Best antenna for picking up 1 distant VHF channel

[Mr Tony]

In my other thread I mentioned picking up a distant station, KEYC 12 Mankato. Well the last 5 days its been very sporadic when I can get it. Once the sun goes down the signal kinda comes in. Saturday & Monday nights it was stable enough to view from 10:00 until 6:00 the next morning then it started pixeling. Last night it pixeled too much to watch.

So I figured get a antenna JUST for channel 12 (because I'm also tired of manually spining the antenna 180 degrees to pick it up). I'm not worried about integrating it into my existing wiring because this will be set up on one TV.

Info on the station
KEYC 12 (operating on VHF 12)
according to TV fool its 72.1 miles away from my house (opposite direction of all my "normal" stations)
broadcasting power is confusing.....FCC says 15.7KW 317m with a CP to upgrade to 52.7Kw but wiki says they are already at 52.7Kw

So if I remember reading correctly there are just VHF antennas out there, right? If so what would work the best for this application?

 

[ebms1]

In my other thread I mentioned picking up a distant station, KEYC 12 Mankato. Well the last 5 days its been very sporadic when I can get it. Once the sun goes down the signal kinda comes in. Saturday & Monday nights it was stable enough to view from 10:00 until 6:00 the next morning then it started pixeling. Last night it pixeled too much to watch.

So I figured get a antenna JUST for channel 12 (because I'm also tired of manually spining the antenna 180 degrees to pick it up). I'm not worried about integrating it into my existing wiring because this will be set up on one TV.

Info on the station
KEYC 12 (operating on VHF 12)
according to TV fool its 72.1 miles away from my house (opposite direction of all my "normal" stations)
broadcasting power is confusing.....FCC says 15.7KW 317m with a CP to upgrade to 52.7Kw but wiki says they are already at 52.7Kw

So if I remember reading correctly there are just VHF antennas out there, right? If so what would work the best for this application?

hey ... i did an ant. for channel 12... it was cut for 12.... the digital was moved to 11....72 miles away ... the catch is though ... the ant was on a hotel 3 floors up ... worked very well ...it was a really high gain ant ... i cant remember the name of the ant .. but it was commercial grade...blonder tongue ...mabe...

 

[No Static At All]

TV FOOL shows KEYC 12 to be broadcasting an omnidirectional 35kw signal. If it is in the red zone or better on your TV FOOL report, it should be possible to get it with a good deal of reliability. The most comapct antenna that I know of for VHF-HI that is considerably better than the HBU33 is the Winegard YA-1713. If you have any strong FM near your location, an FM trap amp may prove quite beneficial as well.

 

[Mr Tony]

TV FOOL shows KEYC 12 to be broadcasting an omnidirectional 35kw signal.

everything I read is either 15.7KW or the CP for 52.7KW

If it is in the red zone or better on your TV FOOL report, it should be possible to get it with a good deal of reliability.

it shows grey
TV Fool

My area is weird as the only station other than the Minneapolis ones (all in green) that I can attempt to get is KEYC. KPXM (ion) is 90 degrees off the Mpls ones. Its a weird one. The owner at the time didnt want to pay big bucks to be in Minneapolis so he went 45 miles up the road and planted the tower there. If I aim my antenna straight North I get KPXM in fine but then I get bad results across the board otherwise on UHF

The most comapct antenna that I know of for VHF-HI that is considerably better than the HBU33 is the Winegard YA-1713.

ok I found that on solid signal site...not bad price

If you have any strong FM near your location, an FM trap amp may prove quite beneficial as well.

define "strong". Here in Minneapolis most of the "strong" FM stations are at the Shoreview "antenna farm" (the same loc as all the TV stations are) some 28 miles away.

 

[Mr Tony]

well I tried tonight with the HBU33. Spun the antenna around to 216 azimuth and locked it with a 55 signal on the converter box (best I could do) ...not enough to keep it stable (heavy pixeling)

Maybe I'll get the antenna and place that higher than the existing one. I really want to put the dang thing on the peak of the roof but the association will blow a nut. They're already after me with the 6 dishes and existing antenna setup (and I'm the president of the HOA)

on the deck
6 foot C-Band
Primestar dish
4 foot dish
antenna on tripod and up about 12 feet (total of about 18 feet off ground)

on the roof edge
2 KU Band motorized setups
Directv Phase III dish

 

[No Static At All]

Iceberg, you should be OK with any FM concerns at 28 miles.

I haven't had much luck with VHF-HI stations in the gray zone, so it's a tough call whether the higher gain antenna will improve reliability substantially during the day.

Too funny about your HOA situation.

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg, you should be OK with any FM concerns at 28 miles.

ok cool. Just wanted to make sure

I haven't had much luck with VHF-HI stations in the gray zone, so it's a tough call whether the higher gain antenna will improve reliability substantially during the day.

well if I can sometimes get it on the existing antenna with no amplification hooked up if I go with a separate antenna and a amp it might work. Whats the worst thing that can happen? It dont work?

