My Plea for Assistance

docsuess84 · 3-Sep-2014, 4:16 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm so greatful this forum and people like you exist. I have a tough scenario. I live in rural northern California on the side of a mountain. There aren't that many stations to begin with but I want to watch football and we decided we wont pay for channels we never use. My house is a two story, chalet-style. The highest point is my chimney which is my tentative mounting spot. What antenna(s) or accessories should I get, and what should I do with it? I almost forgot, I only intend to connect to our main TV on the 2nd story and our bedroom on the 1st story. There is a coax cable run along with grounding wire from the previous occupant from the attic down to our bedroom already with a coax jack in place where I wanted the tv to go. Should I utilize this, or should start fresh? It doesn't look very old, is RG-6 and I wasn't sure if it made more sense to go straight over the side of the roof, or to go down through the attic and then to their respective locations.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d24346b4ba2335

Tower Guy · 3-Sep-2014, 5:41 PM

Aim a UHF only antenna such as a DB-2 at 314 true and a VHF only (Antennacraft Y5-7-13) at 224 degrees. Combine them in a TV-PRAMP-1R preamp. I don't see an NBC or FOX station so prepare to see AFC on CBS.

docsuess84 · 3-Sep-2014, 5:49 PM

So, if the channels listed there are in grey, they are pretty much impossible to pick up? 38 is a translator in Redding for the Chico Fox affiliate. I should clarify, I don't mind buying some extra stuff. My wife is on board to do a big one time purchase if it means watching tv without a monthly bill.

Stereocraig · 3-Sep-2014, 6:03 PM

Coax is pretty cheap, so it's best to run a continuous length, if possible.
The ground wire isn't going to age like the coax, unless it's terribly oxidized.

You can certainly wait until you see your results before making a decision on the coax.

docsuess84 · 3-Sep-2014, 7:33 PM

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.ph...callsign=58611

So this is the local translator for the Fox affiliate in my area. Is this reflected in the report? Would this change anything? Tower Guy, just to clarify, I searched for a DB-2 and it shows as being multi-directional but you are saying to aim it. Am I looking at the right one?

ADTech · 3-Sep-2014, 8:34 PM

"Multi-directional" doesn't mean that the antenna doesn't need aiming, it still has a front and back. Maximum reception is off the front (bowtie side).

K38FQ will not be received. They transmit with a highly directional antenna with almost no power (2 watts, half the power of a small nightlight for a kid's room) in your direction, on the other side of the mountains.

stvcmty · 3-Sep-2014, 9:05 PM

The path between you and K38FQ is pretty bad. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ITAL2%26n%3d17
Your TV fool reports predicts the NM for K38FQ to be -25.8 dB. That means to get a usable signal an antenna would need to provide at least 25.8 dB of gain for channel 38. Pulling that off would be a massive engineering project. Even if on paper some gain would bring the NM positive, the thermal noise on a 6MHz channel would be a problem. One way to do it would involve 4 60’ long yagi antennas cut for channel 38 pointed at K38FQ. On the other hand, TVfool’s predictions are not always accurate especially in very rugged 2-edge path situations, so there is some very small chance an antenna good enough to get K14HX might get K30FQ.

Try generating a plot from as high as you think you would be able to mount an antenna. If you can put a 100’ tower on your property, generate a 100’ plot. You could consult an engineer about the feasibility of putting a 40’ telescoping guyed mast on your roof which would get you 40’ plus the height of your roof.

Use the map feature to try different antenna heights at different parts of your property. Maybe there is a high spot that is not as badly shadowed on the path to K38FQ. https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90

@ADTech, when I click on K38FQ on the OP’s tv fool report, it does not look like the picture in your post.

ADTech · 3-Sep-2014, 9:40 PM

You're right, wrong image and effective ERP.

The correct ERP is a mere 31 watts and this is the path profile image.

Tower Guy · 3-Sep-2014, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by docsuess84

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.ph...callsign=58611

So this is the local translator for the Fox affiliate in my area. Is this reflected in the report? Would this change anything? Tower Guy, just to clarify, I searched for a DB-2 and it shows as being multi-directional but you are saying to aim it. Am I looking at the right one?

https://www.antennasdirect.com/store/DB2-Antenna.html
That's the right one.

docsuess84 · 4-Sep-2014, 1:16 AM

I'll have to look into that. There's a freaking mountain on the south side of my house and my property essentially goes straight up hill from there. 150' gets it into the "yellow" range. How long can a coax cable run be before the signal loss makes it not worth it anymore? The antennas mentioned here all have less than a 50 mile range. Does spending a little more and getting a bigger directional antenna that rotates make a difference in my situation?

ADTech · 4-Sep-2014, 3:11 AM

You're not going to get anything UHF from the south unless you catch a lucky reflection off the terrain in the opposite direction. VHF might do much better, though, since it diffracts more readily. You'll have to tilt up the aim of that antenna so it points at the visual horizon on that direction.

Aim the DB2 to the northwest, those UHF signals should be readily receivable with a small UHF antenna.

It's been my experience (numerous times) that, when you're backed right up against the base of a hill or mountain, there isn't any signal there despite the software's forecast.