Antenna Sugestions??!?!

anubis93611 · 17-Jul-2011, 1:51 AM

Hi all, love the forum... looking for a quality antenna.. thinking of choosing between these two..

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-HD-10...0829068&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Boom-HBU-Anten.../dp/B0035A6AUG

here is my http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...03d9bc9d20dd21

i am thinking of going with the winegard, with about 30 foot coax, on top of two story... 10 foot pole....

no splitter, no connections...

thanks for the help!!

ghz24 · 17-Jul-2011, 7:01 AM

The second link would be my suggestion because the winegard is for vhf high
(channels 7-13) most of your stations are uhf (14 and up). Be sure to look at the real channel not the virtual channel.
The other one is uhf and vhf high. You must live on a mountain, line of site to 114 miles! With the exception of channel 3 (might still get it, it's strong) and the channels marked c for co-channel I'd expect you'll get almost all the channels listed, kvvg could be iffy. The 50-55 mile range is meaningless especially with los (line of site) out to 114 miles and NM values of all positive numbers.
If you had two stagger stacked antennas and a rotor you might be able to get every channel listed on your report!
And no I'm not jealous much

Happy hunting.

GroundUrMast · 17-Jul-2011, 8:11 AM

Lots of viewing choices...

The Antennacraft HBU-22 would be my choice of the two you have listed.

If PBS is important to you, you'll need to split the aim point between 32° and 92°. There is plenty of signal power on most of the channels so I expect you will be able to find an aim point that gives reliable reception of all the major networks.

(If you want every possible channel, neither of the two antennas would be up to the task. Do you have a list of 'MUST have' stations, by call sign?)

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 10:01 AM

The Winegard HD1080 is a UHF antenna first and a VHF high antenna second. The advertisement about the 'power' of the VHF high reception of the antenna is typical marketing ballyhoo. Look at the gain figures , the VHF high channels are negative numbers and the UHF channels are positive numbers , http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewit...080)&p=HD-1080. It's a tough call on which antenna , they both are very wide beam width antennas , I lean toward the HD1080 , start with aim in the middle between 23 and 133 degree magnetic compass. No preamp will be needed , the television transmissions are strong. If you are using the 10 foot pole on top of the roof to get the antenna higher then some obstruction then Ok. I think four or five foot above the highest part of the two story roof will be fine.

anubis93611 · 17-Jul-2011, 2:31 PM

I am thinking the WINEGARD only because i could try and cut it between the two... a buddy of mine has it and it seems to work well...

i need more imput! LOL, i appreciate the help so far.... keep it coming!

No static at all · 17-Jul-2011, 4:57 PM

The Winegard should work fine to around -40 dbm on channel 7 from my experience which leaves plenty of margin for your 2 VHF channels.

The HBU-22 is certainly a better VHF antenna, but probably about the same on UHF as the Winegard.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 6:53 PM

The Tv stations are far off (angle of reception) the forward beam width of both antennas. The HBU22 has the UHF directors and the two angled UHF reflectors however the Tv stations are at such a extreme angles to the signal gathering function of the directors and reflectors , so the flattened UHF loop will do most of the UHF reception , this makes the HBU22 more like the HD1080 for UHF reception. Because of this situation , as a comparison the HD1080 has more surface area for the reception of UHF. However if the Tv stations were more to the front or in front of both antennas then the HBU22 would have greater UHF reception then the HD1080.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 7:52 PM

The rear part of the HBU22 , the longer metal reception elements are the Vhf high band part of the HBU22. These elements act as both directors and receptors. Because of the extreme angles of reception these VHF elements will have little interaction , so in effect it is like one single element for VHF high band reception. The HD1080 will have a greater surface area for VHF high band reception.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 8:06 PM

Read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695. Here are places to buy tv antennas and etc. , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.amazon.com , http://www.3starinc.com. RG-6 is the coax cable to use.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 8:24 PM

anubis93611 has made 2 separate posts with the same question , Not Good. I recommend reading both posts.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 8:33 PM

RG-6 is the coax cable to use. I also recommend a coax grounding block connected to ground. This will direct interfering signals that are received by the coax shield - to ground.

John Candle · 17-Jul-2011, 8:49 PM

The odd front to back ratio that Tower Guy is refering to at the other post of anubis93611 has with the same question is , zero front to back ratio. This likley to be a typo mistake. And even so in any event in this reception situation both antennas have little front to back ratio. If front to back ratio was what we are after here then a much larger antenna would be in order , a much larger antenna will not work because the larger the antenna is the more narrow the beam width is and that will not work with this reception situation. Tower Guy knows this.

anubis93611 · 18-Jul-2011, 1:29 AM

thought first one was lost, that why i reposted...

But, in a nutshell.... do u think the WINEGARD would work better for me? or should i move up in antenna? what would work well for me and stay about 50 bucks??

John Candle · 18-Jul-2011, 1:42 AM

YES use the HD1080 for your Tv reception. I did my best to explain the advantages and disadvantages. And when someone else jumps in to muddy the waters I explain that also. YES use the HD1080 for your Tv reception.

anubis93611 · 18-Jul-2011, 2:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Candle

YES use the HD1080 for your Tv reception. I did my best to explain the advantages and disadvantages. And when someone else jumps in to muddy the waters I explain that also. YES use the HD1080 for your Tv reception.

What compass heading would you point it at? East?? LOL

John Candle · 18-Jul-2011, 7:01 AM

There is nothing funny about any of this. I know that laughter is a typical human response to facts and truth. GUM says between 32 and 92 degree magnetic compass , I say between 23 and 133 degree magnetic compass. You can aim the antenna east. I know this , the humans are on the edge of the abyss.

anubis93611 · 18-Jul-2011, 12:44 PM

Nothing funny!

just want to make sure its right..... that seems like a big gap....

I appreciate the help!. i really do... now just waiting on amazon to ship me this beauty for free~!

ghz24 · 19-Jul-2011, 4:54 AM

I don't mean to muddy the waters here but if I had the strong signals you do I'd go get a cheap indoor antenna 5-10 bucks ( one with rabbit ears and a loop pull the ears out to about 16.5" point the loop at about 80 deg. and see how many stations I could get with that. The green background on your report is supposed to note stations available from an indoor antenna (foil backed insulation and aluminum siding not with standing). If you can get most of the channels from 46 and 105 deg. or at least the ones of interest then when your shiny new winegard comes you could point it at the harder to get stations and use an a/b switch.
Thanks John for pointing out that I missed the uhf abilities of the winegard.

BTW I use and antenna very similar to the HBU , a little bigger and 20+years old, and have it pointed at 320 Deg. and get a solid signal from a station 22 miles away at 89 Deg. (1 edge and NM of 41) 130 Deg. off .
I guess this could be bad for co-channel interference.