http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2df91887a78c8b
I'm new to the forums and new to the OTA options for TV. We cut the cable a number of months ago, but are feeling the pain of not having any TV stations at all. We don't want to spend any more on Comcast and have very minimal requirements for what we want to watch, so OTA seems to be the way to go.
Given the information that I obtained from TVFool.com for my address and the reviews on the Amazon.com website, I purchased a Winegard FL-5000 Flatwave Indoor Antenna. I connected it directly to a several year old Panasonic 50" Plasma and scanned for channels. The channel scan returned only a couple of channels like 12.1, 20.1, etc. I tried 20-25+ different channel scans with the antenna in different positions, facing South, facing North, laying flat, etc. Most of the tests were done with the flatwave installed about 15' off the ground in a window that faces South. Needless to say, I was definitely not impressed with the results. A call to Winegard tech support resulted in more tests/channel scans, including adding one and two splitters between the antenna and the TV (they thought the signal might be too strong to be picked up by the TV tuner and by adding splitters they thought it might make it work). Unfortunately, this yielded worse results than without the splitters. At the end of the call, the tech support person really had no explanation for why the antenna was pulling in stations that were 60+ miles away to the N/NW (and channels 30 miles away to the SW) when it couldn't also pull in the local ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. stations that are approx. 14 miles away to the South. I also tried the same antenna with a different TV, just to make sure that it wasn't the tuner in the Panasonic. I got the same results with a different TV in a different part of the house. The above being said, the Winegard is going to be heading back to Amazon. Before I do this though, I want to try and figure out what I should try next so I can order this at the same time and see if I can get Amazon to cover the return shipping for me.
At this point, I'm really only interested in being able to get ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and Fox. Anything beyond this is great, but not really required.
I don't want to mount an antenna on the roof, but have no problem mounting one in the attic if that would help resolve the issues (attic is about 15' off the ground). I have an access hole to the attic that is 29" x 21".
I already have 2 coax cables running from the attic down to a LV enclosure in a mechanical room and have coax running from the LV enclosure in the mechanical room to 4 different TV's in the house (this was all installed when the house was built in 2006). I believe that all of the TV's have digital tuners. In a perfect solution, I'd have one or more antennas installed in the attic and I'd be able to view OTA channels on all four TV's in the house.
I'm currently considering a channelmaster CM-4228HD to be mounted in the attic (I'm hoping I'd be able to get it through the access hole, although it may need to be partially disassembled first), primarily because it has good reviews, but am not sure if it would provide different results than the Winegard flatwave that didn't work very well in my location. I'm also not 100% sure that the CM-4228HD would be able to pick up all of the channels that I'm interested in (13.1 / Fox - appears to be VHF Hi and 9.1 / PBS appears to be VHF Hi, but I believe the CM-42228HD will only pick up UHF). I'm looking for assistance in selecting an antenna and understanding what other components (amp, splitter, etc.) I will need in order to have one antenna that is being used for all four TV's in the house.
Thanks in advance for any assistance / guidance that anyone can provide.
Cal
