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Looking for a good VHF-Hi long range antenna

A

ansky212

Does anyone here have experience with TV antennas? I need an antenna that can pull in RF channel 10 from 75 miles away. I live on top of a mountain and my neighbor can pull in the same channel I'm looking for, but his antenna has a 100" boom length, and I need something smaller. I was thinking of getting this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/antenna...f-vhf-hdtv-antenna/3547707.p?id=1218411612103

Based on the description and reviews it seems like it would do the trick. Are there any other good antennas out there that are not huge?
 
Find an old antenna on CL or somewhere that meets your needs. From the research I've done the new-fangled HDTV antennas are not necessary. You don't need an HDTV antenna to receive HDTV. If you have an antenna properly tuned to receive the channel(s) you wish you can use anything and receive digital providing the range of the antenna is adequate.
I have a camp in the mountains at about 1625' elev. and can pull in a very nice digital signal of 7.1 and 7.2 from about 85 miles out using an old antenna that a woman gave me just for getting it down from her garage attic where it sat for probably 30-40 years, unused, after cable TV came along. Yes, my antenna has a 12 foot boom, but that is what I needed to acquire the signal where I am, and the price was right. Longer boom equals longer range.
I got lucky; I happen to live in an area where the 3 major networks all broadcast on VHF-Hi back in the day, so it was a great find. If you're in an area where VHF-Hi was prevalent you might find all sorts of stuff just laying around for free pickup.
 
Get a RS VU90 or a Channel Master CM3016 or similar....add a CM7777 amp at the antenna and you'll get what you want..had that arrangement at 20 ft and could watch all the Houston full power stations at 100+ miles!! Enjoy
 
BTW, never buy a Best BUY...go to Solid Signal on the internet....also Fry's if you have a local..or check TigerDirect.com or NewEgg.com.

If there is a local electronics parts place near by, they may offer Channel Mastet..DO NOT use a Radio Shack amplifier...the CM 7777 is the best for the cost and you will get station you never though you could see..

Rabbitears and TVfool are the best web sites for TV antenna suggestions and shows what is possible with the right ant and amp

YOU MIGHT get by with the CM2018 antenna...but the Lowbands are still out there (The new MeTV affiliate for NYC is on RF channel 3)..use TVfool what is in the direction you want to watch...but if you are a mountain, a 10ft "toprail fence post" will do as a mast....use an eave bracket you get get at RS or Lowes, etc..tighten the clamp just enough to keep the antenna from moving on it own...but you can still armstrong it by hand...so you can pick up OTHER channels...I got over 60 channels that way..
 
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Mountain Air said:
Find an old antenna on CL or somewhere that meets your needs. From the research I've done the new-fangled HDTV antennas are not necessary. You don't need an HDTV antenna to receive HDTV. If you have an antenna properly tuned to receive the channel(s) you wish you can use anything and receive digital providing the range of the antenna is adequate.
Click to expand...

Very true ...An antenna is an antenna...it does not care about the emission mode......RF waves, whether digital or analog are RF waves....longer boom does NOT mean longer range...its the number of elements on band in question and how much gain you get out of them per band (VHF lo/Hi or UHF)....A couple of sites on the internet have done REAL gain tests and have shown that several "high gain" claimed model are no where near the real gain figure....DB gain can be DB against anything...including a wet noodle...dbd or dbi are the two that matter (dbi will ALWAYS be 2.15db more than dbd...the i stands for a theoretical non existing antenna that has zero gain in all directions (no such thing exists...even Circular Polarized antennas have nulls and less gain in some directions compared to others)....dbd mean gain again a standard half wave dipole...which is a real measurement...
 
Here is a little more info. I'm located in northeastern NJ about 10 miles due west of NYC. My house is on a ridge 450' in elevation. The channel I'm trying to pick up is WTNH-DT from New Haven, CT. According to TVFool this channel is 79 miles away, 2Edge, broadcasting on RF channel 10. My neighbor down the street is able to pull this channel in using a 100" boom length, so I know it's possible from my location. I just don't have room for a 100" boom so I need something more compact. I really just need a VHF outdoor antenna to pull in this one channel. I have no problem pulling in all the NYC locals using any indoor antenna.
 
I think O.P. needs to bite the bullet and get the 10 element hi-bander. However, if there's more vertical than horizontal space, consider stacking a couple of these 5 element antennas... http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...els-713(Y5713)&c=TV Antennas&sku=716079000987

No definitive advice on best vertical stacking distance, but you'll want at least one wavelength, which for channel 10 would be 5 ft. More learned people on this subject may have better info. Then you have to consider the best way to harness the two together. Less headache I think to just find room for the ten element.
 
ansky212 said:
Here is a little more info. I'm located in northeastern NJ about 10 miles due west of NYC. My house is on a ridge 450' in elevation. The channel I'm trying to pick up is WTNH-DT from New Haven, CT. According to TVFool this channel is 79 miles away, 2Edge, broadcasting on RF channel 10. My neighbor down the street is able to pull this channel in using a 100" boom length, so I know it's possible from my location. I just don't have room for a 100" boom so I need something more compact. I really just need a VHF outdoor antenna to pull in this one channel. I have no problem pulling in all the NYC locals using any indoor antenna.
Click to expand...

100" boom could be 80% UHF for all we know...do you know what MODEL antenna it is? Does the neighbor had an amp or just the antenna by itself? A Channel Master 7777 will make up for a VHF antenna with less gain in some cases...dont go on SIZE alone..
 
If you only need this antenna to pull in a single station, why not do it the professional way and get a single channel Yagi or Log Periodic? In addition to exceptional gain, these single channel antennæ are exceptionally directional, which means they will reject any kind of interference from any direction other than the one to which they are aimed. They are also only six MHz wide (192-198) so they will also reject any sources of out-of-band interference. These are the only antennæ that CATV's and other professional installations ever employ. Many years ago, I needed to pull in a channel two in an area with big buildings in all directions. I got a modest Yagi cut for this one channel and was absolutely amazed at how clear the station looked...not a single ghost or smear.
 
A cut to channel Yagi is not just 6MHZ wide...they do have slop +/- each channel...if he already has one antenna up and only wants one to help in the pick up of this one channel, then adding a SECOND cut to channel yagi with filtering would be a PITA for most consumers. CATV providers will use LPDAs (multi channel Log Periodic Directional Arrays) if all transmitters are in one direction (or most of them)..Especially TWC's installs I have seen/been at...remember, CATV systems are a different operation than a home consumer TV setup.

He only needs to "see" this extra channel...an antenna with more gain and a amplifier would be better and easier than adding a second antenna and trying to correctly install it with proper filtering, etc..
 
BTW...and this is verrrrrry important, make absolutely certain that the station is on RF channel ten and not just PSIP channel ten or virtual channel ten.
 
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