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CubsWin

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Jun 2, 2014 · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

Recommendation for attic install

I am moving into a new house in the next few months and it is part of a very strict HoA. While I understand I may technically have the right to install an antenna on my roof, I don't think it is worth the fight and I would rather not start out on wrong foot with them right from the start.

With that said, I am looking for recommendations on the best possible long range attic install setup, whether that involves 1 antenna or separate VHF/UHF antennas. I am 50 miles from the towers, so I realize I may be pushing my luck, but at least it is a 2-story house on somewhat high ground so I do have that going for me. I may not get EVERY channel, but hopefully I can still get a good portion of them. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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boba

May 22, 2014

I'll take mike123's recommendation one step further and suggest a Winegard HD8800 UHF antenna. You have 15-20 stations at 50 miles CBS is the only broadcaster of importance not on UHF. I am using a 4bay UHF to pick up my channel 12 broadcast so it is possible to get VHF on a UHF antenna. For in attic mounting there is some loss of signal through the roofing material and no signal through metal roofing. HD8800 starts on ebay at $60 including shipping.

boba

May 23, 2014

boba said:
I'll take mike123's recommendation one step further and suggest a Winegard HD8800 UHF antenna. You have 15-20 stations at 50 miles CBS is the only broadcaster of importance not on UHF. I am using a 4bay UHF to pick up my channel 12 broadcast so it is possible to get VHF on a UHF antenna. For in attic mounting there is some loss of signal through the roofing material and no signal through metal roofing. HD8800 starts on ebay at $60 including shipping.

I'm using an Antenna Craft U4000 4 bay bowtie aimed at Dallas 63 miles away, from the back side of the antenna I am picking up Sherman channel 12VHF at 36.8 miles. I agree with bob2011 that a 4 bay should work but I recommended a HD8800 to give you more gain. It also can be purchased at a reasonable price as low as $56 off ebay if you shop around. Also on the Winegard the back reflectors fold up so it takes up less space for shipping

***NEWS FLASH*** I just found HD8800 on Solid Signal for $42.99 and they listed the shipping dimensions as 59 1/2 X 6 1/2 X 6 1/2 so it will easily go through your attic hatch. At that price I'm thinking about replacing my U4000 that cost about the same a few months ago.

GaryPen

May 23, 2014

boba said:
I'm using an Antenna Craft U4000 4 bay bowtie aimed at Dallas 63 miles away, from the back side of the antenna I am picking up Sherman channel 12VHF at 36.8 miles. I agree with bob2011 that a 4 bay should work but I recommended a HD8800 to give you more gain. It also can be purchased at a reasonable price as low as $56 off ebay if you shop around. Also on the Winegard the back reflectors fold up so it takes up less space for shipping

The AntennaCraft U8000 8-bay would be another choice.

boba

May 23, 2014

GaryPen said:
The AntennaCraft U8000 8-bay would be another choice.

Thanks Gary for the suggestion but the deal seemed to good so I bought the HD8800. Couldn't pass up $42+ shipping.

GaryPen

May 23, 2014

boba said:
Thanks Gary for the suggestion but the deal seemed to good so I bought the HD8800. Couldn't pass up $42+ shipping.

Let us know how it compares to your 4-bay U4000.

boba

May 30, 2014

GaryPen said:
Let us know how it compares to your 4-bay U4000.

Arrived Fri. quick setup I gained VHF ch8 & 9 from Dallas and increased my ch12 by about 10%. Negative Winegard used both 10mm and 7/16 nuts made installation a PIA trying different wrenches and sockets. Hopefully Sat. I'll get to make a permanent install.

mike123abc

May 31, 2014

Nice on 2 channel pickup!

GaryPen

Jun 2, 2014

boba said:
Arrived Fri. quick setup I gained VHF ch8 & 9 from Dallas and increased my ch12 by about 10%. Negative Winegard used both 10mm and 7/16 nuts made installation a PIA trying different wrenches and sockets. Hopefully Sat. I'll get to make a permanent install.

