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Old 8-Nov-2014, 5:24 PM   #1
jamiec
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Newbie, need help with antenna selection, location, orientation etc.

Cutting the cord and just embarking on the journey. Live in West Houston with lots of old trees in area. Would like info on best antenna selection, location in/on house, orientation. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
My report is:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243e6f2632877
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Old 8-Nov-2014, 8:16 PM   #2
timgr
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Your report is exceptionally favorable. You should be able to pick up dozens of stations easily.

The only hang-up may be the trees. Trees block TV signals and may interfere with reception. And most nearby stations are broadcasting from 160 magnetic, so if there is something blocking in that direction... But you have a lot of signal in the air, and it may not be a problem.

I suggest that you buy an inexpensive indoor antenna and a long cable and try it out in various locations around your house. If you don't get the reception that you want, move to the roof and see if it improves there. If you have trouble, look for a location where you can sight through a gap in the trees close to 160 magnetic.
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Old 8-Nov-2014, 8:19 PM   #3
jamiec
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Thanks Tim, tried indoor antenna with little success, will try it with long cable on roof etc.. Any recs. on outdoor antenna for my area?
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Old 8-Nov-2014, 8:32 PM   #4
timgr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamiec View Post
Thanks Tim, tried indoor antenna with little success, will try it with long cable on roof etc.. Any recs. on outdoor antenna for my area?
Well, with that much signal in the air, I don't think antenna selection will be a problem. I suspect that siting will be the main issue. Look at NBC KPRC - a Noise Margin of 64 dB is millions of times more signal power than you need at the antenna. There is lots of signal available in the air, if you can find somewhere where it's not blocked.

Also, you have your TV set for antenna? There should be a menu setting for antenna, not cable. If it's set to cable, you'll get almost nothing. http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/fixes.html

Look at your cables too.

This link may give you some insight into siting issues - http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html

If you go roof mount, the RCA ANT751 comes recommended highly. http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Dur.../dp/B0024R4B5C

Last edited by timgr; 8-Nov-2014 at 8:36 PM.
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Old 8-Nov-2014, 10:38 PM   #5
jamiec
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Again thanks Tim, I understand about tv settings for cable/antenna. I per wired the house with the best Coax available at the time so I shouldn't have issues there. Will look at antenna rec you gave. All the best.
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Old 9-Nov-2014, 2:27 PM   #6
Stereocraig
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamiec View Post
Thanks Tim, tried indoor antenna with little success, will try it with long cable on roof etc.. Any recs. on outdoor antenna for my area?
Nice TVFR!

I would guess that anything you get up in the air on the roof, would pull in those LOS, w/ ease.
But yes, try your existing one first and take it from there.
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Old 9-Nov-2014, 5:37 PM   #7
jamiec
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Thanks SC, I am still looking for permanent antenna recommendations, I'm afraid I won't have a "clear" shot through the trees and wondering if there is an option that would be a better choice based on the tree issue.
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Old 9-Nov-2014, 6:02 PM   #8
timgr
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Really, I think you'd better try any antenna on the roof, and at varying heights, before you drop a lot of money on a big, sensitive antenna. Your report says reception should be ridiculously easy. What I get from it is that you have 26 stations LOS at 158+/-3 degrees that are all 30 dB or higher NM. I would definitely want KUHT 8 PBS, and the ANT751 should pick that up. Even the UHF arrays should pick that up, though it's out-of-band for them ... it's 61.8 dB! If you went bigger, any of the HBU series from Antennacraft http://www.antennacraft.net/Antennas/AntennasHBU.html larger than the HBU11 should produce tuner-overload levels of signal.

That brings up another point - is your indoor antenna amplified? You may have so much signal that the voltage coming out of the amp is clipped or your tuner is overloaded. The TV signal at your home should be very strong.

Did you look at the tree pictures on the HDTV primer? If you have a UHF signal and the tree blockage reduces the UHF signal by 90% as shown in the picture, that's still more than 20 dB noise margin for most of these stations. So it it is obstruction by trees that's the problem, getting up where you get some diffraction over the tops of the trees and are in the less dense part of the upper foliage should still provide plenty of signal. And channel 8 is VHF high, and should come in strong, despite the trees... considering how strong it is to begin with.

Are any of your neighbors getting TV OTA? Might be worthwhile to ask around.

If you want, you can get the ANT751 at Walmart, take it on your roof and try it out. If it does not work for you, you can take it back. I have no personal experience with that antenna, but it's often recommended for its capability in a small package, and build quality. So I think it's a safe bet. Any of the Antennas Direct or Antennacraft antennas should work for you, too.

Last edited by timgr; 9-Nov-2014 at 6:18 PM.
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Old 9-Nov-2014, 9:05 PM   #9
Jake V
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Jamiec,

You said you tried an indoor antenna without much success. What kind of antenna? Where did you try it? What stations did you get and how well?

You said your house was pre-wired with coax. If you already have a coax run from the attic to one television I'd take that little indoor antenna up to the attic and try it before spending any money just to see what's possible. After that the ANT751 sounds like an excellent plan. But start where you are at.
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