Upgraded OTA Antenna, what type & Range?

[jgantert]

My Antenna

Just FYI,

Attached is a picture of my antenna install, followed by a view of the trees towards Baltimore, and a view of the trees towards DC.

As you can see, there's lots of tall trees (ignore the closest tree in the DC picture -- its below the antenna).

-John

 

[velcroman]

Antenna Help Needed in NJ

If you have been upgraded to another Antenna, please post here manufacturer, model and range (in miles). I am trying to answer this question on the FAQ files. Thanks. Only answer if VOOM upgraded your OTA antenna.

I had Voom installed yesterday, and the Voom channels seem to be fine. They installed the Stealth antenna, and I do not get all of the local channels. I do not seem to be finding local NY channel 5,9, 11 and 13, and I seem to be getting some freezing on the channels I do get. The installers told me to tell Voom I am not getting any local channels and I need an antenna upgrade. Voom scheduled someone to come by Saturday. I am not a technical person in any way, and was hoping you could tell me what if anything I should be asking the installers I received from Installs Inc. I tried to figure out what to do from the antenna web sight, but it is all very confusing to me. My address is 15 Rodger Court, Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677. The company Installs Inc gave it to is:
Company: F G Installations Inc
Phone Number: (718) 628-1719
E-mail Address: FG2894@AOL.COM

Lastly, my Voom clock seems to be one hour behind. Any idea if I can adjust it or will it do it by itself?

 

[The Stone Man]

Welcome velcroman. Sounds like you got a receiver with the older software version. When the software upgrades to version 5.68, that should take care of your clock problem. You don't need to do anything special to get the new software, but you might want to turn your set top box OFF overnight.

You say that someone is coming by on Saturday to look. That sounds like an assessment call, where they will see if they can point your antenna better, so that you get more local channels. They will determine if you need a bigger/better antenna, and from the symptoms you describe, it sounds like you need an upgrade. Let's see what the guy says on Saturday, and go from there. Here are some suggestions on what to ask.

1. Is my OTA antenna grounded properly?
2. Is a diplexer installed?
3. Will a different antenna pull in more channels?
4. What kind of antenna is recommended for this area?
5. When can you come back and install one?
6. Would you like something to drink?

 

[traylorc]

I currently do not receive any OTA channels, so I called Voom to schedule an appointment for an upgrade. Currently I have the Winegard Sensar, and an inspection of the installers work reveals that he did install the antenna correctly.

But here is my problem, I live in an apartment with line of sight up to 180 degeres, however all of the transmitters are sitting at 203 - 206 degress (less than 15 miles from me). Also I live in Downtown Houston, although, I am fortunate that I am not surrounded by a bunch of tall office buildings.

Voom agreed to upgrade me the the Channel Master 8 - bay antenna, but the installer showed up with a Channel Master Stealth. He said his boss just purchased a huge shipment of these antennas, and they were using these to "upgrade". I asked the installer if I could see his workorder, and sure enough it included the comment that Voom okayed the use of the eight bay antenna. I told the guy to take that piece of s*it Stealth out of my apartment and bring back the correct antenna. Oh well...we will try again on Thursday.

I would like to like to try the Square Shooter because I heard it was designed for dealing with the urban environment.

 

[smcahee]

im not trying to tell them how to do their job...but...

i live in east central Wisconsin, about halfway between green bay and Milwaukee. this puts me between 45 and 50 miles of most of the OTA transmitters. on the initial visit, the installer put up a Winegard HD7082P -- an antenna the manufacturer lists as having a 35 mile UHF range. At this point i only get 2 of the 6 or 7 locals in the green bay market.

an installer is supposed to return this Friday to 'upgrade' the antenna. i discussed the situation with the guy from adant wireless and he told me he'd call installs inc and see what he could do. the message i got today was that they would upgrade to a HD7084P, which is listed as having a 45 mile UHF range. I'm just not sure if thats going to cut it.

is it typical for voom/installs inc to take baby steps like this? they clearly put the wrong antenna up to start with, and now seem poised to repeat the mistake. we'll know in two days...

 

[jimmykce1]

I got upgraded to a Channelmaster 4228, which is rated for 60 miles.

 

[elocs]

i live in east central Wisconsin, about halfway between green bay and Milwaukee. this puts me between 45 and 50 miles of most of the OTA transmitters. on the initial visit, the installer put up a Winegard HD7082P -- an antenna the manufacturer lists as having a 35 mile UHF range. At this point i only get 2 of the 6 or 7 locals in the green bay market.

an installer is supposed to return this Friday to 'upgrade' the antenna. i discussed the situation with the guy from adant wireless and he told me he'd call installs inc and see what he could do. the message i got today was that they would upgrade to a HD7084P, which is listed as having a 45 mile UHF range. I'm just not sure if thats going to cut it.

is it typical for voom/installs inc to take baby steps like this? they clearly put the wrong antenna up to start with, and now seem poised to repeat the mistake. we'll know in two days...

