Looking for advice on antenna for northern KY area - TV Fool included

[TominKY]

Hello,

I am scheduled to have Direct TV install satellite service for me using the old location on a chimney where the DISH equipment used to be. They will be using a SWM dish, so one of the RG6 coax runs from the old dual LNB will be available for a rooftop antenna. I want to route the OTA signal inside and split it to several sets as a backup in the event of rain fade during severe weather, or if I have some other technical difficulty with the satellite.

I am planning to mount an extra pole with a unidirectional antenna near the dish location. It appears that almost all of my target towers are located at about 268*, in Floyd Knobs IN. Can someone suggest a decent antenna that is not overwhelming in size and easy to mount? I don't want some gargantuan monstrosity that looks like we are communicating with aliens, and I have a very steep roof pitch to deal with, so I don't want something that is too heavy or unwieldy to lug up there and mount. As I said, this is more of a backup solution for us during rain or snow storms. Here is the TV Fool for my location => http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae9c939a3ff2

Also, the run down to the basement is RG 6 for about 65 feet to the closet down there, and then it will be split off to about 3 separate sets. A lot of those runs inside the house are RG59 coax. Will I need a pre-amp or powered antenna to get decent reception of my locals after splitting it several ways?

Thanks for the help!

 

[boba]

For a back up antenna I would suggest any 2 bay bowtie UHF antenna should work well. It will get your major networks at 24 miles. No signal amps. should be needed and for TV signals RG59 in good condition should work. 2bay bowtie antennas should run $20-40 depending on brand and where purchased.

 

[Mr Tony]

since you need both VHF (for WHAS) and UHF (for the rest) I personally would recommend a HBU22 or a HBU33 (click on the numbers for a link to the actual item)

I used the HBU33 here in Minneapolis when I lived in my house. I had to drop down to the HBU22 when I moved into an apartment (I have it in the walk in closet). I'm 28-29 miles away from the towers and both worked great

 

[Mr Tony]

For a back up antenna I would suggest any 2 bay bowtie UHF antenna should work well.

he needs VHF also for WHAS (ABC)

 

[TominKY]

since you need both VHF (for WHAS) and UHF (for the rest) I personally would recommend a HBU22 or a HBU33 (click on the numbers for a link to the actual item)

I used the HBU33 here in Minneapolis when I lived in my house. I had to drop down to the HBU22 when I moved into an apartment (I have it in the walk in closet). I'm 28-29 miles away from the towers and both worked great

Iceberg, thanks for the links. It almost looks like the HBU33 might be overkill for my application. Question - all but one station (ION) appear to be at 268*, and that one is at 218*. Should I aim directly at the 268* to pull in the ones clustered together, or maybe cheat a little bit in the 218* direction to see if I can get the extra channel? I figure most of the ones clustered together will probably have enough signal strength to pull them in even if the antennna is not aimed directly at them. Is that reasonable, or should I go for the 268* orientation?

So no need for any pre-amps or signal boosters with my setup?

 

[boba]

he needs VHF also for WHAS (ABC)

Your right Ice I missed 11 and saw ION on 8 but at 1 edge didn't consider it needed for back up. TominKY you will need to play with your aim to get the stations you want, your question was for back up when the satellite was out so I looked at it to mean the 4 major networks.

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg, thanks for the links. It almost looks like the HBU33 might be overkill for my application. Question - all but one station (ION) appear to be at 268*, and that one is at 218*. Should I aim directly at the 268* to pull in the ones clustered together, or maybe cheat a little bit in the 218* direction to see if I can get the extra channel? I figure most of the ones clustered together will probably have enough signal strength to pull them in even if the antennna is not aimed directly at them. Is that reasonable, or should I go for the 268* orientation?

So no need for any pre-amps or signal boosters with my setup?

no preamp or boosters would be needed.

Looking at the channels, Ion (RF8 channel 21) is also on a translator on 50 in SD which is based on the Floyd's Knob tower. Its main station tower is north of Shepherdsville. But Ion is in HD on Directv (channel 305). Also the Ion you have locally is just a partial Ion schedule (they also have some locally produced programs)

While I understand you mainly want this as a backup, I'd use it mainly for the subchannel offerings. Subchannels include
Antenna TV (on Fox)
ThisTV & Bounce (NBC)
MeTV (CBS)
RetroTV (Ion)

along with some others.

The HBU22 would do just fine for what you need.

 

[Mr Tony]

just looked at the Directv list and Ion (the local one) is also in HD on Directv. So since you mention using this as backup I'd just aim it at the Floyd's Knob tower and be done with it

 

[TominKY]

Iceberg, boba, thanks for taking the time to give me such well thought out and informative replies! That helps tremendously. Have a great Christmas!