Help With Positioning New Antenna

farmjope · 22-Jul-2013, 7:23 PM

Hey Everyone,

First and foremost, here is my TV Fool report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...46ae86c3646e53

I have the Antennas Direct DB4e antenna set up in my attic of a 1 story building, lower ceilings so the antenna would be mounted roughly 15-17" feet from the ground. And the house has a fire place smack dab in the middle and I was looking to get some help/tips/pointers for set up for my particular situation.

Previously I had a Leaf and Trek and others set up in different locations getting varying degrees of signal strength depending on different variables. I plan to have only 1 TV set up to my antenna for the time being, with about 40 or so feet from TV to Antenna. No splitters, amps, etc. but I do anticipate hooking up 2 or 3 more TVs to the antenna at which point I'll likely need an amplifier (I think).

I basically want as many channels as possible, like everyone says, but I do get channel 15, virtual channel 30.1, fairly strong now (the one shooting off on it's own) so I'm more concerned with the two main cluster of antennas. I currently can't get WDMC-LD or WHKY-TV, only get a black screen with "No Signal" and it would be nice to pick these up if possible.

Also, when doing a channel search my TV still searched for 'CATV' and I ended up getting fuzzy (analog?) versions of ESPN/BET/CNN and a handful of others. Some of these were almost down right watchable. Their channels coincided with Time Warner Cable local channel listings. Is there a way to possibly clean these up a bit

Not sure I understand how I even get a slight signal but oh well.

Thank you for any help!

elmo · 22-Jul-2013, 8:07 PM

Howdy neighbor! Looks like you're a little ways north of me somewhat.

Well, first thing, if you're getting cable over that coax, you've got problems. Your antenna needs a free coax for it's own exclusive use. There's no sharing with cable. You're just going to have interference among other issues. You'll want a clean drop from the antenna to your distribution point with as few breaks as possible. We have some analog signal out there, but most are religious offerings; no CNN/ESPN/etc.

As for aim, you can easily split those two clusters with an ANT-751 or similar and get good signal strength. I am further away from them, south of you basically, and I split them w/o issue using a Winegard 7694p. WUNG is my weakest but 99% of the time it's solid. As for WNSC, that's coming at an angle that won't be optimal for reception. I once used a 2nd antenna and a jointenna to bring that one in reliably.
Set your TV to antenna and rescan once setup and see how you do.

(EDIT: DOH - I totally missed that you said you had a DB4e. I don't know that it's optimal for you, but if you have it on hand, it's easy enough to see if it does the job. WTVI is VHF Hi, and the DB4e is UHF in design. At worst, you could add a VHF only antenna and join using a UVSJ but that may not be necessary. And again, not sure how well you'll get WNSC. But again, only one sure way to tell - hook it up.)

22-Jul-2013, 8:19 PM

A Simple reception situation.

For reception of the Digital Broadcast Tv stations/channels install a ANT751 antenna above the roof in such a manner that the roof and house are not impeding and blocking reception in the directions of , North East , North , North West , West , South West.

Aim the ANT751 antenna at about 350 degree magnetic compass direction.

Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

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Can also use the DB4e above the roof.
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Install a Winegard , LNA-100 'Boost' , antenna system amplifier.

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For 1 Tv connected use No splitter.

For 2 Tv's connected use a simple common 2 way splitter.

For 3 Tv's connected use a simple common 3 way splitter.

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For reception of the Digital Broadcast Tv stations/channels the Tv Must Channel scan for the , OTA=Over The Air , Digital Broadcast Tv stations/channels , often named the 'Air Channels' or 'Antenna Channels' in the Tv Setup Menu.

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As for the cable tv system Leakage.

Can use a ANT751 antenna as a hand held probe.

Connect a Real Long Coax to the ANT751 antenna.

Or can use a Portable Battery Operated Digital Tv and ANT751.

Go probing looking for where the cable tv signal is the strongest.

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Here are some places to buy antennas and etc. .

Home Depot and Lowes will sometimes have the ANT751 antenna in the store , no matter what the Home Depot and Lowes web sites say.

http://www.solidsignal.com.

http://www.amazon.com.

http://www.winegarddirect.com.