Cool on the VHF. Can you provide some comparisons on the UHF?

boba

Jun 2, 2014

GaryPen said:
Cool on the VHF. Can you provide some comparisons on the UHF?

UHF generally increased 2-4% over the 4000 greatest was from no signal to 64% but I don't watch that station. I found a distribution amp just about evened out the difference between the 4000 and 8800. That same distribution amp overdrove the 8800 and caused signal loss.

GaryPen

Jun 2, 2014

boba said:
UHF generally increased 2-4% over the 4000 greatest was from no signal to 64% but I don't watch that station. I found a distribution amp just about evened out the difference between the 4000 and 8800. That same distribution amp overdrove the 8800 and caused signal loss.

So, you are saying that an amplified AC U4000 is about the same as an unamplified WG HD8800, which you can't amplify to to overload?

Does that apply to VHF, as well, or are you only referring to UHF, in this case?

boba

Jun 2, 2014

GaryPen said:
So, you are saying that an amplified AC U4000 is about the same as an unamplified WG HD8800, which you can't amplify to to overload?

Does that apply to VHF, as well, or are you only referring to UHF, in this case?

U4000 with amplifier got ch8 upto low 60% about the same as HD8800 without amp. At that strength it produces a picture but will break up.

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iJustine

14 minutes ago · posted in iJustine

The new PROLED MacBook Pro has a Dynamic Island 😯

Time for another AWESOME video from iJustine!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CjVbq6h2VZw

Direct YouTube Link - The new PROLED MacBook Pro has a Dynamic Island

The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!

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iJustine

14 minutes ago · posted in iJustine

New PROLED MacBook Pro!

Time for another AWESOME video from iJustine!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ux8oQzvijl4

Direct YouTube Link - New PROLED MacBook Pro!
The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!

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"MysteryMan"

Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge

Last reply 22 minutes ago · posted in Computers and Gadgets

Windows 10/11 Download

I created this thread on the original Edgecutter Cutting Edge Forums site. It's simply a place for those to review the latest software available for those using Windows 10 and Windows 11. To date it has received 112,559 views. I have been asked by staff to continue this thread here.

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EarDemon

Oct 13, 2026

If it wasn't for what I want, I wouldn't need any of this.

Do I need a collection of handheld radios, scanners and speed enforcement countermeasures? Nope, but I want them. Very little, if any of the software used to interface with these devices is available on Linux.

WhiteBeard

Oct 13, 2026

EarDemon said:
If it wasn't for what I want, I wouldn't need any of this.

Do I need a collection of handheld radios, scanners and speed enforcement countermeasures? Nope, but I want them. Very little, if any of the software used to interface with these devices is available on Linux.

To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.

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EarDemon

Oct 14, 2026

WhiteBeard said:
To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.

For niche use cases, yes I agree. Kali for ethical hacking and security testing, and running a Cacti server for network monitoring are the two things I have experience in. Plus thousands and thousands of other things, but for every day use I just can't see it. The owner of the GMRS repeater that I pay to access is changing the Tx DPL tones tomorrow, while Chirp is available on Linux, the software to program my MXT500 is not.

I run Fedora and Ubuntu in VMWare, honestly I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows. The cartoonish dock at the bottom of the screen reminds me of Apple products.

harshness

Oct 15, 2026

EarDemon said:
I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows.

What is so fantabulous about the Windows UI? By many accounts, it has been going downhill since Windows 7.

There are Linux desktops that offer Windows or Mac UIs, yet you don't hear much chatter about them outside of questions about when the creators might get sued.

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EarDemon

Oct 15, 2026

harshness said:
What is so fantabulous about the Windows UI?

Because it's what I prefer. I know I've said this a few times, I use Open Shell to give me the cascading start menu a la WIN 95 and NT4.0. The only reason I went from Windows Vista to 7 back in the day was because of Classic Shell. I cannot stand anything other than the OG start menu from 30+ years ago. I'm using ExplorerPatcher to give me Windows 10 UI elements of the taskbar and right click context menus.

