CM 4228 or Winegard 8 bay PR8800

[bsr2002]

Is there any big difference between the two?

I was going to order a CM 4228 from Starkelectronics for $39 on special. But then they are raping me with shipping cost. Here is thier response to me on a sales question:

=======================================
4228 cannot go by mail. It needs to go by UPS.
Because of the large box it is in it costs $40.50
to ship from us in Mass to you in TX. You may want
to look at using the Winegard 8 bay # PR8800 it
costs $48.92 bout only $10.87 to UPS because it is
broken down into a smaller box.

========================================

 

[Carl B]

Not a big difference in technical performance (CM 4228 can pull in VHF, if that's important to you), but a big difference in size and weight (the CM 4228 uses a lot of steel instead of aluminum).


This site provides computer modeling comparisons. If your channels of concern are mostly above 40, then the CM 4228 has an advantage. If a lot of your DTV channels are between 14 and 30, then the PR-8800 has an advantage.
Comparing the Common Antenna Types

 

[rockaway1836]

Check www.solidsigal.com $38.99 for the 4228 and it shows $19.95 for shipping when added to cart.

 

[Kevinw]

see www.anteannasdirect.com for the DB 8 or Db4 also

 

[riffjim4069]

IMO, the CM-4228 is a better, more durable, antenna than the PR-8800...and much less expensive than the DB-8; the most bang for buck UHF antenna on the market. Besides solidsignal.com, you may wish to give Warren Electronics a try.

 

[datwell]

I am in a very poor signal area but I am really happy with with the performance of my CM-4228. My setup also includes a rotor and a pre-amp. My souces include eBay (pre-amp from solid signal at a grat price), solidsignal.com (CM-4228) and Warren Electronics (rotor). The fellow at Warren is particularly helpful and they don't rip you off for shipping, including multiple items.

--Doug

 

[Kevinw]

You are in South Texas correct? How farf rom the towers are you? If your in Mcallen or Brownsville, the area is pretty flat and you can't be more than 20 miles from towers.
You may not need an antenna as strong as the 4228. DO you have VHF digital channels?

 

[Kevinw]

After looking I see your in Corpus. Yes you do need an antenna that will get VHF- CH8 is your ABC. while thabove will get your NBC-CH13, Ch8 is on the low side.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx


* red - vhf KIII-DT 8 ABC CORPUS CHRISTI TX TBD 226° 15.9 8
* red - vhf KRIS-DT 6.1 NBC CORPUS CHRISTI TX 246° 13.2 13
* red - uhf KEDT-DT 16.1 PBS CORPUS CHRISTI TX 220° 14.4 23
* red - uhf KZTV-DT 18.1 CBS CORPUS CHRISTI TX 259° 14.5 18
* blue - uhf KORO-DT 27.1 UNI CORPUS CHRISTI TX 252° 15.2 27
You will need a roter and a small combo antenna. The 4228 would be overkill IMO.
something like this
http://www.antennasdirect.com/V10_vhf_antenna.html or
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=Antennas%20TV&PROD=ANCM2001

 

[bsr2002]

You are in South Texas correct? How farf rom the towers are you? If your in Mcallen or Brownsville, the area is pretty flat and you can't be more than 20 miles from towers.
You may not need an antenna as strong as the 4228. DO you have VHF digital channels?

I live in Corpus Christi with CBS being the farthest at 22 miles but the stations are running at very low power so conventional methods won't work and have already tried. The only digital channel on VHF will be ABC channel 8. But they won't be going digital until October so they say.

 

[Kevinw]

I live in Corpus Christi with CBS being the farthest at 22 miles but the stations are running at very low power so conventional methods won't work and have already tried. The only digital channel on VHF will be ABC channel 8. But they won't be going digital until October so they say.

This is easy. You still need a UHF combo for both NBC and ABC.
Anyone of the combos should work or at least the models one up will. I don't think a UHF only will work for your situation. CH 8 is to low for the 4228 to be truly effective- It picks up 11-13

 

[bsr2002]

My CM 4228 came in today. I will need a rotator. But experimenting thru with channel scanner and moving the ant. manually analog stations come out cloudy to clear starting with low VHF channel 6 even channel 3 with lots of snow is watchable. :shocked I guess channel 6 is a higher powered station or the Ant. is just doing a fantastic job. Which probably means when channel 3 which will be DT-8 goes digital in October I should be able to pick it up. Anyways, more experimenting to do and it's 100 degrees in the shade right now. Will do some more work this evening.

 

[Lorenzo]

Carl B;

thanks for the link to the antenna gain comparison web site. This is a great page with a huge amount of info. Everybody interested in UHF antenna gain across frequency should spend some time there.

Thanks again.