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Old 8-May-2014, 8:54 PM   #21
GroundUrMast
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Are there trees or other vegetation in the path toward the transmitters?

Can you try alternate mounting height and / or locations?
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Old 6-Jul-2014, 12:31 AM   #22
Charles
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I can't believe that it has been two months since I've been back to this thread, though I have been working to get OTA to work for me. As it turns out, the RCA TVPRAMP1R was defective, I obtained much better results without it in the circuit. I returned it and purchased the Anntenacraft 10G221, that plus raising the antenna about five feet higher, has drastically improved my setup. I now get thirty channels and dropouts happen very infrequently. I'm very close to cancelling our satellite service, but must first find a DVR. Is this the correct forum to discuss DVR's?

Thanks to everyone who offered help with this!

Charles
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Old 30-Aug-2014, 10:49 PM   #23
Charles
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For the past two months I was quite happy with my setup, thanks to all of the help that I received on this forum. I was getting just over thirty channels with very few dropouts, and the Channel Master DVR+ was quite adequate. Plus, I have not had to pay Dish Network a single dime for the past two months. Upon returning from a week long trip, I found that the antennas had succumbed to a rather mean storm, and the high winds toppled the antennas to the ground. So I need to rebuild the system and it seems that this would be a good time to make any necessary changes.

Here is what I had -

Antennas Direct DB8e - This appears to have survived the fall with no damage.

Antenna Craft Y10-7-13 - This is a total wreck, needs to be replaced.

Antenna Craft 10G221 Preamp

Channel Master DVR+ Recorder

One four way splitter, but only feeding two televisions, possible future expansion.

Solid Signal house brand cheapie chimney mount <http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=SKY6027> - Clearly this needs to be replaced.

Antennas mounted at about 20 feet.


I have two basic questions, I am thinking about getting the Ronard 3324 Heavy Duty Chimney Mount. This unit is clearly stronger than the one that failed, though I would be too nervous to use the same 10 foot mast with it, so I would lose about five feet in height. I'm open to all options when it comes to mounting the antennas, one of which is to mount it on or adjacent to my storage shed which would mean about 160 feet or so of coax. By mounting it there, I can probably get less interference from the many trees in our yard. I've even been offered a free 30 foot tower, though installation sounds like a lot of work and/or expense. I could also keep it on the house and use a tripod, though I like the idea of a chimney mount so as not to drill holes in the roof.

Regardless of how I mount everything, it seems to me that a rotor would be a good idea. I have stations in opposite directions, but have both of the DB8e's panels aimed in the same direction. Without doing that I had problems maintaining strong signals from the transmitters in the 64˚ to 80˚ direction, those are the stations that are most important to us. Are there downsides to using a rotor? If I were to use one, which brand and models should I be looking at?

Here are three new reports that I ran today.

20 Feet - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243343b606c3f

30 Feet - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243e77338d1c4

40 Feet - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243f730e132ff
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Old 1-Sep-2014, 2:21 AM   #24
Charles
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While continuing to browse through the forums, here at TVFool, I found several thread addressing the use of rotors. From the what I gleaned, one of the major drawbacks would be using a rotor with a tuner that does not offer the ability to manually add channels. Also, the problem of more than one television wanting to use the antenna at the same time with stations in different directions. Neither of these would be major drawbacks in our home so I am still quite interested in adding one to our setup. So I am still wanting to get some feedback regarding various makes and models.

The only other thing that I would appreciate help with is suggestions for the possible need of different antennas, and whether my reports at different heights suggest that I would make a worthwhile gain by mounting higher than 20 feet.

Charles
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Old 1-Sep-2014, 4:15 AM   #25
teleview
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Here are , Tuner , Tuner Recorders.

www.epvision.com

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40 Feet Antenna Height Provides a Real Improvement of Reception Signal Strengths.

----------------------

Tv antenna rotators Are Not channel surfing friendly , Must wait for antenna to Rotate.
And their Will Be Domestic Situations about the direction the antenna is aimed.

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More important then rotator at your reception location is.

As always , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , have Negative Effect on Broadcast Tv Reception and so do buildings and other obstructions including your own , attics , roofs , buildings.

Some and not all Negative Effects are.

Absorbing and Blocking Reception.

Multi-Path Reflecting Tv Signals Bouncing All Around.

The Best Practice for Reliable Reception is to install the antennas 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 , attics , roofs , buildings.

The main groups of Tv stations at your reception location are , East , North East , West , North West.

