Help with Outdoor TV antennas

[yragha]

I've already looked at the antenna sites but want more feedback from some of you.

In the city of Houston, Jersey Village area is where the antenna will be located. Single story home. Really interested in pulling in Bryan College Stations as well.

Can some give recommendations on a good UHF/VHF (I'm having trouble for whatever reason) getting KPRC-2 (35) currently with a regular indoor MOHU LEAF antenna. Getting rid of cable and going OTA.

I seem to be getting lots of multi-path. At least that's what I believe it is, one minute the signal will be 92 the next 76???

Your help would be appreciated.

I have a DB8 stored away but wondering about it's usefulness here as well.

Thank you

 

[jras20]

I have a Winegard HD7080P I have it about 35 miles from Victoria have 3 TV's hooked up to it... On a Good night I can pull in Corpus. Digital is tricky. Its all or nothing, the higher you have it the better chance you will get it.

 

[cd637299]

www.solidsignal.com , based in the Detroit area, is my go-to antenna place. They are extremely helpful as to what you will need. I believe they have a questionnaire online which I filled out 2 years ago, and my answers got S Signal to zero in on exactly the antenna I needed.

I recommend them highly. They are very courteous over the phone, if you need to take that route!

cd

 

[flytrap]

I bought my antenna (channel master) at Walmart.com. They will ship it free to your nearest store. Just show them your ID and they will get it for you. They have most of the popular channel master antennas that they don't sell inside the store. by all means, get a traditional outside antenna. Those funny looking square or round modern style antennas only work if you are within 20 or 30 miles out if your lucky. and often don't get VHF stations at all. Most of the newer antennas only pick up channels 7-69. but that may be all you need. Walmart.com still has some 2-69 antennas if you really need one. Its best to get one bigger than you really need. If you are 45 miles from the tower, get a 60 mile antenna, and use RG6 cable. RG59 will lose signal on long runs. If you get a long range antenna pointed the right direction with no trees or buildings in the way, you shouldn't need an amplifier.

 

[yragha]

I have a Winegard HD7080P I have it about 35 miles from Victoria have 3 TV's hooked up to it... On a Good night I can pull in Corpus. Digital is tricky. Its all or nothing, the higher you have it the better chance you will get it.

Preamp or no?

I've read that for locals a preamp can do more harm than good?

Thanks

 

[w9wi]

by all means, get a traditional outside antenna. Those funny looking square or round modern style antennas only work if you are within 20 or 30 miles out if your lucky. and often don't get VHF stations at all. Most of the newer antennas only pick up channels 7-69. but that may be all you need. Walmart.com still has some 2-69 antennas if you really need one. Its best to get one bigger than you really need. If you are 45 miles from the tower, get a 60 mile antenna, and use RG6 cable. RG59 will lose signal on long runs. If you get a long range antenna pointed the right direction with no trees or buildings in the way, you shouldn't need an amplifier.

By far the best post I've seen in this thread.

I answer viewer reception calls/emails for a major Nashville station. "Modern style" antennas are by far our biggest problem. I can't count how many times I've advised someone to replace their fancy "HDTV" antenna with a set of rabbit ears -- only to have them call back a few days later & report that not only does our station now come in 100%, but they're getting several other channels that weren't working before.

"yragha"'s comments about a preamp doing more harm than good are also well-taken, if you live within say, 15-20 miles of a transmitting tower. Not necessarily the tower of the station(s) you're trying to watch. A preamp can be overwhelmed by strong nearby signals, generating interference that's not transmitted by the stations themselves. The tower doesn't even have to be TV, an FM tower can overwhelm a preamp as well.

I'd try the DB8. It would certainly address any multipath issues. (these things are VERY directional, making it easy to null out the "wrong-path" reflections) It's not really designed for VHF channels (KHOU, KTRK, and KUHT) but if you're in the city of Houston the VHF signals are probably strong enough for the DB8 to work. In the city, I *highly* doubt a preamp would do you any good.

