Thread: Antenna suggestion

I live in the Flint/Tri-Cities, MI market and I use my rooftop RS U75R/WG HDP269/AM21 setup to watch Detroit stations which are on average 50 miles away, and half of the time a third of them don't come in at all (usually during the day) and the rest of time time they break up when traffic outside gets heavy (I live on a busy main road). What antenna would solve these problems so I can watch them 24 hours a day without interference? I'm on a limited budget and I'm in an apartment building so I can't get something huge.

OR...



Should I just keep what I got and invest in a taller pole?

Here's my data from TVFool with the antenna height set to 25 feet


http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c8bb6fd23f9e

What do you have now?
What are your limitations on installation?
What channels do you want to receive?

Originally Posted by boba

What do you have now?
What are your limitations on installation?
What channels do you want to receive?

I thought I answered all of those questions already but I guess I wasn't explicit enough

I got a Radio Shack U75R UHF only antenna with a Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp.

My limitations are money (I want to spend less than $100 if possible). Also it'd be on top of a 2 story apartment building mounted to a pole so there's not much space.

I want to watch:

WJBK
WDIV
WXYZ
WMYD
WWJ
WTVS

all of which are about 50-60 miles away.

Do you have a rotator? Where is your antenna currently aimed? WJBK is Ch7 VHF so your UHF antenna isn't designed to receive it. The other 5 are UHF and very similar look angles

Those little symbols to the left of the stations indicate co-channel or adjacent channels. This means you will have trouble receiving a clear signal for these channels.

Your local channels I would bet are to your North so your antenna is pointed opposite of where you need to be for the 6 stations you would like.

No rotator. I have it pointed southeast towards Southfield. Like I said I can receive my locals on the dish so no need to watch them OTA.

You might try turning your antenna around and see if your local channels offer subchannels that aren't on satellite.

Your Winegard HDP269 may not be enough amp to get the distant stations an HDP269 has 12 dB gain VHF & UHF, an AP 8275 has 29dB VHF & 28dB UHF. The problem with more gain is the co-channel interference may also be amplified. Example WWJ uses ch 44 for a broadcast channel at 53 miles distant WZPX also uses ch44 at 75 miles away and a different direction. Under the right conditions WZPX can interfere with WWJ's signal.

A more directional antenna can be the cure but the Radio Shack antenna is as good as anything else I could recommend for the price. Additional height may help but you will probably need guy wires to stabalize a taller mast. Do you have room to place them?

I would go for a 8275 amp in place of the 269 but it is a gamble. 17 dB more gain is going to change something hopefully not the interference.

As an after thought do you have anything to the Southeast that could block your line of sight?

Originally Posted by boba

You might try turning your antenna around and see if your local channels offer subchannels that aren't on satellite.

Your Winegard HDP269 may not be enough amp to get the distant stations an HDP269 has 12 dB gain VHF & UHF, an AP 8275 has 29dB VHF & 28dB UHF. The problem with more gain is the co-channel interference may also be amplified. Example WWJ uses ch 44 for a broadcast channel at 53 miles distant WZPX also uses ch44 at 75 miles away and a different direction. Under the right conditions WZPX can interfere with WWJ's signal.

A more directional antenna can be the cure but the Radio Shack antenna is as good as anything else I could recommend for the price. Additional height may help but you will probably need guy wires to stabalize a taller mast. Do you have room to place them?

I would go for a 8275 amp in place of the 269 but it is a gamble. 17 dB more gain is going to change something hopefully not the interference.

I can already watch subchannels for both markets with the antenna how it is.

I was told since WFUM is to the southeast and only 20 miles away an amp higher than 12 would overload the front end.

I told you I don't have much space, especially not for guy wires. A pole will have to do.

So can you recommend another more higher powered VHF High/UHF antenna that's strong enough for me to watch the Detroit stations but not so strong it'll have interference from other distant stations?