you got me thinking so I asked the builder if he would run an extra RG6 from the antenna location to the structured wiring box. This way I should be able to pipe the signal into a splitter to any room in the future. The distance from the antenna to the SW box will now be about 25-30 feet. Then the run back to the main TV from the SW box will be another 25-30 feet. This will be the only TV for now.

Tigerbands, you mentioned and provided a link for an amplifier, at what point do you think I would need this when I start adding more rooms, or do I need it now based on the new wire length?

Again, your advice is golden...

[Tigerbangs]

If you plan to run more than 2 TV sets, a distribution amplifier is appropriate.