I would be almost certain Bryan/College Station is out of the question with any of the modern plastic-encased antennas. You're going to need one of the traditional designs. Unless you're east of Houston you're probably going to need either a rotor or two antennas -- as Houston and Bryan are going to be in different directions. There's really no such thing as a decent omnidirectional TV antenna...

 

[JHBrandt]

I've already looked at the antenna sites but want more feedback from some of you.

In the city of Houston, Jersey Village area is where the antenna will be located. Single story home. Really interested in pulling in Bryan College Stations as well.

Can some give recommendations on a good UHF/VHF (I'm having trouble for whatever reason) getting KPRC-2 (35) currently with a regular indoor MOHU LEAF antenna. Getting rid of cable and going OTA.

I seem to be getting lots of multi-path. At least that's what I believe it is, one minute the signal will be 92 the next 76???

Your help would be appreciated.

I have a DB8 stored away but wondering about it's usefulness here as well.

Thank you

I'm not as familiar with Houston geography as some of the other posters, but looking at a map it appears you're trying to do something like what I'm trying to do in Dallas. Most of your stations are to your south and not too far away, but you're also trying to get stations from Bryan/College Station, which looks like about 80 miles to the northwest. The local stations will be easy, but anything from Bryan/College Station is going to be tough.

The DB8 would work for your local UHF stations, but Houston also has three VHF stations on RF 8, 11, and 13. Assuming you want those, you'll need either a VHF-Hi antenna alongside your DB8, or a UHF/VHF-Hi combo antenna.

For a VHF-Hi antenna, the Winegard YA-1713 or the Antennacraft Y10-7-13 would work (actually, they're probably overkill for your location). You'd also need a UHF/VHF combiner such as the UVSJ, but these are small and cheap.

For a combo, I'd look at the Channel Master 2018 or 4228HD, the Antennacraft HBU-33, or the Winegard 7696. The CM 4228HD is closest in size to your DB8.

Now for Bryan/College Station, your best bet is a very large antenna, such as the Antennacraft HBU-55 or Channel Master 3671. The higher the better, but at that distance a foot or two up or down won't make much difference. In the very unlikely event your city/HA will let you get away with it, a 50' tower would really help; but most likely, your best bet would be a 10' mast securely mounted (and properly grounded, of course) to your roof.

You'll have the easiest time with KAMU , since they're VHF (RF 12); but since you have RF 11 and 13 in Houston, combining the signal from an antenna pointed at KAMU with the local signals without causing severe multipath is a tall order. I can think of a couple of possibilities, though:
1. Use one large antenna along with a rotator, so you can point it to Missouri City or Bryan/College Station as desired.
2. Go ahead and use two antennas (a large one pointed at Bryan/College Station and a smaller one pointed at Missouri City) but don't try to combine the signals. Instead use an RF switch, or route the Bryan/College Station antenna to a separate TV.

 

[yragha]

Sounds like a lot more involved with getting the Bryan-College Stations channels. Guess it might be best to be satisfied with Houston.

Anyone recommend an antenna installer?
Do they even exist anymore?

I'm awaiting the Solid Signal recommendations as I sent in a request for them specifically for my area.

 

[yragha]

Ok, here's what Solid signal recommended (Houston market only):

Winegard HD-1080 antenna

No mention of a preamp.

Good or bad?

Thanks

 

[Gregg]

Long distance reception of digital TV signals is not impossible but difficult. We have a cottage 100 miles north of Boston, on the NH-Maine border. By day we get the ABC, CBS and NBC stations from Portland ME as well as the ABC and PBS stations from Manchester/Dover NH.

But some nights we get a few stations from Boston. Some nights we get quite a few, some nights none at all. The best are the NBC and CBS stations from Boston. Next, we might see the ABC, Fox and PBS-WGBH 2. Once in a while we also get Channel 38 and 60.

