How do I increase number of stations I can pull in?

[coretj]

I built a version of the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw"]"Coat Hangar Antenna"[/ame] With some modifications... Basically I bulit 4 of them, added wire mesh behind the 1X4s and mounted them in a N,S,E,W manner.


All of the Channels in my area come in perfect. Including a few in some surrounding areas. My question is how can double my range which is currently about 50 miles?

 

[No Static At All]

It's doubtful you will do much better than 50 miles, unless your antenna or the transmitter are at a high elevation. The curvature of the earth becomes a factor around 75-80 miles. The best rooftop antenna systems "generally" get right around 70 miles reliably 24/7 with flat terrain.

 

[coretj]

what about some kind of amp?

 

[CowboyDren]

You can't amplify a signal that you can't receive.

 

[coretj]

ok so how high up do I need to go?... figuring that both I and the Transmission tower I'm trying to reach are at sea level and 100 miles apart

 

[CowboyDren]

We can make better suggestions if we can see a visual representation of your problem. Can you attach the post transition radar plot from TVFool.com or at least give us your zip code?

 

[coretj]

Here ya go

When looking at this I realized that the distances are WAYYYYY off for instance it takes about 20 minutes on various freeways to get to the CH10 KGTV Broadcast Tower. It is no where near 3.3 miles away.

 

[No Static At All]

A good rooftop antenna system should get all the green & yellow shaded stations, and many of the ones in the red. An attic mounted antenna may give satisfactory results, but not nearly as good.

An amplifier is not recommended with all of the strong local stations you have in your area.

You posted your "current" results. If you show us your "post-transition" results, we can better suggest an appropriate antenna. Some stations may be changing their actual broadcast frequencies in June.

 

[coretj]

 

[CowboyDren]

You need a bigass log periodic, with something like a 12-16' beam and lots of ugly, delicate elements, pointed at 320°. This will allow you to get the stations from the South East off the back side as well as attempt to draw in some of the stations far over the North West horizon. Ditch the homemade bowties, they're not going to help you.

You may try a single, factory-built bowtie (like an Antennas Direct dB4) pointing at 45° along with the fishbone described above, and joined with a Winegard CC-7870 2-Set Antenna Coupler. Make sure that it's no less than 6' away from the fishbone to avoid weird electrical noise.

 

[coretj]

can you give me the name of one so I can get an idea of the type?

 

[CowboyDren]

Sorry for all of the re-edits, by the way.

Antennas Direct 91XG, 42XG; UHF only.
Winegard YA-1713, VHF only; Winegard HD7698P, VHF/UHF Combo.

 

[coretj]

so according to their sites the best I can expect is 80 miles.... so I'm probably gonna stick with my coathangars.. because for 20 dollars in parts I am getting appx. 50 miles.

 

[CowboyDren]

That's the long and the short of it, yes. Digital transmissions just don't reach as far as you can get away with in the analog world. It's called the cliff effect; you either get signal or you don't.

 

[Jim5506]

With the 91XG and a YA-1713 joined with a passive UHF/VHF joiner keeping your transmission line as short as possible - no splitters - you could receive any or all of the stations above zero on the Noise Margin column.

You may have problems amplifying the signal due to the very close proximity of several transmitters that very well could overload the tuner.

 

[philhu]

I built a version of the "Coat Hangar Antenna" With some modifications... Basically I bulit 4 of them, added wire mesh behind the 1X4s and mounted them in a N,S,E,W manner.

Can you post a picture? I am having problems visualizing '4 of these' and the mesh between.

I am looking for a good multidirectional antenna system too. Boston has stations in 3 directions and I also want (and currently get) Providence using an antenna on my roof pointed at its transmitters.

I assume the n,s,e,w is to make it multidirectional. How do yu hook them all together so you don't get multipath? A picture would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

[coretj]

Can you post a picture? I am having problems visualizing '4 of these' and the mesh between.

I am looking for a good multidirectional antenna system too. Boston has stations in 3 directions and I also want (and currently get) Providence using an antenna on my roof pointed at its transmitters.

I assume the n,s,e,w is to make it multidirectional. How do yu hook them all together so you don't get multipath? A picture would be appreciated

Thanks!

Sorry no camera... but think of 4 of these...

One facing North
One facing South
One facing East
and
One facing West

Then think of the Video up top.. you know where you attach the Balun.... Instead of attaching it there, run copper wire from those points to the Balun.

 

[philhu]

wow, Thanks

I would think you would b getting huge multipath problems, since each antenna would pick up a slightly out of phase signal that could cause interference with other antennas in the setup

 

[coretj]

My first set up did....

What I was doing was I had 4 baluns... and then running into splitters to bring down to one line...

Then I realized what was going on so I turned it into (basically) One antenna with my current setup

 

[WTguy]

With the 91XG and a YA-1713 joined with a passive UHF/VHF joiner keeping your transmission line as short as possible - no splitters - you could receive any or all of the stations above zero on the Noise Margin column.

You may have problems amplifying the signal due to the very close proximity of several transmitters that very well could overload the tuner.

As a point of reference, are you picking up any of the regional markets besides Lubbock (i.e., Odessa/Midland, Amarillo, Roswell) with this configuration?