I am in La Crosse and I was upgraded a month or so ago to a SquareShooter. I can get CBS, ABC, and PBS, but I cannot get NBC channel 13 in Eau Claire because it is in the opposite direction from my other stations. I don't know what the ultimate solution is other than to get a second antenna pointed to get channel 13 which is 50 miles from me.

 

[smcahee]

am i missing something?

after a false start last friday (installer showed up to 'upgrade' my antenna with exactly the same one i already had), i was 'upgraded' from a winegard HD7082P to an HD7084P. i am now able to get one additional channel (3 out of 7). of note the manufacturer indicates this antenna has a 45 mile UHF range, and my locals (all UHF) are all slightly farther away than that. antennaweb.org suggests an antenna with the 'violet' color code for my location, while this one carries the 'blue' designation.

the installer also seemed to think that installing only the power supply and not the preamp unit itself would somehow give me a better signal. he left some cable so i can ditch the diplexor and hook the preamp up like winegard's instructions say to.

my neighbor has a larger antenna than the 7084P, and if i run a cable to her house (not a viable long term option) i get 5 of the 7 locals.
i guess i'll be calling voom again...but im not sure if there will be a round 3...my patience is running out.

 

[WickedDyno]

preamp would definitely help.

 

[dtsfanohio]

My original install was the Stealth. Post instal, I had trouble with NBC only, all others were fine. I called Voom and they recommended an upgrade. They installed the Senser II but it did not improve anything... I had him reinstall the Stealth..and we then realized the Stealth was installed initially incorrectly. LOL The wings need to point towards the towers (I called Channel Master to verify) ...NOW everything is ok with the correctly installed Stealth...I am within 12 miles of the towers. All channels are fine...waiting on the elusive OTA scanning software.

 

[smcahee]

i did talk the installer into leaving me some extra RG6 cable. after he left i installed the preamp the way the manufacturer recommended and got rid of the diplexor. i cant get all the stations in any one city, but with a rotor i can get each of the networks from at least one.

 

[Mr. Old School]

Voom upgraded me from a Winegard Sensar II to a Radio Shack VU-90XR antenna. The VU 90XR is supposed to have range from 70-90 miles. I received no locals that I wasn't already getting. Going to call Voom back today and see if they will upgrade me yet again.

 

[kaiz]

OTA Antenna upgrades without success

Hi,
I am having challenges with OTA reception !! The farthest station from my house is 10.5 miles. When I go to Antennaweb.org and select "Digital stations only" I get 1 in Yellow, 6 in Red, 1 in Blue and 3 in Violet.
I originally had Winegard Sensar II and could not receive any of the local channels. The service person who came to address this issue said that the antenna was wrongly mounted.
He ended up installing a Winegard Prostar PR-8800. This worked good for a few days. Last week the local channels started freezing and starting back up too many times. A service call resulted in another possible antenna upgrade.
The service person who came pointed out several problems with the original installation including cable not being grounded. He redid the wiring and moved the antenna to a different location on my roof. He installed Winegard Squareshooter. This antenna did not work. He tried Channelmaster 3010 Stealth and this did not work either. He ended up leaving me with Winegard PR-8800. He said that there may be too much interference in my area to receive proper OTA reception.
My local channels are freezing up too often. Is there a solution to my problem ? Will a pre-amp / amp help ? Please help.
I live in Falls Church, VA.

 

[runz22]

Do you all pay for these upgraded antennas??

 

[Dvlos]

Wineguard Metrostar (MS-1001) range 55 miles, omnidirectional.

Multipathing on 1 channel, the one with the weakest signal (FOX at 14.4kW) luckily the new antenna hits some West Palm Beach station and I pick up a Fox from there (38 miles away 600kW station).

Didn't pay a dime but it took several calls and visits from people that swore the Sensar II should work 100% in my area.

 

[rang1995]

the 4228 good on all stations but NBC-4 in NYC sometimes is lousy

 

[tdillon]

I just got my Winegard Sensar II antenna http://www.winegard.com/offair/images/ds2000.jpg replaced with a Channel Master 4248. http://www.channelmaster.com/images/4248.jpg The Channel Master was placed on top of the funny S bracket that shipped with the Winegard, so some of the elements are directly in front of the satellite dish. The Channel Master doesn't have a built in amplifier but the signal strength on my weakest local is now at 90 . It was below 75 before with the Winegard Sensar II. With the Sensar I had only one local with a signal strength of 99, but now I have 5 or 6 that strong.

I now can receive every local that is mapped, and have picked up quite a few that weren't mapped before.

 

[riffjim4069]

Channel Master 4228 UHF, 60 miles range, w/ Channel Master 7775 UHF preamp.

Pullling in all full-power stations from 51+ miles out.

 

[jimmykce1]

I too did upgraded from the orginal stealth to a Channelmaster 4228. I have had no problems since than. This is a good antenna. I am in hampton roads, Va area.

 

[kaiz]

I have not paid for any of the antenna upgrades. I have a service call for this Saturday. I will update you guys on what happens.