We have a large Radio Shack antenna with a rotor on the roof and an antenna booster, along with an inexpensive Magnovox digital converter. A slight movement on the rotor might mean the difference between getting the station or getting nothing. We're at lake level so our elevation is not very high. But there is a pretty clear path to the southern sky, so maybe that's why Boston signals sometimes come in at night and early morning. They're usually gone an hour or two after sunrise.

I also notice at midday, with a bright sun, even the Portland and Manchester stations might drop out once in a while. Some days even the Manchester ABC station, about 50 miles away, is not strong enough to watch. Who knows why these things happen, or why we can't get the other Portland stations? We have never gotten the PBS station serving Southern Maine, even though its transmitter is only about 25 miles from the cottage. Digital reception is quirky!


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[jras20]

Sorry for the delay, I was sick this morning didn't get on surfing much. I do not have a amp on my antenna, just a 4 way splitter going to 3 separate TVs. I have not had good luck with amps on digital, I had better luck with analog than digital, but it doesn't hurt to try.

 

[JHBrandt]

Ok, here's what Solid signal recommended (Houston market only):

Winegard HD-1080 antenna

No mention of a preamp.

Good or bad?

Thanks

First I've heard of it, so I went over to winegarddirect.com and checked it out.

Interesting design: looks like a 2-bay UHF, with VHF-Hi dipoles added on.

Unfortunately the reflector is too narrow for VHF. The antenna actually receives VHF signals best from the back!

Still, it might work well enough, since you're only 20 miles or so from the towers. The antennas I recommended are probably larger than you absolutely need; I wanted to make sure you had a decent chance at low-power stations as well as the full-power ones. (Most low-power stations broadcast religious, foreign-language, or low-value programs like infomercials, but I understand there are one or two low-power stations in Houston the average viewer might like.)

Also, I noticed this antenna is available from various retailers for around $30-$35; but Solid Signal wants $70 ??? If you're willing to pay $70 I'd go with one of the larger antennas instead; but if you need a small, inexpensive antenna the HD-1080 looks like a reasonable choice.

As for a preamp, you probably won't need one, unless either
- there's going to be over 50' of cable from the antenna to the TV;
- you're splitting the signal from the antenna to feed several TVs (even in this case, it's probably cheaper to use a bigger antenna and a passive splitter);
- you're going for some of the B/CS stations.

 

[yragha]

Thanks for all the input.

Jras hope your feeling better.

Decisions decisions.

 

[yragha]

On a roof, should I get a 5 or 10 ft. mast?

I've opted for the Antennacraft HBU33 I believe it's called from Radio Shack which has 47 reviews on the site and 46 give it the highest 5.0 rating.

Thanks

 

[yragha]

ALSO, sending the signal to "2" TV's do I need an pre-amp because of that? I'm in the city of Houston (YELLOW).

Thanks!

 

[jras20]

Are you just trying to pick up Houston? If just Houston 5' would do it, but College station, the higher you are the better.

 

[yragha]

Well, seemed everyone went AWOL for a short period of time on this board THEREFORE I had to make some decisions....

I (well a friend) installed the Antennacraft HBU33 atop my parents roof on a 10 foot mast with tripod and all the stations except 57.1 are coming in at 100% (*not talking about the low power ones). KUVM "Retro TV" comes in at a cool 87% which was shocking!

The family friend didn't think we would need the preamp even running to 2 TV's and he was right, the signal didn't drop one iota.

Scanned my channels again and receiving some channels didn't even know existed, The Country Network 46.1 and Daystar LP (even though their's 22 KLTJ) 50.1.

Guess their was a reason this antenna received a top billing from 46 out of 47 reviewers on the Radioshack website.

I didn't bother with trying to get Bryan-College Station.

 

[JHBrandt]

Glad to hear everything's working fine. Sorry I've been busy the past few days, but what you did is pretty close to what I would've done. 8)

I agree with jras20: a 5' mast would've been OK for the Houston stations. But the extra height might come in handy someday if you change your mind about Bryan/College Station.