• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Thoughts on this UHF antenna?

J

jras20

Anyone have thoughts about this antenna? or can anyone recommend me a UHF antenna that is in a decent price range? I'm wondering if I can also pickup the high VHF frequencies with it? I'm either going to try to pull in Houston or San antonio which both cities are about 84 miles apart. I could probably get Victoria with no problem with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Maste...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1203959795&sr=8-4

Thanks in advance!
 
That's a medium-range antenna. You're in a deep-fringe area. You really need something bigger - either a corner reflector like the Channel Master 4248 (that's what I use to pull in DTV from 65-75 miles out, Syracuse and Buffalo in my case) or, if you can find one, a 7' parabolic dish antenna. (They're no longer made, but can still be found in some dealers' stock.)

You absolutely will need a rotor to aim such an antenna directly at either SA or Houston - each of these antennas is very directional, and if you aim it at Houston it won't see SA, or vice versa.

You'll probably want some sort of mast-mounted preamplifier to boost the signal levels. This is not a place to scrimp, as a cheap preamp just adds noise.

And these antennas are UHF-only. If you want high-band V, the best bet at these distances is a separate VHF antenna. I use a Channel Master Quantum 1110, which is huge, but does the trick nicely.
 
Thanks, I got 2 poles about 20 feet up or so, I have one for FM and one for TV, I just dont think my TV antenna has a very good UHF on it. When I'm only 35 miles from KAVU DTV and only get 62-70% out of a 100, that tells me something is wrong there. My home place is 30 miles from Austin, I have a outdoor TV antenna I can get DTV 80-85% most of the time.
 
Definitely sounds like a much better antenna is in order. I'd be sure to put in good cable to it, too. The cheap stuff has tremendous loss at UHF frequencies. The investment in 40 or 50 feet of really good RG-6 is worth it.
 
I'm 79 miles from my local TV stations and have good results with the Winegard PR-8800.

- Trip
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom