Need recommendations for a long range OTA antenna.

[boba]

I think in an earlier post you said you had roof access and was planning on using the DISH RG-6 cable. You should also be able to use the dish "J" mount to mount an antenna. If you do have access I would go with the HBU44 as you posted earlier. Try it without an amplifier if it isn't a solid enough signal you can add an amplifier

 

[Symbol]

Find you a small outdoor antenna and set it up on your balcony. That Winegard is not much more than a wire loop antenna, anything with 8 or 10 elements will blow it away at the same position.

From the picture , it looks like you are on the SSE facing side of the building, while the stations you desire are to the SW, that makes the apartment building an obstacle to reception, but by taping the Winegard to the wall of the balcony you may have caught just enough of the signal parallel to the wall.

Further research shoes that 21. and 41. are located on a line parallel with the south wall of the apartment building, but I am still surprised that you were able to get 2.1 since it is not the strongest signal that it could be (50.9Kw ERP), whereas 4.1 is at 1000KW ERP, perhaps 2.1 has upgraded their transmitter or antenna and it does not yet reflect in the FCC database.

Can you mount a yagi style antenna on an "L" shaped pole protruding out from your balcony to give you better LOS to the transmitters?

I have access to the roof where my Dish is located and I can use its RG6 to send the signal to my TV.

I am looking for the best long range antenna with high band VHF so I can get WL11 which is the only channel I'm missing.

I am thinking of an HBU33 or a clearstream 2 V

preferably something small like the dish antenna i have which is 30 inches. (dont want to grab attention)

 

[boba]

I have access to the roof where my Dish is located and I can use its RG6 to send the signal to my TV.

I am looking for the best long range antenna with high band VHF so I can get WL11 which is the only channel I'm missing.

I am thinking of an HBU33 or a clearstream 2 V

preferably something small like the dish antenna i have which is 30 inches. (dont want to grab attention)

SIZE DOES MATTER on VHF the more signal you can capture the more stable your TV will be. Ch 11 at a pwr of -81.1 may be weak on even a HBU44 but I think a HBU33 may be too small. If you use the "J" mount from DISH your antenna will be at most 24" above the mounting point and on a 5 story roof will be invisible from the ground.

 

[Symbol]

SIZE DOES MATTER on VHF the more signal you can capture the more stable your TV will be. Ch 11 at a pwr of -81.1 may be weak on even a HBU44 but I think a HBU33 may be too small. If you use the "J" mount from DISH your antenna will be at most 24" above the mounting point and on a 5 story roof will be invisible from the ground.

Sorry! I meant HBU44, I can't mount it where the dish is because I just noticed theres a wall that would block the signal. I am going to get the RG6 and relocate it on the roof. I will use the J mount from the dish if I can get a friend to lend me his drill so I can make new holes where I plan to put it.

I'm ordering it today and it should be at Miami by next friday when I fly in for work.

 

[boba]

What happened did you change your mind about trying OTA it's been at least 2 weeks since you updated this thread?

 

[Symbol]

What happened did you change your mind about trying OTA it's been at least 2 weeks since you updated this thread?

I asked the condo administration about putting up the HBU 44 and they said no since it was too big when I had it delivered. I ended up giving it to my father and bought a more compact Clear Stream 2V.

The c2v has 2 vhf elements on top rated for 40miles but nothing when it comes to ch11.

Also I added a splitter after testing for max reception and I was able to feed 2 TV's without much signal loss

Picks up everything except 11 so I guess I'll have to live without it :/ I'm sure the HBU would have gotten it. I'll post pics when I get home on Frida.

 

[boba]

Thanks for the update, sorry about the condo decision.

 

[Symbol]

Thanks for the update, sorry about the condo decision.

Yeah it sucks big time, I contacted antennasdirect about not getting ch 11 and they are shipping a new vhf element to see if thats the problem. The lady also said I could use a signal combiner and join the set she shipped me with the old one and see if that helps. She also suggested adding their top rated compact vhf antenna for 65+ miles but its $90 on amazon and I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend more money on this project.

When I get back to the apartment on thursday I will check everything on the roof(aiming and connections).

Also I'm using a cheap old splitter I had sitting in in my closet. I found a nice high quality one that my dish installer left me with. Its a 5-2150mhz and the cheap one I have is 5-900mhz so I'm assuming the one I'm going with is of higher quality.

 

[jorgek]

The 5-900mhz splitter should work fine since OTA and cable do not go above 900mhz. The broadband satillite splitter may actually introduce more loss on OTA since it favours the higher frequencies used with satellite.

 

[Symbol]

The 5-900mhz splitter should work fine since OTA and cable do not go above 900mhz. The broadband satillite splitter may actually introduce more loss on OTA since it favours the higher frequencies used with satellite.

Thanks for the info! Well hopefully I'll get ch 11 on friday when I'm there.

 

[No Static At All]

You could also try a Radio Shack FM trap to help bring in channel 11. FM 99.9 is less than 5 miles away & it's second harmonic falls right on top of VHF 11. You can easily return the trap if it doesn't help.

You can also try the more directional Antennacraft Y5-7-13 to increase gain & reduce multipath on the weak signal from VHF 11.

 

[FaT Air]

Nice job on the observation

channel 11. FM 99.9 is less than 5 miles away

Very good idea. I've run into that problem before. Installed the trap and budda bing, budda boom!

 

[Symbol]

Big update time!

Static, I tried the FM trap and nothing on channel 11

Yesterday it was raining badly in my area and I started to see some pixelation on channel 2(the weakest one so far) so I did two things, I raised the antenna by replacing the 4.5ft pole I had with a 6 footer. Then I went to radioshack and bought a 1-4 distribution amplifier(great reviews and got it for $25 on sale here). And now my picture is perfect on both TVs.

I guess I'll have to live without channel 11 but at least I got two of the three major networks in PR and they offer good things such as the local news, and a bunch of shows.

After it was all said and done I spent $60 on the C2V antenna on amazon($115 at my local walmart), $25 on the amp, $15 in pipes and misc install tools such as bolts and clamps.















Here are some pictures of the finished product. Made with 3/4" pipes attached to the original mount's base and a leg from a giant old dish that I had so it doesn't shake with the wind. Its amazingly sturdy. (Ignore the blue tape, had it there to hold the pipe so I could test the signal before drilling the holes for it.)

 

[Jim5506]

That antenna has little gain on the VHF band, it your want ch 11 look at a Y10-7-13 type antenna either from Antennas Direct or Winegard.

Another possibility would be to build your own channel 11 yagi out of pvc and brass rods from plans and directions on internet sites.

 

[Symbol]

That antenna has little gain on the VHF band, it your want ch 11 look at a Y10-7-13 type antenna either from Antennas Direct or Winegard.

Another possibility would be to build your own channel 11 yagi out of pvc and brass rods from plans and directions on internet sites.

Will check the interwebs tonight. Thanks for the tip!

I also moved the antenna since I found another hidden yet nice spot to put it on the roof, its late now but I'll snap a picture of it tomorrow. Signal is the same as the pole.