Cutting cord? OTA

[bwexler]

I am thinking about leaving E* after 15 years.
When I look at TVFool I see that I am 72 miles from the Mount Wilson Transmitter farm for Los Angeles I have weak signal strength and 1edge or 2edge designation on most channels.
Would I be better off with one large high gain antenna or two antennae, one for UHF and one for VHF, if two how and where do you combine the signal? Channels 7, 9, 11, 13 are all transmitted in the VHF band and are important to me, everything else is UHF. I am sure I will need a preamp or two and probably a distribution amp since I will be serving at least 4 locations. I plan to get two TiVo Basics, to handle OTA or cable if OTA is not satisfactory.
What is the best way to mount the antenna on my roof, I would like to gain some elevation above my single story roof? No trees in LOS. I am not enthusiastic about roof penetration.
Any and all suggestions are welcome. The last time I set up an antenna it was in the attic on top of a hill with good signal strength back in 1985, so I am way out of date and have forgotten most of what I knew back then.

 

[boba]

Post your tvfool.com so we can see what you are living with. Can you post pictures of your house? What type of TV's are you connecting?

 

[Jim5506]

Run the TVFool report using the mapping facility, there you can adjust height and see how it effects signal strength and if/when LOS is possible.

You can even see your house and put the antenna right where you want it when running a simulation.

 

[harshness]

Given that all but a few stations have edges to contend with and your best signal is projected at just over -55dBm, I'd say you're in for a fight. It doesn't help that you're kind of in a bowl from a multipath standpoint.

Finally there's the issue of channels coming from various directions.

 

[bwexler]

I have a Chanhong 50" 1080P (don't laugh It has worked great for a year so far only $400)
a Vizio 32" 720P 8 years old
a Samsung 26" 720P 8 years old
and a Mitsubishi 26" CRT ~1980

 

[bwexler]

The front of the house is facing north the transmitters ar west 298' which is to the right in this view the tree in the front yard was blown down in a wind storm. There are no trees in the direction of the transmitters.

In this view we are facing north so the transmitters are to the left.

 

[. Raine]

I used one of these to mount my OTA antenna, I had just put on a new roof and didn't really want it on the roof proper, or off of the chimney. It's worked great for me for the last few years. The mast for my antenna is very short though, only a few feet to the rotor motor and then a foot or two above it. On a higher mast, it may not be as stable. My antenna is a big one though, it's a HD8200-U.

Amazon product ASIN B001DFTGUQ

 

[boba]

Your chimney may be the best mounting location, the HD8200 that A Raine is using with a rotor may be the best fit. Your tvfool shows Low VHF/high VHF and UHF channels and very difficult reception. Good Luck.

 

[FaT Air]

Separate UHF and Vhf antennas:
1) A passive U/V combiner UVSJ OR: 2)Preamp with separate (or combined ) inputs - RCA TVPRAMP1R -- Chimney mount -- Xtreme Signal Long Range HD VHF/UHF/FM Antenna(HD8200XL)**
But: some experimentation may be necessary as moving the antenna L/R, U/D may be beneficial to find the 'sweet spot'. I find that here as some are LOS but in the -70dbm range. (~65 miles)
**But maybe VHF works great here, but UHF works over there??? Would need 2 antennas then.(??)
Look at the neighbors roofs for antennas, see what they are using???? (if they are, ask for details???)

 

[Dan in VA]

If you can connect one antenna to each TiVo wouldn't that work?

 

[bwexler]

If you can connect one antenna to each TiVo wouldn't that work?

That would work great if you would come by and explain to my wife that she will not only loose her cable channels but also half the OTA channels.
I will leave the house while you explain.

 

[Dan in VA]

That would work great if you would come by and explain to my wife that she will not only loose her cable channels but also half the OTA channels.
I will leave the house while you explain.

Based on your first post you said you were leaving cable so that point is moot. Most people network their TIVOs using MoCa or ethernet. The TIVOs will talk to each other so you wouldn't be losing anything.

 

[bwexler]

Up until a week ago I had never looked at TiVo, still haven't touched one. So I will need some gentle guidance until I get up to speed.
I am used to Hopper with Sling and they are not yet fully integrated, so I did not know how well integrated the TiVo was.
How would I wire the system? I could run coax from the antenae to the dish cabling under the eaves, then use that coax to the dual node in a closet. Replace the dual node with a distribution amplifier and use the existing coax that E* installed to get to the TV locations. I would need a combiner or a 2 in 4 out distribution amplifier and a MOCA device for the TiVos. Can't quite figure out where the MOCA device goes.

 

[Dan in VA]

You should head over to the tivo community forum. They would probably give you the best advice.

 

[primestar31]

Up until a week ago I had never looked at TiVo, still haven't touched one. So I will need some gentle guidance until I get up to speed.
I am used to Hopper with Sling and they are not yet fully integrated, so I did not know how well integrated the TiVo was.
How would I wire the system? I could run coax from the antenae to the dish cabling under the eaves, then use that coax to the dual node in a closet. Replace the dual node with a distribution amplifier and use the existing coax that E* installed to get to the TV locations. I would need a combiner or a 2 in 4 out distribution amplifier and a MOCA device for the TiVos. Can't quite figure out where the MOCA device goes.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=74

 

[mike123abc]

I use ethernet to network all my TiVos.

 

[Dan in VA]

I use MoCa

 

[osu1991]

I use Ethernet at my house for my TiVos but I set up moca for my dads. It works well

 

[harshness]

Both Ethernet and MoCA work fine as long as you limit the types of traffic you carry over MoCA.

At the point that you start mixing different kinds of traffic over MoCA, it will show signs of deterioration much sooner than switched Ethernet.

 

[foghorn2]

I got one of these: Amazon product ASIN B00CZ6WC3A
My two ethernet Basic Roamios go to this in the garage (which has one ethernet port internet enabled), a coax from this device goes to a three way splitter to 3 Tivo Minis. Perfect replacements to the crippled OTA guide Hopper/Joey system- such a shame.