Too funny about your HOA situation.

yeah I know. They dont understand why I have so many dishes. But I have FCC OTARD in my pocket so they can;t say much

 

[Stargazer]

My guess is the best bet is to have a directional antenna like a yagi with elements at the length designed for that specific frequency of that channel (might have to be custom made). Reminds of me a station that I could not pick up at all unless I used a yagi antenna and pointed it in that sweet spot.

 

[Mr Tony]

I ended up getting the Winegard YA-1713

I figured....if it doesnt work I can always take it to the cabin and use it there since there is a Channel 12 up near there (KCCW) that is also on VHF 12...the 2 UHF channels are straight west of the cabin and can use the UHF antenna I have. 12 is NW of the cabin

 

[jbmiller]

hi iceberg here is a cool homebrew antenna
VHF High TV Log Periodic Antenna
john

 

[No Static At All]

I ended up getting the Winegard YA-1713

Let us know how it works out.:up :down

 

[Mr Tony]

Its suppose to come tomorrow but its also gonna rain tomorrow

Sunday night (after 10:00) I was able to lock KEYC on the existing antenna at a 62 quality. Hopefully between the larger antenna and mounting it higher it will work. But I'll let ya know (and take pics too if it does work)

 

[Larry1]

Are you using a good quality pre-amp? For my situation it makes the difference of no signal or reliable signal. The balum can also make a difference. Do a search for coax balum and you can make one customised to the one particular channel.
Try this link
Google Image Result for http://www.atechfabrication.com/images/coax_balun_002.jpg

 

[Mr Tony]

I actually have no pre-amp on the existing antenna. The reason being right now even split to 4 items I get all the "full-powered"*** stations from Minneapolis (28 miles way according to tvfool) at 100% on the HDTV and 95-100 on converter boxes. The 2 low powered (15kw power which is the maximum power for low powered stations) religious stations I get at 80 on converter boxes

This station I am trying to get is 72 miles the OPPOSITE direction

by the way the reason I used the *** after full powered is I know that word is kinda thrown around and the power levels vary and people will debate this. These are the stations out there that are classified as full power and in the analog days were 100kw for 2-6, 316kw for 7-13 and 5000kw on UHF

 

[Mr Tony]

Let us know how it works out.:up :down

:up

 

[Mr Tony]

YAY!!!

Well antenna came today along with the 2 combiners I bought (those little ones that look like a splitter but they are VHF on one input and UHF on the other)....I was so excited to try it

Put the antenna together and took it outside. I had bought a tripod and 5 foot mast (screw it, if it works the antenna is going on the roof) so I tried it on the deck. As soon as I started aiming the dish it started raining. So brought everything in

About 6:00 I tried again. I took down the existing antenna that is up (the HBU33) on the 10 foot mast and put the new antenna on there to try. Had to figure out what end faced the stations ( ) and locked 9 & 11 (my local VHF stations) at 90+...OK so I have to spin it. Spun the antenna around and locked at 62-63 on the converter box so it was weak but it came in stable. Then thought about a booster. Ran to Rat Shack and got their antenna mounted booster (the smaller version) and tried that...got signal to 66 to 69. So its working...

Then I thought.....well it aint raining lets try the roof. So brought out the ladder and lugged the TV, converter box, amp and antenna up. I mounted that on the 5 foot mast to try. Well damn before I even aimed the antenna the converter box locked a 60 signal. The antenna was laying on the roof.

Climbed to the peak of the roof (its not that steep) and aimed up the antenna towards Minneapolis. Got 9 & 11 at 98 signal. Tuned in 12 on the converter box and spun the antenna around.

With the antenna booster (and really heavy clouds and rain in the area)...85
Took off the booster and it dropped slightly to 81 but LOCKED at 81
Considering 58 is threshold I'm very happy
I think even 9 & 11 came in at 90+ with the antenna facing the opposite direction...
I noticed the further I came down the roof the lower the signal got. If I was at the edge of the roof the signal was at 69 to 71 and that was 25 feet down the roof.
Then it started to rain so I had to very quickly take everything off the roof including myself

So this weekend its gonna be nice and I'm going to install it then. I know OTARD covers me for antennas being 12 feet above roofline and since 5 foot mast worked fine the antenna will be probably 4 or 5 feet above the line.

So I am very happy the antenna works. The booster is going back tomorrow (not needed) and if ti gets a 81 signal at 6:30 with clouds and rain approaching...wonder what it will get with it at night or clear out

 

[Mr Tony]

well tried tonight at 10:00 and locked KEYC 12 at 81 solid with spikes to 85
9 & 11 show between 88 and 93 with the antenna aimed the other way

now for nicer weather

 

[No Static At All]

:up

Congrats!!:

 

[Mr Tony]

Looks like height does play a part in this case

But also the bigger antenna helped

 

[Mr Tony]

oh darn.....went out today twice (at noon and at 4:00) to see how it worked and the signal dropped

to 78

But mother nature just is screwing with me right now. Get everything on the roof to mount it (tripod/mast/antenna) and it started raining. So bring everything back in
At 4:00 went out...was sunny from 2-4:00 so I ran to the hardware store and got bolts to mount the tripod on the roof. Climb up there and ghetto rig it (hold mast with antenna bolted to it) to verify reception and it started raining again...so brought everything down

Suppose to be nice this weekend