If you could take a look at how I set up Windows 95, you'd find many similarities to how I use 11.

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EarDemon

Oct 15, 2026

I could probably use that as a starting point, but I don't like the full size icons. If you have to click on each folder that's also a no-go for me, it has to be cascading.

I used to have Peppermint Linux in a VM, that was about as close as I could get to recreating a Windows NT4.0 style of menu structure, but I could never get it to scale properly in VMWare on a 4K display and eventually gave up.

Whatever the boot up time it's fine with me. The longest part of my bootup is the HP SureStart BIOS integrity check. Once that is done, it's only a few more seconds. I haven't done this reg tweak yet since the reformat, but I switched the bootup animation to the Windows 10 style spinning circle of dots, and it's two and a half rotations. I can live with that.

harshness

Oct 16, 2026

EarDemon said:
Because it's what I prefer.

I hope you don't believe that makes it wonderful (especially when you're using workarounds for Microsoft's malfeasance).

I use LibreOffice as opposed to Microsoft office (even in Windows) because it's UI is like the Office of old, so I'm putting my money where my mouth is (in a manner of speaking). The ribbon was one of the worst ideas to come out Redmond.

HipKat

Oct 16, 2026

EarDemon said:
I could probably use that as a starting point, but I don't like the full size icons. If you have to click on each folder that's also a no-go for me, it has to be cascading.

I used to have Peppermint Linux in a VM, that was about as close as I could get to recreating a Windows NT4.0 style of menu structure, but I could never get it to scale properly in VMWare on a 4K display and eventually gave up.

Whatever the boot up time it's fine with me. The longest part of my bootup is the HP SureStart BIOS integrity check. Once that is done, it's only a few more seconds. I haven't done this reg tweak yet since the reformat, but I switched the bootup animation to the Windows 10 style spinning circle of dots, and it's two and a half rotations. I can live with that.

I used to pin the C: drive to the Win Taskbar and it would open in cascading style

"MysteryMan"

22 minutes ago

2026-10 Preview Update Builds: 26300.9818 and 26200.9818 (KB5127936) has been released. Moderate time needed for those choosing to perform a manual download/install/restart. Quality improvements only. No new operating system features.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

24 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Windows Weekly 1007

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MT4ptWNv2E

Direct YouTube Link - Windows Weekly 1007
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply 48 minutes ago · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

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....

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harshness

Today at 9:54 AM

Show and Tell - Al Wilson

sdfntx

Today at 10:24 AM

On with the Show - The Rolling Stones

gms49ers

Today at 10:41 AM

The Show Must Go On - Pink Floyd

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Bobby

Today at 11:20 AM

If Love Must Go - Dobie Gray

FTA4PA

48 minutes ago

Drift Away - Dobie Gray

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Van

Last reply 53 minutes ago · posted in What's Cooking?

Whats for breakfast?

Who says dinner or lunch has to be the only good meals of the day?

Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.

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dfergie

Oct 17, 2026

Dos cackleberrys over easy on top of 2 corned beef hash patties fried in skillet... Chocolate milk.

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TRG

Oct 17, 2026

Cold morning today, only 32 degrees. Fired up the oven and made cinnamon rolls (from a tube) and a pot of coffee.

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TRG

Thursday at 4:10 PM

2 egg burrito with bacon and a side of hashbrowns. Coffee.

TRG

Sunday at 1:40 PM

Breakfast Quesadillas. Grilled flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, chopped green chile, cheddar & Jack cheese and bacon. Coffee.

Bobby

53 minutes ago

Taco omelette. 3 eggs, taco meat from yesterday, diced green chilis, cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, avocado, black olives, chopped tomato, La Victoria Salsa Brava.

This one was really, really good!

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Booredatwork.com

54 minutes ago · posted in BooredAtWork.COM