High gain or ultra-high gain antenna?

[WakeBdr]

I'm not familiar with the way the OTA signals work, so I'm not sure which type of antenna would be better for me. Most of my stations are about 40 miles away. The high gain antenna says it's for stations up to 45 miles away while the ultra-high gain antenna says it's for stations 15-65 miles away.

Do antennas work the same as most other things...always go with the bigger option? Since my stations fall near the top of the range of the high gain antenna, should I go with the ultra-high gain antenna?

Thanks in advance.

Just for reference, I'm looking at these two antennas:
High gain: http://www.antennasdirect.com/V15_vhf_antenna.html
Ultra-high gain: http://www.antennasdirect.com/V21_vhf_antenna.html

 

[Minsk1]

ChannelMaster 4228 + ChannelMaster Titan 7777 preamp (if necessary).

 

[bpickell]

The way I understand it is bigger is not always better. If you overpower it you can have problems locking on the signal. I'm sure if I'm wrong I will be corrected in a hurry.

 

[WakeBdr]

ChannelMaster 4228 + ChannelMaster Titan 7777 preamp (if necessary).

Does this get VHF as well? Most of my stations are low VHF (2, 5, 6, etc.)

 

[Paradox-SJ]

NO, the 4228 is UHF it can pick up vhf 11 AND UP but if you stations are not in the aread then you should not get the 4228....


Also high gain mean hard to point and ultra hugh gain me very hard or the proper term is directional....

 

[dturturro]

Does this get VHF as well? Most of my stations are low VHF (2, 5, 6, etc.)

Are you looking for analog or digital (HD) reception?

 

[WakeBdr]

Are you looking for analog or digital (HD) reception?

I'd like to get digital, but Antennaweb doesn't show any of my stations as digital. I guess it's because I'm so far away from the signals.

 

[firstmode]

Even if you think the channels are lower channels, they are really not. For instance, all of my HD channels actually broadcast on higher UHF channels, for instance, even though it shows on my screen channel 10.1 and 10.2, the actual channel they broadcast on are something like 34.1 and 34.2. They just show up with the original channel label so you know what channel you are watching.

 

[mserrano]

For Cumming, GA (I live in Stone Mountain), I strongly recommend the Antennas Direct 91XG (I use it myself - http://www.antennasdirect.com/91XG_HDTV_Antenna.html ). The digital signals for the Atlanta stations are all UHF except for NBC (DTV 10). Here are the DTV assignments: WSB-DT 39; WAGA-DT 27; WXIA-DT 10; WTBS-DT 20, WPBA-DT 21; WATL-DT 25; WGCL-DT 19; WUPA-DT 43; WPXA-DT 51; WHSG-DT 44; WUVG-DT 48. When they finally turn on digital (2008), WGTV-DT will be on 12.

Once analog transmissions cease in 2009, all Atlanta DTV will be on UHF except WXIA-DT and WGTV-DT (will move to 8). I don't think you will pick-up WXIA-DT very well, that far out with the 91XG. You could try it with Channel Master 7777 pre-amp and see what happens. If it does not work, you can add a Winegard YA-6713 antenna for channels 7-13 ( http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/ya-6713.pdf ). The Channel Master 7777 has an option switch that offers the choice between a single VHF/UHF input, or separate VHF and UHF inputs, so you don't have to buy a band separator/combiner (default setting is single VHF/UHF input). Dow Electronics, in Duluth, probably stocks that antenna. You can also buy Winegard and Channel Master mail order from Warren Electronics ( http://www.warrenelectronics.com )

Prior to getting the 91XG, I had tried the Channel Master 4228 and Winegard 9095P antennas. There were always 1 or 2 channels that weren't reliable. With the 91XG, I have no problems.

If you want to explore this further, send me a message.