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Finding the right HDTV antenna

gar hi

gar hi

It was around year ago that I got a little 7 inch TV and had hoped to get the channels from Hilo, which is only 12 miles away.

Being that I'm not much of a TV watcher, I didn't want any kind of a fancy TV but the one I got didn't have very good sensitivity. And I didn't know what was the best antenna, so I settled for a couple of those indoor ones that claim fantastic reception and I couldn't get any channels at all.

So I thought I'd try again only with a better TV and a better antenna.

I got a nice 19 inch Element TV and decided to go with one of the more old fashioned looking antennas instead of those square ones or funny looking ones. I got the RCA Attic/Outdoor Compact HD Antenna.

Being that there's no place to put the antenna outside on the cabin, mainly because I'm too afraid of heights, I put it at the top of my room inside which looks a lot like an attic. Since there was no real way to test the best location up there, I went ahead and installed it pointing in the direction of Hilo and then mounted the cable wire to the TV. I knew I was taking a chance because I went to all that trouble to put the antenna up not knowing if it would even pick up any channels.

Then I connected it to the TV and did the channel scan. The scan was about 1/4 done and it still said "0 channels found". I started to think all that effort was for nothing and then it started finding channels.

So I'm real excited with the results, I get all but 2 channels because apparently their transmitters are not where the antenna is pointed but considering it's not easy to get TV reception up here for some reason, I think I did good.

I also like having the antenna at the top of my room because it reminds me of when I was growing up and got my first TV antenna in the attic for getting the distant New York stations.

Here's a couple pics of the antenna and the TV.


https://s10.postimg.org/8dzwwji8p/TV_and_antenna_1.jpg

https://s28.postimg.org/cc0xg6xzx/TV_and_antenna_2.jpg

https://s28.postimg.org/w542lf5z1/TV_and_antenna_3.jpg
 
A four-bay bowtie works very well on UHF signals. I've built several and they work great indoors on full-powered stations 25 miles away. LPTVs will be iffy unless you're close to their towers. Mine don't have reflectors, but I'm thinking of adding them due to my being in a flight pattern. Airplanes flying overhead kill DTV signals due to multipath. The more directivity, the better.

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-Antennas#Make_a_TV_Antenna_sub
 
My last scan was 57, but some of those were LPTVs that were detected but can't be decoded. Normally, I get 38-40 channels indoors, with only the full-powered UHFs being 100% reliable.

I'm in NE Mesa AZ, about 25 miles ENE from the South Mountain towers in Phoenix. I have large ficus trees in my back yard (excellent shade! :D ), and a 2-story house behind me, in the path, but I'm roughly 400 feet above downtown Phoenix, and everything to the southwest drops in elevation, so the house behind me is the main obstacle.

My antennas are cut for UHF -- 8 inch long bowtie elements, with the ends spaced 3 inches apart. PBS, Fox, and NBC (on Channels 8, 10, and 12, respectively, they returned to their analog VHF assignments in '09) are OK on my outdoor TV, and iffy on the indoor units. The house is stucco-covered, and the chicken-wire that holds the stucco is about a 20 dB attenuator at VHF and UHF frequencies (and much worse on lower frequencies -- AM radio is all but useless unless I take the radio outside). All the PCs and TVs in the house just add to the noise inside. I probably have more noise generators than the average house, but not by that much.
 
Hi Gar, that certainly is an interesting antenna. I install them here in Northern Arizona
and have never seen anything even similar. Where did you get it and what brand is it?
Based on TV FOOL, you have Rf 9,11 and 13 on VHF and the rest are UHF. From my
experience, you lose anywhere from 25% to 75% of the signal when you install an
antenna indoors or in the attic. That antenna of yours may be just fine.... but not be
sufficient in it's present location. You might have a friend or two mount an antenna on
your facia and see how it performs. I'll bet you dramatically improve your signal strength
on existing channels and add some new ones as well..........
 
Gar--how many channels can you get?
Click to expand...

I get 8 channels, including my favorite, MeTV.

There's 2 I don't get that I expected to, the NBC affiliate on 13.1 and 'This' on 5.1.

I'm not complaining because even during the brief heavy rain we had the other night, there was no signal interference.

And according to Antenna Web, I should be getting 0 stations where I live. That's what the results were for Mountain View, though I am a little more east of the specific spot they pick for the town.

The reason I don't get 13.1 is likely because their transmitter is west of Hilo. I aimed the antenna right at Hilo.


Where did you get it and what brand is it?
Click to expand...


I got it at Walmart and it's RCA. Walmart is the only place where it can be found, I think.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Attic-Outdoor-Compact-HD-Antenna/146879296
 
I personally believe that Denny's antenna is an excellent choice if you can fit it in your limited space.
This antenna is manufactured by Winegard and is designed to be short with a double decker design.
 
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BTW, Denny's antenna is only good for high VHF and UHF channels.
It is not designed for low VHF channels or the FM broadcast band.
 
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