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samalex
Last reply · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info
Hi,

I'm trying to get a few stations from the Dallas area that according to AntennaWeb are between 64 and 67 miles away, and with them all being at about the same compass heading (9-10 degrees) I was wondering if there's a suggested amplified beam or yagi antenna I could use to get these stations. I have a small amplified antenna in the house that get them, but the signal breaks up during the day. Also I don't want a huge monster outside, just something simple if possible since it just needs to point to one area on the horizon :)

Thanks for any suggestions.

Sam
6 Replies · 3243 views
boba
Where are you and what channels? A channel master 4228 UHF antenna does a good job at that distance.
samalex
Where are you and what channels? A channel master 4228 UHF antenna does a good job at that distance.

I'm in Waco, Tx, and I specifically want to get KERA-DT since Dish doesn't offer our local PBS station in HD. I say Local, our true Local PBS station KWBU shut down a few months ago, so the closest one is in Belton which is way too far for an OTA antenna. As for other channels, if I can get any others from Dallas then bonus, but most are the major networks (ABC, CBS, etc) which I already get. PBS is the one I'm striving for.

Our house has a chimney I can mount it on to raise it above the roofline which should give it pretty good line of site to Dallas. Plus the cable run would be about 50 feet or so (give or take) to make it into the house. I'd love it if I could piggy back it over the same coax as Dish so I don't have to run two lines into the house, but if it needs a dedicated cable I'll do what I need to.

I'm researching channel master 4228 UHF now, so thanks :)

Update: It doesn't seem like this antenna has a preamp built in, so would this suffice? Amazon.com: Channel Master CM7777 Titan2 VHF/UHF TV Antenna Preamplifier with Power Supply (Grey): Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31%2BOxguAjKL.@@AMEPARAM@@31%2BOxguAjKL I guess I could try it without a pre-amp and try to save $60, and use this as a fallback.


Sam
Dah-Henny
I'm using an Antennas Direct 91XG, and am pulling in stations well over 100 miles away. One is at 100%, a couple in the 70's, and a couple in the 60's.

edit: using a Channel Master amp as well.
boba
I'm north of the metroplex and your south. TV fool shows me at 61.3 miles from most of the towers on Cedar Hill. The CM4228 may get you all except 8/9/11 because they are VHF. I use the 4228 and a VHF only antenna run into a Tru-Spec TA-36 distribution amp. 31.4 RTV is my biggest problem it is only in the mid 60's but it is listed a 2 edge -6.5dB on TV fool. So I guess I can put up with a little digitalization.

You should be OK for most Dallas stations but 8/9 and 11 may require you to put up a large VHF antenna.
Bill_KY
In my opinion a mast mounted preamp is a must. I get most of the Dayton Ohio stations here in Northern KY with a mast mounted amp and a UHF Corner reflector. Without the mast mounted preamp , they do not come in at all. Dayton is some 45 to 50 miles from here.
Jim5506
KERA comes in around Waco about 13 dB NM at about 30 ft AGL, incrementing about 0.2 dB per 10 ft above that, you dont get 1 edge reception until about 150 ft AGL.

My recommendation is put the antenna as high as you practically can, get the best antenna for channel 14 (maybe the Winegard PR-8800) and use a pre-amp if you can without overloading (maybe the Winegard HDP-269).

I have a CM4228 on my roof, and it doesn't look nearly as big when you get it up there.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 2 views
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so... :)
Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...
5449 Replies · 336091 views
TRG
TRG
Club sandwich and corn chowder. Iced tea.
dfergie
Chili dog bowl, water… (homemade chili)
TRG
TRG
Leftover wanton soup and pork fried rice. Water.
dfergie
IMG_5955.webp

Sweet tea…
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TRG
TRG
Tuna salad sandwich on toasted honey whole wheat bread with a handful of kettle chips. Water.
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Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68658 Replies · 2680237 views
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dishstaller
I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
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Bobby
98.6 - Keith
harshness
I'm Easy - Keith Carridine
gms49ers
It's Easy - Boston
RaiderPower
Take It Easy On Me - Little River Band
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R
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
Lately my eight year old Dell laptop has been shutting off even when I have a full battery. I have had to keep it plugged up all the time to keep this from happening. Any idea what is causing this? I replaced the battery about three years ago.
2 Replies · 49 views
arlo
A recalibration might be needed. Even if it shows full, the individual cells may have become unbalaced. And the BMS chip in the battery reports false information to the pc.
Try this. Start it up in the bios/uefi and leave it there until the battery dies and it shuts off.
It might just keep running longer than in Windows. Or run for a short while and shut off.
If it's the first case. Probably just needs a balancing. If the latter, the pack might just be dead.
Not throwing stones but perhaps just a cheaply constructed battery with substandard cells. Could be.

Patience. Keep restarting it in bios/uefi until it won't fire up anymore.
Then plug the charger in and let it complete a full charge. And see what happens. If it's better.
Do the same thing one more time. Run it until it dies dead-dead. Then just let it charge, pc shut off.
When charged, it might be better. It might not be.

There are bench jigs that read the actual BMS and override it to let a tech manually monitor and charge the separate packs. They can also reset any "time bombs" in it that cause an otherwise good pack to show bad.
Maybe Santa will be good to me some year.

You might just need a new battery. Maybe the PC power management chip is going. A Dell common thing.
Leaving a laptop plugged in with a full battery is known to reduce the life. Asus for one recommends that you don't leave the charger plugged in all of the time even when shut down. And setting Windows to charge the battery to 85% instead of 100% increases life.
That's all I got.
dishstaller
That's all I got.
That was quite enough....I definitely learned something from your post. Thanks
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
5 Replies · 288 views
b4pjoe
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
If you can't get into the router to reserve an IP address just don't use DHCP on the device that needs connected and assign it to a specific IP address in the network settings.
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HipKat
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
They are not. Your best bet is to set up a third-party router, attached to the Starlink for your server, that you can get into, like a Linksys, etc
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Foxbat
…it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
The Starlink V5 Install Kit I just got comes with the Mini Router. It is pretty limited in what it can do. For example, it can provide only one IP subnet at a time, no Guest Network, but it does support the pass-thru to a third-party Router. You can also split the Wi-Fi into separate 5 GHz & 2.4 GHz SSIDs to help some IoT devices that don't support 5 GHz bands to work.

The larger Starlink Router that still comes with the V4 Kit does support a Guest Network with separate IPv4 Subnet, but it's $120 from Starlink. And it still won't do DHCP Reservations.
harshness
If you can restrict the DHCP address space to assign addresses to one end of the subnet (i.e. x.x.x.50+), you can manually assign the IP address on pretty much any operating system. This is a default behavior on several popular routers. As the Router Mini only supports 235 devices, I expect that's already done.

Another option is to use a router that supports PoE to power the antenna. This article discusses that option (under PoE Power heading):

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Foxbat
Now that I've had the v5 kit with the Mini Router, it's not as bad as I first thought. Yes, no DHCP reservations, but you can set up multiple SSIDs that have separate IPv4 subnets, and like the big brother, you can select from 192.168.x.0/24 or 10.x.0.0/16 (where "x" is 1-4).

You can also split a subnet and have different SSIDs for the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz channels to handle some IoT devices. I haven't discovered what subnet the 2nd NIC on the router assigns, I'm guessing it's the first subnet.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
2 Replies · 52 views
dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

2 Replies · 56 views
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Jimbo
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

They will have to look at the switching sections to determine WHY 2 trains were on the same track ... at the same time.
dishstaller
Thought this article might be of interest to some of you who might travel via train.