Avoiding obstructions of these directions will most likely mean that 1 panel of the DB8e antenna can be aimed to the West North West and the other panel can aimed to the East North East.

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And as you have discovered , antenna height and location is important for better and reliable reception.


If after optimizing reception , you will like to Test reception with a antenna rotator.

http://www.nteinc.com/ecgproducts/pd...na_rotator.pdf.

http://www.nteinc.com/antenna-rotors.php?a=28

Last edited by teleview; 1-Sep-2014 at 7:24 PM. Reason: Clarify information and typos.
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Old 4-Sep-2014, 2:36 AM   #26
Charles
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Teleview,

Thanks again for your assistance, you have been extremely helpful. I've decided that getting this done right is going to require bringing a good installer in to assist in remounting the antennas and increasing the height from about 25 feet up to 40 feet.

One additional question. I have a location at the rear of my property that has a much less cluttered view in the direction of the bulk of the Detroit stations. We have lots of large trees and the previous roof location had the antennas pointed directly at a large maple tree that was about 30 feet away. However, the new location would place the antennas 20 - 25 feet several utility lines. So should I avoid a location so close to the utility lines? I assume that they are detrimental, just not sure how much of a problem they might cause.

Charles
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Old 4-Sep-2014, 5:40 PM   #27
teleview
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The Correct Way is to install the antenna in such a manner that if the wind or something else knocks what the antenna is mounted on and the antenna Will Not Fall on to the the utility lines.

Murphy"s Law is in full effect.

So install in such a manner that will not Fall Into or On the utility lines.

----------------

As you have discovered.

And others that come here to tvfool.

Are doing there absolute best to prove that close trees will not disrupt and block reception.

The Truth is , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , will disrupt and block reception.
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Old 27-Sep-2014, 7:13 PM   #28
Charles
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Finally, this antenna project is moving on to it's next step and I have a few questions that I will post over the next several days. Here is the first.

We are going with a thirty foot tower, that with the addition of the mast should give us about 35 feet total. The tower will be located about 160 feet or so from the house and the plan is to dig a trench and install conduit. With that length of wire should I use R6 coax?

Also, I have the Anntenacraft 10G221 preamp, should I stay with that or does the longer distance make a difference that would call for a different preamp?

Here is my most recent, August 2014, report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243e77338d1c4

Thanks!
Charles
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Old 29-Sep-2014, 7:23 PM   #29
Charles
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I'm still looking for some guidance on which coax to use, is RG6 sufficient for what actually would be just under 200 feet or should I go to RG11?

Also, I have the "Antennas Direct , DB8e" and now that I am going to install a rotor, would I get the best results if I aimed both panels in exactly the same direction? That is what I did when I had it mounted on the roof as I was not able to get all of the station from the NE with the panels aimed in different directions. Once I have it mounted on the tower, making adjustments to the separate panels will be a major project.

Charles
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Old 3-Oct-2014, 7:25 PM   #30
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The 10G221 will have plenty of gain. A 200' run of RG-6 should not have more than 12 dB of loss at the top end of the UHF band. The loss will be much less in the VHF range. If the need was proven, a distribution amplifier could be added (the need for multiple amplifiers is rare in residential applications).

Aiming an antenna is generally a two part process. Start with the antenna aimed in the direction of the weaker signal(s) of interest. Then, fine tune the aim from that point... seeking the best compromise. If you have a TV or tuner that provides signal quality/strength metering, use it to evaluate the aim of each signal of interest. This can be a time consuming process... If the antenna is difficult to access, the task will be more difficult. That doesn't change the fact that the fine tuning of aim is needed in most cases.
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Old 3-Oct-2014, 11:26 PM   #31
Charles
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Thanks for the response, I'm trying to get this right the first time since the antennas will be on top of a thirty foot tower. Since I will be using the Anntenacraft preamp, should I opt for solid copper core coax? I'm a little confused about when this is a good idea and when copper clad will suffice.

Also, I checked with AntennaCraft today and they gave the okay to point both panels of the DB8e in the same direction. I was not sure if doing so might cause some strange problem and just wanted to make sure.

Charles
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Old 4-Oct-2014, 3:31 PM   #32
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Go to https://www.antennasdirect.com/store...V-Antenna.html and click the Documents tab, then open the Technical Data pdf file, and you can see how the pattern and magnitudes change with changes in the angle between the two panels. Highest forward gain, which is substantial, is with both panels aimed in the same direction.
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