antenna advice - south orange county

[tiredder]

I moved from being close to all the networks in a Detroit suburb to south orange county with hills, etc. to the broadcast tower up in LA. The plot says indoor antenna is fine - is that really possible with 53miles distance???

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...1dda80e3acfd7e

If so, i was thinking clearstream 2? Any other thoughts or recommendations?

http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-C2-V-...s=clear+stream

[ADTech]

As long as the antenna mounting location isn't compromised by near-in obstacles (buildings, trees, etc,) it ought to work well.

Try to place the antenna so it can "see" out a window towards Mt Wilson, then adjust if needed. For indoor use, we do offer a base cover for the 20" CJ MOunt. Others have used a counter top paper towel holder as an indoor mount for the C2V.

[GroundUrMast]

You have the advantage of the terrain... The height of Mt. Wilson makes it possible to provide line of sight coverage at 50+ miles. You should have little difficulty getting very good reception.

[tiredder]

That's great, I was afraid I'd have to get a big huge monster antenna. I'll have to do indoor though since I'm renting. I was contemplating a flatter outdoor antenna that I'll place right by a window. I tried the home depot wine gard free vision as well as a self made bow tie one that got a few channels but no nbc, abc, etc.

any recommendations for an antenna? Based on the plot above I understand that I'll need UHF and VHF. If it is a flat design (like bow tie) it can be bigger - like i said will just place it in window. But I have been trying to figure out if bow tie vs Yagi and if a special VHF is needed. But have not figured it out yet.

I am at 92694 by the way

Aim the antenna at 319 degree magnetic compass direction.

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

The Main Group of Digital Broadcast Tv Transmitters are to the , North West.

If installing the antenna indoors , for best reception , the antenna Must Be In A Window that as much as possible Faces North West.

If the antenna is outside the antenna Must Be on the side of the building that as much as possible Faces North West.

The Tv reception is weak to moderate to strong signal strengths at your location.

Recommend for inital setup do not use any type or kind of built in or external signal amplifier.

A external amplifier can be used to see if will improve reception if required.

Use a Winegard 'Boost' LNA-100.

http://www.winegarddirect.com.

http://www.solidsignal.com.

http://www.amazon.com.

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The Tv/s 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 because the Tv transmissions travel through the Air from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna.

Some Digital Tv's will Automatic channel scan for cable tv channels.

DO NOT channel scan for cable tv channels.

Go into the Tv Setup Menu and select 'Air Channels' ~ 'Antenna Channels'.

Scan for channels.

___________________________________

As always , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , have a Negative Effect , multi-path/reflections , absorbing , blocking , broadcast tv reception and so do buildings and other obstructions including or own building.

It is best practice to install the antenna at a location that has the least amount to no amount of obstructions of any type or kind in the directions of reception including your own building.

Here is a Non Complete List of building construction that is Not Good for Broadcast Tv Reception.

Concrete and concrete blocks , bricks , rocks , metal rebar , metal siding , metal roof , metal backed insulation , metal doors , stucko Wire , solar panels and etc. .

________________

Digital Broadcast Tv Tuners can develop - Digital Glitches - that are not cleared out with simple channel scans.

Do a Double Rescan.

http://www.dtv.gov/rescan.html.

[tiredder]

thanks for the advice. I think now I just have left to figure out the antenna that would best. Still trying to read through a bunch of stuff trying to figure out what's best since I need UHF and VHF (channel 7, 11) and can't do an outside installation.
So if anybody has some good references or reading material or direct recommendations I would appreciate it.
Thank you

The Winegard FreeVision is a channels 7 thru 51 antenna.

The Antennas Direct CS2V Complete is a channels 7 thru 51 antenna.

Both should work well at your location.

The Current , OTA=Over The Air , Broadcast Tv channels here in the , USA , Canada , Mexico , are.

VHF low band channels 2 thru 6.

VHF high band channels 7 thru 13.

UHF band channels 14 thru 51.

[tiredder]

I am just trying the CS2V right now. I get pretty much everything I need. Channel 7 on VHF is a bit sketchy and drops the symbol quality to the 20s to 50s% (77% ss, 65%sq) to create a little stutter every min or so. but still not too bad.
I'll try some more tweaking with the antennna.

And all this indoors with the antenna right in the window pointing almost straight north instead of NW. I'll rig something up to rotate a bit more NW and I should be good to go.

Thanks for all your help guys. This is a seriously great forum

I advised not to use a amplifier , reason , so you would not hook up a high gain amplifier and hurt your chances of reliable reception.

Winegard has a new antenna system amplifier that has Very Low Noise and moderate gain , the Winegard 'Boost' LNA-100.

If you like , you can try the LNA-100 and see if it helps or hurts reception.

http://www.winegarddirect.com

http://www.solidsignal.com.

http://www.amazon.com.