Attic mounted OTA antenna

[rjderama]

Hello all,

I've found your site has lots of helpful forum members so I thought I'd pose my question.

I live in Irvine, CA (zip 92620) and I'd like to do a attic mounted antenna.

I've used the antennaweb site with Winegard's selector and some rather large antennas cam up. However, how must i tweak my options if I'm putting the antenna in my attic. The channels are both VHF and UHF and yellow and green (actually one is, FOX) and the furthest distance is 39.5 miles with directions being between 322 and 321.

Can I get a larger antenna to compensate for the mountain int he attic? Will I need a pre-amp?

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[VinceT3]

I live in Florida and due to all the hurricanes I keep my antenna in the attic.. I have a 12' (dont ask how I finagled that) in the attic.. I didn't need any amps, most of my channels are located either north or south, so I dont need to move my antenna in any direction. Which helped.

 

[rjderama]

Thanks!

I forgot to mention that I have a concrete tile roof. As I search around, I'm getting the feeling that the tiles may be doom for my attic mounting wish. HOwever, is your roof concrete tile?

 

[jayn_j]

Hello all,

I've found your site has lots of helpful forum members so I thought I'd pose my question.

I live in Irvine, CA (zip 92620) and I'd like to do a attic mounted antenna.

I've used the antennaweb site with Winegard's selector and some rather large antennas cam up. However, how must i tweak my options if I'm putting the antenna in my attic. The channels are both VHF and UHF and yellow and green (actually one is, FOX) and the furthest distance is 39.5 miles with directions being between 322 and 321.

Can I get a larger antenna to compensate for the mountain int he attic? Will I need a pre-amp?

Thanks so much in advance!

All you can do is try. Cheack your heading carefully and measure for the largest antenna that will fit. You can combine different VHF and UHF antennas. Also, some of the better UHF antennas will give fairly good performance in the VHF High band (channels 7-13). Buy a good antenna. Winegard or Channelmaster are reasonable. You can often wiggle the elements between rafters to get it to fit.

Don't bother with the pre-amplifier until you can prove you need it. When you need one, get a good one. The cheap ones have high noise figures and amplify the noise as well as the signal, so you don't gain much.

Finally, be aware that the roof and framing will antenuate the signal, so it isn't going to work as well as if you put it on a tripod on top of the roof. However it doesn't hurt to see if it is 'good enough' I was able to use an attic antenna for the Denver stations from 50 miles north, so you have a shot here.

Just saw the concrete tile comment. That isn't going to help, especially if there is a high iron content in the tiles. It will do a very good job of attenuating any signal there. This is the point where I defer to a professional.

 

[boba]

Hello all,

I've found your site has lots of helpful forum members so I thought I'd pose my question.

I live in Irvine, CA (zip 92620) and I'd like to do a attic mounted antenna.

I've used the antennaweb site with Winegard's selector and some rather large antennas cam up. However, how must i tweak my options if I'm putting the antenna in my attic. The channels are both VHF and UHF and yellow and green (actually one is, FOX) and the furthest distance is 39.5 miles with directions being between 322 and 321.

Can I get a larger antenna to compensate for the mountain int he attic? Will I need a pre-amp?

Thanks so much in advance!

I don't know how you got a mountain in your attic but I guess anything is possible in CA.
MY suggestion is forget the attic and look into a Winegard "Sensar GS2200" antenna. The "Batwing" antenna is used on many RVs so if you have a friend or neighbor that has one check what they can get for reception. It could be almost invisible mounted outside.

 

[rjderama]

Thanks everyone. I'm climbing into the attic to see if the insulation has foil on it. Once determined, then I'll proceed. But that bat wing Winegard thingy looks promising too.

 

[rjderama]

I did it! Crazy, but it works

First thanks to everyone here for helping me get my OTA setup squared away. I know it's been a couple of months but we finally got something that's reliable and effective.

Surprisingly enough, I was able to put a Jack Antenna (for RV's in the attic of my home). And the reception is spot on. No drops in signal, no variances relative to time of day, just clean signal. I know many said that I only had to try it hout and hope. And so we did, and now we're saving about $90 a month in cable bills.

My wife and I created a blog called tvonthecheap.com to kinda help others. So please come and visit and tell us what you think.

Thanks again to this great community!!
RJ