Improve current reception

[wkndwrnch]

I am currently getting channels but very limited selection. I have a terk outdoor antenna mounted on the roof peak at 15 foot high. I have trees and power lines directly across street from our address in the direction of antenna signal.I am running one tv with a direct coax line,no splitters.

Here is my signal analysis
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c15dc617da4a3

[Tim]

It would be helpful to know which stations you are currently receiving well plus which stations you would like to receive that you don't get now or have a poor signal. Report back using the 'real' channel numbers from your report.

[timgr]

Trees will clobber UHF TV signals - look here at "Trees and UHF" - http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html

First thing to do is see if you can relocate the antenna to get above or between the trees. Really, this time of year should be the most favorable for obstruction by trees. When they leaf out in the spring, the obstruction will be much worse.

Not sure which antenna you have. There are a few possibilities from Terk.

Re the antenna, typically the more "omnidirectional" an antenna is, the less sensitive it is in its primary axis. So omnidirection is not helpful if you want to aim for a specific market, like Cincinnati or Dayton. And the antenna will always have a primary axis - so "omni directional" or "multidirectional" is really just "less directional" at the cost of sensitivity along the primary axis. And I presume the antenna has a built-in amplifier? That's also an issue, because strong signals can overload the amplifier, and if it's built-in you have no easy way to remove it ... turn the power off and the amplifier becomes an attenuator, reducing the signal a lot.

You could try a more directional unamplified antenna, aimed at either Cincinatti at 294 magnetic, or Dayton at due north. The RCA ANT751 is a good value. But you need to mount it so that it's unobstructed by buildings and trees, aimed at the direction you want to receive TV from. More height will probably help you too ... rerun your analysis with more height, say 30, 60, 120. This will say a lot about signal conditions at your locale. Look at older posts here for lots of suggestions on how to get more height.

[wkndwrnch]

Originally Posted by Tim

It would be helpful to know which stations you are currently receiving well plus which stations you would like to receive that you don't get now or have a poor signal. Report back using the 'real' channel numbers from your report.

Thanks for responding,we are currently getting ch 9.1,12.1 64.1,we also are getting 9.2,9.3,12.2,all are coming in clear. We would like 19.1 and the channels in the red.

[wkndwrnch]

Originally Posted by timgr

Trees will clobber UHF TV signals - look here at "Trees and UHF" - http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html

First thing to do is see if you can relocate the antenna to get above or between the trees. Really, this time of year should be the most favorable for obstruction by trees. When they leaf out in the spring, the obstruction will be much worse.

Not sure which antenna you have. There are a few possibilities from Terk.

Re the antenna, typically the more "omnidirectional" an antenna is, the less sensitive it is in its primary axis. So omnidirection is not helpful if you want to aim for a specific market, like Cincinnati or Dayton. And the antenna will always have a primary axis - so "omni directional" or "multidirectional" is really just "less directional" at the cost of sensitivity along the primary axis. And I presume the antenna has a built-in amplifier? That's also an issue, because strong signals can overload the amplifier, and if it's built-in you have no easy way to remove it ... turn the power off and the amplifier becomes an attenuator, reducing the signal a lot.

You could try a more directional unamplified antenna, aimed at either Cincinatti at 294 magnetic, or Dayton at due north. The RCA ANT751 is a good value. But you need to mount it so that it's unobstructed by buildings and trees, aimed at the direction you want to receive TV from. More height will probably help you too ... rerun your analysis with more height, say 30, 60, 120. This will say a lot about signal conditions at your locale. Look at older posts here for lots of suggestions on how to get more height.

Thank you for responding,here is the Terk antenna currently installed on the roof, http://www.terk.com/outdoor-antennas/?sku=LOGTVO
I see it does have an amplifier as you described,I also see it is directional.

Any advice for best way to raise antenna 15 feet? Thank you

[timgr]

I would first focus on getting all the channels from a single direction. Many of the stations in red are from Dayton, and you will need a bigger or more elaborate antenna to get those along with the Cincinnati stations. I would try for real channels 22, 12, 35, 34, 28, 29, 20 and 47 first. Those are all closely grouped and fairly strong.

There are lots of ways to raise your antenna - usually the easiest way is to take advantage of the configuration of the roof on your house to erect a mast. You can get a 10.5' chain link fence top rail from the home center and mount it on your roof with an eave mount, wall mount, roof mount and guy wires, or tripod. How high is the highest point on your roof? You should be able to get above that.

[wkndwrnch]

I removed the Terk outdoor antenna,and installed the RCA ANT751. What a difference! Triple the number of channels as compared to the Terk antenna. Now we are getting the 30 channels we were looking for. Thank you