Chasing UHF channel

[captain_caveman]

I'm trying to pick up a channel on UHF channel 33 (real). I had an old Stellar Labs 30-2426 4-bow tie array that pulls it in (with dropouts) but I'm in a valley area with lots of multipath issues. I have an old(er) Antennacraft VU-90 that is damaged on the VHF end, but the UHf yagi part is still good. I'd like to cut the boom off behind the UHF driven element, remove the VHF feed lines, (I guess that would make it a UHF corner reflector) and mount it to my pole to see if I can get better multipath rejection. The Stellar Labs antenna is said to get about 11 dB gain on UHF, and the Antennacraft about 8.5-9 dB. Would it be worth trying a somewhat lower powered directional antenna?

 

[primestar31]

I'm trying to pick up a channel on UHF channel 33 (real). I had an old Stellar Labs 30-2426 4-bow tie array that pulls it in (with dropouts) but I'm in a valley area with lots of multipath issues. I have an old(er) Antennacraft VU-90 that is damaged on the VHF end, but the UHf yagi part is still good. I'd like to cut the boom off behind the UHF driven element, remove the VHF feed lines, (I guess that would make it a UHF corner reflector) and mount it to my pole to see if I can get better multipath rejection. The Stellar Labs antenna is said to get about 11 dB gain on UHF, and the Antennacraft about 8.5-9 dB. Would it be worth trying a somewhat lower powered directional antenna?

I've cut down an older AntennaCraft antenna exactly like that years ago. It worked perfectly for UHF only.

Why not try? The worst that can happen is you'd waste a little time trying. Consider LOWER positioning, and/or aiming away from the station tower. With multipath, you never know what will work until you try. I have serious multipath at my house, and my signal heights are at multiples of 15 feet. I have to aim off side to get a certain tower. Just keep trying different things until it works.

 

[captain_caveman]

Thanks. The stellar labs antenna was pulling it in best at about azimuth +40 degrees. I'll probably start there and go back and forth checking.

 

[navychop]

Way beyond me, my friend, but I hope to hear the rest of the story.

 

[captain_caveman]

Well, I cut the yagi section off and tried it with a new balun, but apparently there isn't enough gain there to bring in the signal. I hooked the bow tie array back up, and instant picture, but it comes and goes too frequently to be useful. I'm going to keep the yagi corner reflector for the future, and I'm not done yet with trying to fine tune the bow ties. But… that's for another day. I think the yagi is too narrow and the array is too wide to lock a useful signal.

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[primestar31]

Well, I cut the yagi section off and tried it with a new balun, but apparently there isn't enough gain there to bring in the signal. I hooked the bow tie array back up, and instant picture, but it comes and goes too frequently to be useful. I'm going to keep the yagi corner reflector for the future, and I'm not done yet with trying to fine tune the bow ties. But… that's for another day. I think the yagi is too narrow and the array is too wide to lock a useful signal.

I ran several of these antennas for years. It's a very powerful UHF only antenna, and well worth trying. You might spend a LOT of time finding the exact spot to aim it, but it's just about the most powerful passive UHF antenna you can buy right now. IF it doesn't work for you, it's likely nothing will work:

https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2370/long-range-uhf-hdtv-91-element/dp/72Y2542

 

[captain_caveman]

I ran several of these antennas for years. It's a very powerful UHF only antenna, and well worth trying. You might spend a LOT of time finding the exact spot to aim it, but it's just about the most powerful passive UHF antenna you can buy right now. IF it doesn't work for you, it's likely nothing will work:

https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2370/long-range-uhf-hdtv-91-element/dp/72Y2542

Wooo. That's a massive UHF antenna. Not a bad price though.

 

[primestar31]

Wooo. That's a massive UHF antenna. Not a bad price though.

One time price, versus every month with a cable company...

It'll pay for itself right away. Also, it's not that much money if for some reason, it still isn't enough to get your channel solid, or at least better. Like I said above, IF it doesn't work for you, likely nothing will.

 

[FTA4PA]

I ran several of these antennas for years. It's a very powerful UHF only antenna, and well worth trying. You might spend a LOT of time finding the exact spot to aim it, but it's just about the most powerful passive UHF antenna you can buy right now. IF it doesn't work for you, it's likely nothing will work:

https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2370/long-range-uhf-hdtv-91-element/dp/72Y2542

Agreed! We have used one for many years for our UHF reception. Two edge between 42 and 57 miles from the towers. Original is still up there and working great!

 

[captain_caveman]

I may have found a solution to my problem by accident. I was walking around with the Stellar Labs antenna connected to a small tv looking for signals, and it started to sprinkle rain so I walked over to my shed coming off a side building to set the antenna down for a while. I leaned it up against the back wall and the picture snapped on and was pretty stable. That led me to move the antenna around on the back wall until I found a sweet spot near the roof aimed directly at a cliff face. The signal stayed on solid as long as I held the antenna there. It's kinda like being in a metal cave with the antenna facing a sheer cliff between the transmitter and antenna. Odd, but I'll test it again tomorrow at midday to see if the signal is still there. If it is, it'll be easy to mount to a j-mount on the back wall and run a short ground wire out the back of the building to my ground rod.

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[telstar_1]

Could you like aim a big dish at the station and then aim the UHF ant at the big dish

 

[captain_caveman]

It's been a couple days. It rained pretty good yesterday, so I didn't get out to try anything. Long story short, the next morning my signal cave wasn't so stable, so today I was working on my hillside fence and the thought hit me, why not try it here… so I did. About 25' up on the hill I hit a sweet spot where it locked on my test tv. I moved it around until I found the most stable spot, which happened to be right in front of a wooden post. So I mounted an old Dish Network J mount there and attached my antenna. Rock solid. It was weak though. Adding any kind of attenuation on my 25' test cable lost the signal, so I hooked up my Titan2 CM-7777 preamp (which was too strong for my vhf station) and hot wired it into my house run. That is a 180' run, and inside I had a solid 45 signal on my Sharp Aquos TV. That's not that strong, but steady. Now I just have to get a signal combiner to connect my UHF and VHF channels (I only have one of each) and I should be good to go.