Does the ant. need to be angled a certain way??

[fastfed]

I know the dish needs to face a certain way, but when the installer installs the ant. can he just hook it up to the side of my house? Or does he need to face it a certain way? Or do I go out and do it, while someone stays inside to tell me if the picture gets better or worse

 

[StingyScotsman]

Yep.

Yes. The direction of your OTA antenna matters. Most of the installations have the OTA mounted on a pole, exactly like the dish.

Be advised. The ChannelMaster Stealth sucks. When you replace it (I recommend the Radio Shack RS 15-2160) then the aim is not AS critical, but it's important.

Some installers go for pure height in the OTA installation, and some try and catch a "bounce" of the signal with the antenna mounted a little lower on your roof. I think that's a silly concept, but to my installer's credit, it did work okay (once I got rid of the Stealth.)

 

[fastfed]

What kind of ant. is he bringing, and should I upgrade it?

 

[StingyScotsman]

Maybe I'm crabby...

But I thought I answered both of those questions.

He/she is probably bringing the standard issue ChannelMaster Stealth.

When it doesn't work (and it won't), you can drive to Radio Shack with your installer and get him to buy a better antenna.

The aforementioned RS 15-2160 worked for me, but I was ju-u-u-st out of the signal strength I needed for reliable reception. The RatShak antenna boosted me an average of 10 points on both signal strength and picture quality. That was all I needed.

You may need a badass Terk or Squareshooter, depending on your reception.

Or... what the heck do I know... you may be close enough that the Stealth will work. I'm 12 miles away from my digital antenna, and it did not work for me.