Week signal in San Bruno, CA

[villaFool]

I live in San Bruno, CA which is just south of San Francisco. I'm not very far from most of the towers (inside 10 miles), but my reception is horrible. You can take a look at my signal strength here:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...46ae032d43592a

On another thread, people said it's because Mount San Bruno sits between my house and Mt. Sutro in San Francisco which cuts off many of the stations. To make matters worse, I live in a valley. According to the TV maps, my neighborhood is in a violet circle of poor reception.

I've tried the Mohu "Ultimate" Indoor antenna, but of the major networks, Fox is unwatchably choppy and ABC doesn't come in at all (which is odd since it's supposedly a strong signal). CBS and NBC are fine. But as things are, there is no way our reception will pass the wife acceptance test and we can cut the cable. She says she wants to be able to turn on the TV and flip through channels without "No signal found" warnings or constantly choppy video.

We have a tall garage with a loft space inside. I'm thinking of mounting an attic antenna in there and see if anything improves. But my question is, am I just wasting my time trying to get an OTA signal in my location? I've already put in $50 for the Mohu and an amplified attic antenna will cost as much as $200. So it's becoming an expensive experiment. Anyone in the Bay Area in a similar situation or have similar signal strength coming to their house who have made it work? I will feel much more comfortable putting in the time and money if I know there are others that have found success.

Most of the Digital Broadecast Tv stations/channels are Very Weak Signal Strength.

A Simple reception situation that requires a Big antenna installed above the roof in such a manner that the roof and building are not , obstructing , impeding , blocking , reception in the directions of , North West , North , North East.

Install a Winegard Hd7084P All channel antenna aimed at about 340 degree magnetic compass direction.

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

Use a Real and Actual magnetic compass to aim antenna.

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Install a Winegard , LNA-100 'Boost' amplifier.

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For 1 Tv connected use No splitter.

For 2 Tv's connected use a simple common 2 way splitter.

For 3 Tv's connected use a simple common 3 way splitter.

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Here are csome places to buy antennas and etc. .

http://www.solidsignal.com.

http://www.amazon.com.

http://www.winegarddirect.com.

http://www.ronard.com.

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Here are some above the roof antenna mounts.

http://www.ronard.com/909911.html.
Use the , ronard(911) , 5 foot tripod antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/34424560.html.
Use the , ronard(4560) , eave antenna mount.

http://www.ronard.com/ychim.html.
Measure around the chimney and use a , ronard(2212) , ronard(2218) , ronard(2224).

Buy the ronard antenna mounts at , http://www.solidsignal.com , by typing , ronard (x) , in the solidsignal search box or buy from http://www.ronard.com.

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As always , trees and tree leaves , plants and plant leaves , have a Negative effect on OTA=Over The Air , Broadcast Tv Reception , and so do buildings and other obstructions including your own roof and building.

The Best Practice is to install the HD7084P antenna at a locatuion that has the least amount to no amount of obstructions of any type or kind in the directions of reception.

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

Do Double Rescan , http://www.wchstv.com?doubleReScanAlert.pdf.

Some digital tuners will Automatic channel scan for cable tv channels.

DO NOT channel sacan for cable tv channels.

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

Scan for Digital channels.

[villaFool]

Original poster here. I answered part of my question already. I climbed up on my roof today and tacked my Mohu antenna to a high point of the roofline that is above the rooflines of all the houses on my street. So I had a clear line of sight facing north (which is where all the towers are). I plugged in a laptop with a ATSC tuner in it, did a scan, and presto -- all major stations (fox, abc, cbs, nbc) came in with a clear picture and no stuttering. Other stations were also much improved vs. when the antenna was mounted in my living room.

I still haven't done my garage loft test with the Mohu antenna. But I don't have very much confidence that will work since it may have just as many obstacles as my living room -- my walls then my neighbor's walls/roofs. So if I need to mount an antenna outside, is it safe to just attach the Mohu antenna against the side of my house under the overhang of my roof? Or do I risk bad things (fire, surges, etc.) exposing an amplified indoor antenna to the elements?

[StephanieS]

Hi Villa,

Those hills of the bay area, gorgeous to look at, awful for TV reception!

Good call on going on the roof. Staying indoor wasn't going to cut it for you. As to putting that amplified antenna outdoor, no I wouldn't do it. Instead, I'd go purchase and mount something like a Channel Master 4228HD on the roof that is good for all the UHF signals in your area. I suggest that antenna because due to being a 2-edge situation, having an antenna that has a wider capture area of signal versus a traditional directional with less capture area will be helpful with signals bouncing about in edge situations.

The Channel Master 4228HD also supports VHF which you'll need for KGO and KNTV.

You should be able to point it at 341 degrees magnetic and see all the major networks and then some. Of course there are lots of variables. This is just a estimated guess on my part with your TV fool and your report of roof reception.

[villaFool]

I'm all hooked up! I actually placed my Mohu Ultimate Leaf antenna in my garage against the far wall and at the highest point I could reach without breaking my neck. I ran the coax along the wall of the garage and into the house (fortunately, there is already coax running into the house from previous owners). I'm getting all the major networks and was able to watch football on Fox without the signal dropping out on me (something I couldn't do before). The signal isn't as strong as when I placed it outside on the side of my house, but the antenna is better protected from the elements in my garage and the major stations are watchable.

After some more "field tests" I think I will be able to cancel my cable.