Can I modify my OTA antenna to get VHF-HI channel 7?

[rogerduncan100]

I am on the fringe fon WNGS from south of Buffalo NY. I'm in Toronto and would love to pick up a few of the NY Yankees games.

My OTA setup has a vertical bowtie antenna on a rotor and mounted on the side of the house at about roof-peak level. My idea is to strap on aluminium rods cut from the old antenna from the cottage making sure they are cut to length so they resonate. In theory, I should cut them to a length of one wavelength which works out to be somewhere between 1 and 2 metres.

I am hoping I can improve reception of WNGS from periodic to consistent.

Please tell me if you think it'll work!

 

[sergei]

From the FCC maps I'd say that you'll be wasting your time and maybe money. Your location is no where near their coverage area and the only thing your getting is most likely coming from lake affect skip.. Going from Oakville to the tower is close to 80 miles and their signal isn't that strong. Only way I see is buy yourself a much bigger antenna or stacking 2-4 Yagis antennas together and hope for the best.

 

[rogerduncan100]

Hmmm.

I do get the signal sometimes but of course you might be right. If there's no sigal there's no signal.

I am glad to see you mentioning yagi antennas. If I wanted to waste some time and money I could build one for that frequency.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[rogerduncan100]

I should also mention that the TV fool information shows this station stronger than others which I can get consistently from the Buffalo area. I am thinking that the problem is that because it is VHF instead of UHF it is more affected by the sun and atmospheric conditions and that's why I only get it sometimes.

 

[Mr Tony]

you could always get a VHF only antenna to get it. Thats what I did.

Checking your tvfool (using TO and 40 feet up) and WNGS shows better than the VHF station that I get
WNGS shows 11.6 NM, -79.3 pwr, 1edge reception at 82 miles

The station I use a VHF only antenna shows
KEYC -5.1 NM, -95.9 pwr, 2edge reception at 72 miles on channel 12

Here is the antenna I use
Antennacraft Y10-7-13 Highband-Broadband VHF TV Antenna (Y10-7-13) - Antennacraft - Y10-7-13 -

but they do have a smaller one
AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 Highband-Broadband VHF HD Yagi TV Antenna for Channels 7-13 (Y5-7-13) - AntennaCraft - Y5-7-13 - 716079000987

It looks like that is the only VHF station you can get. The Canadian stations on VHF are also digital on UHF

 

[sergei]

Hmmm.

I do get the signal sometimes but of course you might be right. If there's no sigal there's no signal.

I am glad to see you mentioning yagi antennas. If I wanted to waste some time and money I could build one for that frequency.

Thanks for your reply!

If your good at building then that's the way to go, here's a link you might find helpful if you do decide to build, it's from a Ham operator site. But you can buy a different yagis from under 50 dollars to around 80.
Winegard VHF Yagis Digital Antenna Model YA1713
Antennacraft VHF Yagis Model CS1100 Extreme Deep Fringe VHF Antenna , this company has 7 left.
CS1100 VHF Antenna by Antennacraft

http://users.marktwain.net/aschmitz/antennas/calcantenna.html
Untitled

 

[rogerduncan100]

It's probably cheaper to just buy one than to make one and I am not likely to get superior performance from one I make anyway unless I am extremely lucky! Also, I know the sweetheart will resist a five foot model let alone a 15 footer ("it's so big!").

Thanks for the advice.

I have another question which is: what do you recommend I use to combine the two antennas into one co-ax lead?

 

[Bob2011]

What a strange little station as the FCC shows they use circular polarization It could explain the difficult reception compared to other buffalo stations at your distance.

 

[sergei]

I have another question which is: what do you recommend I use to combine the two antennas into one co-ax lead?

For this question here's a link which should be helpful.

OTA Over the air Antenna Stacking or Ganging

Also I may be wrong about just how many stations you could receive, just looking at the link I mentioned above and found this in their web page.

http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/OTA_Channels_Toronto_GTA.asp

 

[sergei]

Not knowing for sure what you have for an antenna this link may not be of any help, but I came across it and they do sell a combination antenna called a HD Stacker. I don't know any more about them than what I've read on their web page so maybe they've got something you can use or at the least their information may be helpful.

