Need Advise for OTA Antenna

[cummingsje]

Try the antenna in my sig. At that distance it should pull all of them in.

I also use the Winegard 7084P with pre-amp and rotor. I'm lucky enough to live in the middle of 3 different markets and with a turn of the rotor can receive all major networks from all 3 markets (some as far as 75 miles away). If tropospheric conditions are right I can pick-up Toledo and Grand Rapids majors also (109 miles and 106 miles respectively). Of course conditions, obstacles, etc. play into everyone's unique situation.

 

[oljim]

I am using this hung in my attic, I am around 30 miles from most transmitters. It is a Model U-75R from Radio Shack. At 29.99 not a bad deal either...

The R/S U-75 is also better than the crapshooter and only $30

 

[Gentleman]

I have been using what everyone is calling the crapshooter with excellent results on all of my uhf channels, but it will not pick up my one vhf channel (11)..all of my towers are located in one area about 15 miles away,

Bob

 

[digiblur]

I have been using what everyone is calling the crapshooter with excellent results on all of my uhf channels, but it will not pick up my one vhf channel (11)..all of my towers are located in one area about 15 miles away,

Bob

Ding ding ding ding..... hence the name. It won't even pick up RF 13!

When the stations start making their cut overs, I'm sure I'll be adding a few more crapshooters to the landfills.

 

[prezdisher]

Ding ding ding ding..... hence the name. It won't even pick up RF 13!

When the stations start making their cut overs, I'm sure I'll be adding a few more crapshooters to the landfills.

OK, I think based on the responses I will stay away from the Squareshooter. Please help me though. I am looking at pics online of the CM4221. I am concerned about appearance though. How big is it, I guess how tall is it?

And as for the Winegard GS-2200 that I ahve read about, what price range does it sell in?

 

[Voyager6]

OK, I think based on the responses I will stay away from the Squareshooter. Please help me though. I am looking at pics online of the CM4221. I am concerned about appearance though. How big is it, I guess how tall is it?

And as for the Winegard GS-2200 that I ahve read about, what price range does it sell in?

A good place to check prices is: Winegard GS 2200 Sensar III Digital Ready Antenna System (GS2200) | GS-2200 [Winegard] | GS2200 GS2200 2200 GS-2200
Google is also your friend.

 

[Jim5506]

I have a CM 4228 mounted above the peak of my roof. Up there it does not look like it is about 40" by 40". 4221 is about 20" by 40".

My avatar shows the RS U75-R that was replaced by the 4228 just above the 61.5 dish.

 

[prezdisher]

One more question guys. I think I have decided on the Channel Master 4221 as a lot of you guys have recommended it. I like the price of the 4221 vs. the 4228, and believe me I must pennypinch. That being said, I noticed on the color code for the CM4221 it only goes to light green. I know the antenna web color recommendation is cautious, so I am asking before I buy, does anyone think that I will not be able to pick up my FOX affiliate? It is listed as Red-UHF by antennaweb, but the towers are only listed as 22 miles away from my home. I am planning on installing the CM4221 on a 8.5' mast for better reception.

FOX Is critical for me, being a Cowboys fan. Gotta have FOX in HD for the NFC Games.

 

[digiblur]

One more question guys. I think I have decided on the Channel Master 4221 as a lot of you guys have recommended it. I like the price of the 4221 vs. the 4228, and believe me I must pennypinch. That being said, I noticed on the color code for the CM4221 it only goes to light green. I know the antenna web color recommendation is cautious, so I am asking before I buy, does anyone think that I will not be able to pick up my FOX affiliate? It is listed as Red-UHF by antennaweb, but the towers are only listed as 22 miles away from my home. I am planning on installing the CM4221 on a 8.5' mast for better reception.

FOX Is critical for me, being a Cowboys fan. Gotta have FOX in HD for the NFC Games.

If it is critical I'd go with the CM4228. If you get the CM4221 you'll always be thinking...what would the signals be like if I got the CM4228? If you don't need the extra gain on the CM4228 then it's still a good plus for inclement weather, transmitter problems, or splitting the signal to another OTA receiver.

 

[prezdisher]

Hey guys. Need some help from the more experienced HD OTA Antenna gurus please.

I live in Lexington, NC and my locals all come from the Greensboro, NC market. DISH does not offer my locals in HD yet, so I am wanting to go with the OTA route. I checked antennaweb, and it lists me as around 22-23 miles away from all my towers except the NBC tower which it lists as 32 miles away. For everything but FOX, it lists me as needing a yellow-uhf antenna. But for FOX, it suggests a red-uhf.

Using this information, what antenna would you guys suggest? I have called around and was told the Winegard Squareshooter would get everything great except maybe FOX, which is listed as red-uhf, but is only 22 miles away. Do you guys think I could get even FOX with the Squareshooter based on those numbers?

Also, has anyone actually ever had DISH do the antenna install as mentioned in the thread in these forums? I did not know if they will even put one up for me in my market.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

OK Guys. I am happy to report that I purchased the ChannelMaster CM4221 OTA, and I had it installed today. Everything comes in fine. My FOX, CBS, and ABC digital feeds all come in in the high 80's - low 90's. The NBC digital feed is in the low 70's. So I am able to see all my broadcast football games in HD now. Plus, the CM4221 also is picking all of the SD feeds from the Charlotte locals. I want to thank everyone for their advise. Now I am ready for some football tonight on FOX in HD!!

 

[12trojan]

Question - Will the CM4228 pick up both vhf and uhf channels? I live outside of Chattanooga about 21 miles from the towers and my ABC station is vhf while the rest of my locals are uhf. Also, the antenna that I have now goes in and out when the wind blows. Thanks

 

[Jim5506]

4228 is best on channels 10 and 12.

