Combining antennas for OTA reception?

[Fgsilva]

Ok,

So I live in a blackhole for OTA reception, about 55 miles away from the stations, but up in the mountains. To get to my place we go up then down and the house is in a valley kind of area and surrounded by trees. A guy that installed my satellite dish came over once, went up the roof and used this 'signal detector'. According to him, he could only get barely one station. Don't know if I trust his detector that much, because I've tried with just a crappy outdoor antenna (holding the pole 6 feet up, the things we do for HD...) and I was able to pick up two different channels with my 811, you know the kind of signal that goes from 0-50, sometimes 60%. Now, I wonder if I combine two rooftop antennas + amps, I'd get the signal? If so, how do you combine the two signals? any suggestions??

Thanks!

 

[ats7627]

While I don't know if combining 2 antennas will help with your reception problems, they can be combined by using a splitter (rated for the proper frequency) back-wards. I would first try a good 8-way UHF bow-tie (Channel Master 4228 with a CM7775 pre-amp or Winegard PR8800 with the Channel Master amp) mounted as high as possible. These antennas are very directional, so you would need to do some testing to find the right spot.

 

[Fgsilva]

While I don't know if combining 2 antennas will help with your reception problems, they can be combined by using a splitter (rated for the proper frequency) back-wards. I would first try a good 8-way UHF bow-tie (Channel Master 4228 with a CM7775 pre-amp or Winegard PR8800 with the Channel Master amp) mounted as high as possible. These antennas are very directional, so you would need to do some testing to find the right spot.

Thanks!

 

[DarrellP]

Ok,
So I live in a blackhole for OTA reception, about 55 miles away from the stations, but up in the mountains.
Thanks!

This guy from just outside Portland came up with a dual antenna solution. Check out this picture, then visit the link above for his dilemma and solution.

 

[Fgsilva]

This guy from just outside Portland came up with a dual antenna solution. Check out this picture, then visit the link above for his dilemma and solution.

Cool. Thanks.!!!

 

[silversurfer]

Wow now that is a man that is serious about his television!

 

[Carl B]

A RadioShack 2-way, hybrid splitter/combiner ($6.49) should work fine for combining the signals from two antennas.

BTW, regarding the multiple antenna link, based on research posted elsewhere, vertical stacking of identical antennas works best for picking up a weak signal at a great distance. Horizontal stacking works best for picking up signals in a multi-path environment. Also, most antennas trying to pick up hard to receive DTV signals can benefit from some vertical angling of the antennas. 5 to 15 degrees is typical.

 

[schmiede]

Suggestion...

Hey - I'm about 7 miles away from the FOX tower, and I was able to get OTA reception using an HDTV OTA antenna I purchased at Radio Shack ($50). Here's the link: <http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D1872>. The signal isn't as strong as I wanted, but tonight I'm going to experiment with combining the OTA antenna from the VOOM dish/antenna with my new Radio Shack OTA antenna, using a coaxial splitter/combiner. I'll try to post again tomorrow with the results... I want the Superbowl in HD, dangit!!

Dan S.