TV Antenna Source Indoor/Outdoor TV Antennas - digital/HDTV

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=239

 

[Larry1]

You will be needing that VHF-Hi antenna in the fall as CFTO will be going back to CH 9, CHCH will be back on 11 and there is also Rochester channels on 10 and 13. You don't need VHF-Lo as far as I believe, so the CS1100 should not be needed, just a Y10-7-13 or YA1713. Hopefully WNGS will get a higher tower and increase their power after the Canadian stations have made their transition. (this fall) Not many picking WNGS up in Toronto. It seems only when there is a good bounce. Too bad, its way too far for me. (100km east of Toronto) I miss THIStv. Also, MeTV will be coming to WNGS. WNGS has stated that they will be upgrading in the future. Speculation is that they need to wait untill the Canadian channels go digital.

 

[sergei]

You will be needing that VHF-Hi antenna in the fall as CFTO will be going back to CH 9, CHCH will be back on 11 and there is also Rochester channels on 10 and 13. You don't need VHF-Lo as far as I believe, so the CS1100 should not be needed, just a Y10-7-13 or YA1713. Hopefully WNGS will get a higher tower and increase their power after the Canadian stations have made their transition. (this fall) Not many picking WNGS up in Toronto. It seems only when there is a good bounce. Too bad, its way too far for me. (100km east of Toronto) I miss THIStv. Also, MeTV will be coming to WNGS. WNGS has stated that they will be upgrading in the future. Speculation is that they need to wait untill the Canadian channels go digital.

Is ThisTV that you mention the same that I get now on Galaxy 16 out of St Thomas WVXF? Also I thought the CS1100 would be better with it's longer range and since it also covers channels from VHF low and high VHF bands he'd have a better chance getting a signal, but after reading information from another site then stacking sounds like it might work better.

 

[Mr Tony]

Here is the antenna I use
Antennacraft Y10-7-13 Highband-Broadband VHF TV Antenna (Y10-7-13) - Antennacraft - Y10-7-13 -

I was wrong. This is the one I use (sergei posted it)
Winegard VHF Yagis Digital Antenna Model YA1713

The WInegard has a 75 ohm output...the other is a 300 ohm

 

[Mr Tony]

Is ThisTV that you mention the same that I get now on Galaxy 16 out of St Thomas WVXF?

I assume its the same feed but WNGS does have some Yankee games on there too which sounds like the reason the OP wants it.
edit: saw some local programming on there too like Cash Cab

 

[rogerduncan100]

I am thinking that what I need to do is get a VHF-HI antenna and mount it on the same pole above my existing bow-tie antenna. I can have them both aiming the same way and use the rotor to change direction.

It seems I need a "splitter" to put signals from both antennas into the co-ax lead that goes into the house and I should make sure I use the same length of wire from each antenna.

 

[Mr Tony]

all you need is something like this
Pico Macom UVSJ UHF VHF Band Separator/Combiner for Antenna (UVSJ) - Pico Macom - UVSJ -

you only need the same length of cable if the antennas are the same. SInce they aren't that isnt an issue. I use the combiner above to combine my VHF & UHF antennas togetehr

 

[rogerduncan100]

Thanks, Iceberg!

 

[Larry1]

For any chance of getting some of those distance VHF channels you may need a pre-amp. The Channel Master CM7777 is a good amp, and has separate VHF and UHF inputs. However it may overload from some of the stations that are near you and powerfull. For some in Toronto it works great, just depends on the signal strengths at your particular location.

 

[sergei]

For any chance of getting some of those distance VHF channels you may need a pre-amp. The Channel Master CM7777 is a good amp, and has separate VHF and UHF inputs. However it may overload from some of the stations that are near you and powerfull. For some in Toronto it works great, just depends on the signal strengths at your particular location.

If all he wants is the VHF channel then another option might be to look at the Wingard AP 3700 which is only a VHF only Pre-Amp and passes the UHF frequency.

 

[rogerduncan100]

I will try without a pre-amp first (after I convince the little woman to let me put up another antenna!).

Could I put the pre-amp on the VHF antenna only before it feeds into the VHF UHF joiner?