Antenna Recommndation Cain House - Pickens

cain29671 · 2-Jan-2015, 3:17 PM

Here is the URL where I had the TV analysis done. Can you help me determine what type of antenna I should get? Thanks,
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c15f193b06253

timgr · 4-Jan-2015, 1:10 PM

Hi - maybe I can get things started ...

You have a challenging reception environment. You have few close, powerful stations and those are widely separated. The closest major market appears to be Greenville, at compass 90.

How much do you want to spend? If this were for me, I would buy an Antennas Direct DB8e, put it on the roof and point one panel to the north and one panel to the east. Your antenna site should be in clear air, as high as you can reasonably put it, and not obstructed to the horizon by trees or buildings. Then, I would connect the antenna to a single TV, move the antenna around (side to side and up and down, if practical) and change the aim of the panels until I got the best mix of channels. You should get 36, 21, 45, 16 and possibly 24 with this setup. Then, if you want more channels, add a VHF high antenna like the Antennacraft Y5713 or Y10713 on the same mast, and point it at the VHF high station you want most, ie 9, 7, 13, 14. Connect the two antennas with a UVSJ or preamp. Joining antennas like this has been discussed a lot in other posts, like here: http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=15150

W05AO is an analog repeater of WLOS 13. If I really wanted WLOS, in your situation I would point right at it with a dedicated VHF-high antenna, and ignore the repeater.

The alternative is to get a large directional UHF-VHF high antenna like the Antennacraft HBU-55 and point it at Greenville (compass 90). You could also mount this antenna on a rotator and change the orientation remotely to get different stations. Your TV must allow adding stations manually, aside from the automatic scan.

hth!

cain29671 · 4-Jan-2015, 5:50 PM

timgr,
Appreciate the info. I may try the UHF-VHF alternate first. I noticed there is an HBU22 AntennaCraft that is spec'd at a 50 - 55 mile range. About half the price and has some good reviews on Amazon. Do you think this would work?

I also found the Terrestrial Digital DB8, which appears to be like the DB8e but about $50 cheaper. You think this would work the same?

timgr · 4-Jan-2015, 6:05 PM

IMO you need to go big from the start.

Your report is not favorable. This is my report, and it's favorable: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243d9bf698595 - I could get a lot of stations with a HBU22.

JMO the reviews for antennas on Amazon are nearly useless. DTV is not like the old analog TV... in most cases, you get a great picture or you get nothing. So glowing reviews are meaningless typically - either it works or it doesn't. And many of the posters have very little understanding of TV reception issues, so a negative review does not tell you much. You are better off asking here, or on the AV forums.

Are you comparing the HBU22 to the HBU55? Go to the Antennacraft site and compare the specs. http://www.antennacraft.net/Antennas/AntennasHBU.html The 22 is a somewhat less directional, but it also has 3 dB less gain than the 55. That's significant, and corresponds to a doubling of signal power. You need a big antenna for VHF ... the wavelengths are long, and for maximum sensitivity, the antenna elements need to be sized on the order of the received wavelengths.

Check the price from Radio Shack - click the button on the above link.

The DB8 is the predecessor to the Antennas Direct DB8e. It is cheaper because it is an obsolete design. The DB8e is more sensitive than the DB8, and you can aim the panels separately.