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farmjope · 22-Jul-2013, 8:26 PM

Haha cool deal, nice to have some local help!

I actually do have a clean drop directly from the antenna to the TV. There's only one coaxial cable going from the antenna to the TV which is why I'm confused as to why I have any ability to pick up these channels. Some are clearer than others, but channels include Nat Geo, History, Fox News, CNN, HLN, Food Network, ESPN, ISPN, and maybe another one.

Since I already have the Antennas Direct DB4e would you recommend me replacing it with the ANT-751 and then splitting the two signal clusters? So far I get a good number of channels with only 14 and 25 being "No Signal" but I get 3, 9, 18, 30 (WNSC), 36, 42, 46, 55, 58 (WUNG), 64 with no issues.

farmjope · 22-Jul-2013, 9:10 PM

I've made an adjustment and I now get WDMC-LD and WHKY-TV very clearly without any issues, pointing my antenna more towards the east so I'm roughly at 20-25 degrees from true north.

Also, as a follow up on those "fuzzy" channels, my previous set up had my antenna touching my house due to the way I have the antenna suspended. My new set up the antenna is no longer touching the house so I no longer get these channels when re-scanning. I have Time Warner Cable internet so I'm wondering if the antenna touching the structure of my house, and some how the analog signal going through my house, could have picked up these channels? Far fetched I know but worth a mention. Would an amplifier on the TWC signal yield a clearer signal of these analog channels? Just a thought if it's being sent to my house via the land line...

elmo · 22-Jul-2013, 10:13 PM

Ah....I see....you already have it in the attic. I guess when I read the parts about the Leaf/Terk I thought you were looking.....nevermind....just me sleeping at the wheel!

I tried myself to tune WHKY but it wasn't happening reliably and it was just another channel, not necessarily content I wanted. But it sounds like you have it coming in fine with some tweaks. How's the signal strength on 30 and 42?

That whole cable reception thing - that's just odd! I won't even take a shot at figuring that one out. Interesting, nevertheless!

farmjope · 23-Jul-2013, 1:24 PM

Thanks teleview for the information. What benefits does the Winegard , LNA-100 'Boost' , antenna system amplifier provide over my current non-amplified set up? I do like how this amplifier has the ability to plug into my TV using the USB port on the TV to power it and when I start to split up the signal I can move the amplifier to the attic for an overall amplified signal.

For the cable TV leak, is this common? I have cable internet but that runs into my attic to a coaxial splitter where it's split to two different rooms, one for the internet modem and the other for the phone modem, but my antenna goes only directly to my TV.

Sorry for the confusion with the Leaf/Trek. I took those into the attic to gauge if adding height to my set up would make a difference or not. The Trek has an amplifier built into it and might get just as good, if not better, signal than the DB4e alone.

I'm honestly not sure how to gauge signal strength for 30 or 42 after poking around on my TV settings to try and figure out a percentage or bar system or anything like that (LG 50PT350) but I can say that neither one has shown a single sign of tearing or cutting in-and-out or anything like that. WHKY (14) did not have a very strong signal, basically cutting in and out at random times, both last night and earlier this morning, but now that the sun is out i get a few pixels every 30sec-1min.

23-Jul-2013, 4:20 PM

Do Not connect the antenna and any coax that has the antenna connected to it to the cable system.

The cable system , be it , cable tv , cable internet , cable phone , Must Be On Separate Coax from the antenna.

DO NOT connect antenna and cable service onto the same coax.

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DO NOT connect the ANT751 and DB4e together on to 1 coax with a reversed splitter.

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For the current reception situation.

DO NOT connect any other combinations of antennas on to 1 coax.

DO NOT connect combinations of antennas together.

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And this information about receiving cable tv when the antenna touches the house.

Something Odd and Strange has been done to make this happen.

farmjope · 24-Jul-2013, 5:00 PM

I only have the DB4e, not the ANT751, so I currently only have 1 antenna. The Antenna is hooked to a coaxial cable that goes straight into the TV. There are no other cables involved in my antenna set up whatsoever. I'm not sure why I get some cable signals when it touches the house, maybe there is a cable signal leak, but my current set up is very simple and doesn't include anything on your "Do Not" list.