 

[cparker]

Question - Will the CM4228 pick up both vhf and uhf channels? I live outside of Chattanooga about 21 miles from the towers and my ABC station is vhf while the rest of my locals are uhf. Also, the antenna that I have now goes in and out when the wind blows. Thanks

CM4228 is sold as a UHF antenna, but it will do OK on HIGH VHF channels under decent conditions. What channel is your VHF local ABC station on and how strong of a signal are they pushing? My CM4228 is pulling VHF channel 7 here pretty well from 42 miles and I'm shooting through 60 foot pines and maples.

If your current antenna is going in and out when the wind blows, the first thing that comes to mind for me is that you're shooting through trees and the leaves are blocking signal. Or it's just multipathing so bad your antenna/receiver combination can't figure out what to do.

 

[drewcwsj]

I am only three miles from my local HD transmitters and am trying to use this radio shack amplified indoor antenna

RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Accessories: Antennas: Indoor: Amplified VHF/UHF/FM Indoor Antenna

I am only seeing signal strengths in the 70's and get frequent loss of signal lock. Could I be over driving the tuner? What antenna works this close?

Thanks

Drew

 

[cparker]

At 3 miles you don't need an amplified antenna. I have one of these on my upstairs bedroom TV:
HDTV Antenna Zenith Silver Sensor ZHDTV1 Digital - eBay (item 250212140204 end time Feb-06-08 21:13:12 PST)

and it's picking up from 2 different tower farms with about a 30 degree spread between tehm. Tower farm #1 is about 7 miles. Tower farm #2 is at about 42 miles. No amplifier. Now I will say that this antenna does not work so well in my living room on the first floor. It gets the towers at 7 miles just fine but can't keep a lock on the ones at 42 miles. In the upstairs bedroom it works perfectly.

So at 3 miles....don't amplify. Heck at 3 miles you can probably get all your stations with a coat hanger or an old FM dipole antenna.

 

[EricBskiVT]

Pardon me for jumping in on this thread, but my question is the 4221 or 4228 capable of receiving vhf high band signal, i.e. channels 7 thru 12, my local PBS is broadcasting on channel 11


Thanks
Bob

The CM 4228 is fairly well capable for high VHF and is almost the only UHF antenna that does that.

 

[EricBskiVT]

I too, need advice on OTA antenna - our tv towers broadcast from 2 different directions - some east some west - and I can't seem to adjust it to get all the staions well, just a few well. Football is on my WEAKEST channel, so I am trying to figure out what to do. Have a pretty good sized roof top antenna. Also - why can I get more channels on the OTA plugged direct into my HDTV than running through my dish 622 vio receiver?

I would use 2 directional antennas, each pointed in the appropriate direction, and combine them with a splitter.

 

[cparker]

I would use 2 directional antennas, each pointed in the appropriate direction, and combine them with a splitter.

Combining 2 antennas *can* be more trouble than it's worth.
For varcieri:
What distance are you talking about (east and west). If the stations are directly opposite each other, you can take the reflector off a CM4228 and it will lobe out the "back" side almost as well as the front. This WILL shorten the effective distance out the "front", but not terribly so.

And for anyone wondering, yes, I've done this myself. I picked up Toronto at about 45 miles off the back of my CM4228 with reflector removed. I decided I don't watch Toronto stations enough to bother with this arrangement so I put it back on.

Normally if you have stations split like that, you should get a rotor for the antenna. I use a universal remote (using a Harmony 880 currently) and you can get rotor/control combos that "remember" station directions. Or even just get one with presets. the universal then includes the command to "go to preset 1" when you are on channel 2 (for example) and "go to preset 2" when you are on channel 7.1. Sounds to me like you would only need "east" and "west" but as long as you have a rotor you could fine tune it for each of the east stations individually if you want and also the same for the west stations.

 

[markcosenza]

The only problem I'd personally have with this solution is for recording purposes. My DVR can't set the presets for me. I think the splitter solution would resolve that.

Combining 2 antennas *can* be more trouble than it's worth.
Normally if you have stations split like that, you should get a rotor for the antenna. I use a universal remote (using a Harmony 880 currently) and you can get rotor/control combos that "remember" station directions. Or even just get one with presets. the universal then includes the command to "go to preset 1" when you are on channel 2 (for example) and "go to preset 2" when you are on channel 7.1. Sounds to me like you would only need "east" and "west" but as long as you have a rotor you could fine tune it for each of the east stations individually if you want and also the same for the west stations.

 

[cparker]

The only problem I'd personally have with this solution is for recording purposes. My DVR can't set the presets for me. I think the splitter solution would resolve that.

Ahh... I see what you're saying. Unattended. Yeah that would be a wee bit tougher nut to crack. However.... and I'm doing this from memory as my dad and my brother used to really be into building antennas.... when you have more than one antenna being joined at a "splitter" it would only be by the purest dumb luck that you get the 2 antennas in phase without equipment to measure signal. If you put them on the same mast, with one facing east and one facing west, you can not put them back-to-back. You have to stack them. If Antenna "A" and antenna "B" are exactly the same antenna, then the next thing you'd need to do is get the leads from each antenna at exactly the right length before the splitter.

What you're talking about is building an antenna array (even if it IS only 2 antennas) and if not done well, it will suck. In fact you can actually have it so far off that one antenna will basically cancel the signal of the other.

I am literally digging back about 35 years into my memory, but I believe what I have stated is fact. If I'm wrong, and someone knows better, I ain't afraid to take a hit. But please "remind" me gently 'cause I'm old and right now ... very tired.