New Antenna or Amplifier or Both

[jcn3604]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e6a4d66816002e

Hi, hoping for some advice. We have always been OTA (no cable out our way) using a directional VHF/UHF roof mounted antenna. Finally got a digital TV and replaced the antenna (think I got the wrong one) and am not receiving all of the channels I would like.

My current situation is an outside Clearstream 2V antenna on a pole. It is approximately 20' off the ground. It is pointing almost due North. House is surrounded by a lot of trees (we basically live on a hill, surrounded by woods). There is 85' of RG59 coax from the antenna to the TV, most put in the walls when we built. We get channels 32, 41, and 34 (NBC, PBS, and ABC) OK with 2 bars of signal strength showing on our set. When there is a lot of wind we get some breakup and signal loss.

I would like to receive channels 22 and 12 (Fox and CBS) and increase the signal strength on the other channels. Don't care about any of the other channels.

I'm wondering if an amplifier and/or a better antenna, such as a DB4, would help? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

[JoeAZ]

Hi Jeff,

How close are those trees to your home and antenna??
The proximity of those trees are likely to seriously affect
your reception. The closer they are, the worse reception
will be. You do not indicate how many sets are connected
to your antenna. That is very important. An 85' run of
cable is another red flag. The longer the cable, the more
signal loss you have, period. Is there a way to get from
an antenna to ONE television with a cable run of 50' or less?
The clearstream 2V is a good antenna but probably not
the best in your situation. If it were me, I would use your
current setup to drive ONE television with the shortest
cable run possible. You might try pointing the antenna North
West at Rf12 and Rf 22. You might consider an amplifier or
preamp only if you can return them, if they don't seriously
improve your reception. Another alternative would be to mount
a Winegard 7698p pointing directly for RF 12 and 22. Keep
your cable run at 50' or less. Mount the antenna as far
away as possible from the trees, if possible. Use a good
RG6 cable and drive only ONE television. Hope this helps......

[ADTech]

85' of RG59 coax

I'd recommend first upgrading the coax to RG6. RG59 is very lossy and 85' of it is probably costing you at least 10-12 dB of signal power. RG6 would cut that loss about in half.

If you elect to use a preamp, only an amp with the overload characteristics of our Juice will prevent new problems from developing as they would inside a lesser amp. You'd still need to use RG6, that's too much RG59 for the amp to be properly supplied with its power.

It is pointing almost due North.

Unfortunately, that aiming direction will probably sacrifice the stations from Cape. Aiming the antenna at Cape will unfortunately sacrifice your PBS station. Unfortunate station alignment.

House is surrounded by a lot of trees (we basically live on a hill, surrounded by woods).

When there is a lot of wind we get some breakup and signal loss.

Again, an unfortunate circumstance. The trees effectively shred the signals before they ever get to the antenna. The only sure solution is for the antenna to not be behind trees. Yes, I'm aware that is not often possible, but it is how the UHF signals behave.

[jcn3604]

Thanks for the quick response, guys.

First, sorry I didn't say, but there is only one TV.

Sounds like the first thing to try is to bail on the RG59 that is in the walls. The antenna is on the back of the house and the TV on the front. I think if I run some RG6 over the roof and down to the TV, I can get to the set with under 50', maybe under 40'.

Unfortunately the trees are close to the house and mostly between the antenna and the Cape Girardeau stations, Rf 12 and Rf 22. Nothing to be done about that.

We watch mostly PBS Rf 41, so any direction shift that would lose that channel is a non-starter.

After changing out to RG6 and seeing how that works, do you think it might be worth considering a DB8e to point one panel at PBS (Rf 41) and the other panel at the Cape stations (Rf 12 and Rf 22)?

Thanks again for the input.

Jeff

[rabbit73]

do you think it might be worth considering a DB8e to point one panel at PBS (Rf 41) and the other panel at the Cape stations (Rf 12 and Rf 22)?

It might be worth a try to do that for 41 and 22. Aiming the two panels in different directions doesn't always work; you just have to try it. But, it has the best chance of working if the two directions are at right angles (90 degrees). In your case the difference is close at 100 degrees.

As far as 12 goes, it is a VHF-High channel and the DB8e isn't as good on VHF-High as it is on UHF. You would at least need to add the VHF Kit to the DB8e, with its dipole aimed broadside (perpendicular to) at 12. If that isn't enough gain for 12, you will need to substitute a VHF-High antenna with more gain like the MCM 30-2475 or 30-2476. Combine the DB8e with the VHF-antenna using a UVSJ UHF/VHF combiner.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produc...-2475-/30-2475

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produc...-2476-/30-2476

https://www.antennasdirect.com/store...Combiners.html

[JoeAZ]

Jeff,

Another possibility would be to run two of the lower loss RG6
cables from your antennas to the tv set, making sure the run is no
more than 50 feet. You could continue to use the current antenna,
pointed exactly as it is. A second antenna, possibly a Winegard
7698p, aimed at the cape, with it's own RG6 run to the set. You
then would use a low loss A/B switch to provide the proper antenna
for the correct stations. I've installed lots of antennas over the
years and have found that to be one of the best options to maximize your signals..... It is not as convenient as a combiner but you are more likely to get better results, overall. Let us know how you end up...........

[rabbit73]

Two antennas aimed in different directions with an A/B switch should give good results. If your TV tuner can not add a channel after a scan, it might be necessary to rescan after switching antennas.

As an alternative with two antennas, you can connect the main antenna to the antenna input of the TV and connect the second antenna to a separate tuner like the Channel Master 7003, with its output connected to the aux input of the TV.

[jcn3604]

Sorry been offline for a while. Thanks for all of your suggestions and info. Appreciate folks' willingness to help.

[jcn3604]

OK, just wanted to update you guys on this issue. Finally got a 100' coil of RG6. Just ran it over the roof to temporarily test it. Even with 100', I now get all channels, with my strongest channels giving me 4 bars. I'll permanently attach it tomorrow and should be able to reduce the length to 50'-60'.

Thanks again for the advice, I appreciate it.

Jeff

[rabbit73]

Thanks for the report, Jeff. Glad to hear your reception has improved.