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Old 19-Jul-2010, 1:08 AM   #1
kevsmach
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1
Please suggest the best equipment

Hi, I have finally made the decision to ditch my cable. I am a bit confused about which antenna and related equipment to get. here is my info:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9fbefb4f3961de

Thanks in advance for your help
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Old 19-Jul-2010, 12:46 PM   #2
John Candle
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Join Date: Jun 2010
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Reception

Your location is very close to transmitters at Atlanta , the signals are strong. Try one of these indoor antennas. http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233
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Old 19-Jul-2010, 7:28 PM   #3
mtownsend
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I noticed in your report that you specified a 30 foot antenna height. I'm guessing this means that you're considering putting up a rooftop antenna (which is a good thing). Although some of your signals are strong enough for pickup with an indoor antenna, you will get a cleaner, more reliable signal from a rooftop antenna.

A good rooftop antenna for you would be either a Winegard HD7694P or an Antennacraft HBU-33. These antennas cover channels 7-69. You don't have any local stations on channels 2-6, so these antennas are perfect for your situation. To get all the main Atlanta stations, you just need to point the antenna around a compass heading of 250ยบ (the skinny end of the antenna with the short antenna elements should be pointed at the stations).

There are several mounting options available depending on the type of roof you have and what's acceptable to you. Some choices you might consider include:

1) Chimney mount (like a Channel Master CM-9067). Requires a chimney, of course, but these mounts are pretty sturdy and don't require any screws or holes to be put through your roof.

2) Eave mount or wall mount (like a CM-9030 or CM-9023). Lets you attach a mast at the "side" of your house on the eaves or on a wall. The top of the mast should be made to extend above the roof level by a few feet. These mounts require putting bolts into your eaves or the wall of your house. These mounts are a good choice if it's impossible or if you prefer not to mount anything directly on the roof itself.

3) Non-penetrating roof mount. If you have a flat roof and want to install a mount that does not penetrate the roofing material, you can use a sled mount or something equivalent. A sled mount generally consists of a base that holds some counterweight material (like cinder blocks, sand, or water) and has some brackets or a tripod above the sled to hold the mast. You can also buy rubber mats to place under the sled to make sure that the mount does not cause any damage to the roofing material.

4) Tripod. These kinds of mounts usually bolt right into the studs in your roof. Weatherproof sealant should be used at the points of roof penetration to minimize the risk of leaks. These mounts are very sturdy and allow the antenna to be placed anywhere along the apex of the roof. It might provide a better placement options in cases where a chimney or eave mount would be limited by obstructions like trees or other structures.



The antennas come with F-Type connectors, ready to be attached to coax leading into your house. The recommended coax for this application is RG6. Some places will try to sell you or give away RG59 coax, but I don't recommend using it. RG59 is a thinner cable (might be attractive from an aesthetics point of view), but it sacrifices too much in terms of signal quality over long distances (it loses more signal per foot and has less shielding to protect it from electrical interference).

You can use a splitter to send the signal to multiple TVs if you want to. Just keep in mind that splitters and long cable runs will cause you to to lose some signal strength. If you are going to split the signal many ways or have very long cable runs, you might want to consider upgrading your antenna to the next larger size (i.e., HD7695P or HBU-44) to make up for the lost signal.



That's about it. You do not need any kind of amp since your signals are starting out nice and strong.

There are some channels available in other directions, but since they are mostly duplicates of network stations you can get from the main Atlanta transmitters, there doesn't seem to be much point in trying to pick them up. You might be lucky and pick up some extra stations by chance, but if not, it's probably no big loss.
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