New OTA Antenna Not working

deputycag

New Member
Original poster
Mar 30, 2004
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I just got a Winegard HD7084P installed for free from VOOM. I placed the antenna in the attic pointing at 38 degrees to location of all the broadcasts in my area. Before I was getting FOX, ABC, PBS with the Stealth Antenna. Now I get CBS week, FOX, ABC and that's it. No NBC or UPN9, PBS or 11. I would think with this huge antenna I should receive everything now. I am only about 25-30 miles aways. The signal strength on the OTA antenna is at 0 for the channels that I am not receiving. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?
 
deputycag said:
I just got a Winegard HD7084P installed for free from VOOM. I placed the antenna in the attic pointing at 38 degrees to location of all the broadcasts in my area. Before I was getting FOX, ABC, PBS with the Stealth Antenna. Now I get CBS week, FOX, ABC and that's it. No NBC or UPN9, PBS or 11. I would think with this huge antenna I should receive everything now. I am only about 25-30 miles aways. The signal strength on the OTA antenna is at 0 for the channels that I am not receiving. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

Try tweaking what direction it is pointing. Also try different locations in the attic. Otherwise, you need to get it on the roof!
 
attics are hard. Make sure that they pointed it correctly with the the tip pointing away from the antenna farm. How does it look on the analog in of your TV (connect the OTA antenna input to the TV''s analog tuner). Is it ghosting, or does it look pretty strong. The digital version of these signals are on different frequencies, but this is a good quick check.
 
I have the long tip of the antenna pointing to 38 degrees. I had tried the opposite yesterday and it did not work at all. Winegard recommended to buy an attenuator from radio shack. They felt the signal from the antenna might be too strong. Tried that today and it did not work either. I have also tried to plug the antenna directly to a TV and all the channels were horrible. I am planning on trying an amp. If that does not work I will try to place the antenna outside. I am running out of options :(
 
Multipath in an attic is certainly an issue and if they are transmitting from the same antenna, then your analog signals should looke quite good. If not then you definitely have a problem (remember though that many, if not all, of your present VHF analog stations are now UHF digital. If you have a UHF analog station from the same antenna farm, then concentrate on getting it working well as a start). It should look like the butt end of an arrow pointing away from the transmitters.
 
I ran into the same problem. I wanted to try and get NBC and WPIX....so I called VOOm and told them I would like to have an upgraded ANt installed. They brought a huge Winegard Ant. It worked worse than the Stealth. So the Stealth went back up. The i bought a DB8 Ant...which has a range of 70 miles for UHF. Im only 15 miles or so from the transmitters in NY, but I feel like Im 100. Anyway, I put this new Ant up and ...no better ...maybe a little worse then the Stealth. So, i went to RS to buy a pre amp....that only made the sig jump up and down. Funny thing is when i pointed the DB8 away from the city I actually received a 30 sig strenght from cbs in Philly!!!! Which is around 70 maybe more miles away. Its my area....the Stealth has been the best Ant so far for me. It seems to be just right. But its all trial an error when it comes to these dig sigs. Also, I went to RS and bought a mast of 5 ft to add to my mast of 5 ft that i had already. So all in total my mast is around 13 ft higher than my roofline. Approx 30 ft above the ground. When I added the second mast ....my sigs improved greatly. Height can make the difference. You could have a strong enough Ant...but its too low. RS has great Mast's becasue each 5 ft piece can attach to each other. I was tempted to go to RS to get another 5 ft...but I think my wife would divorce me.
 
I have received an email from Winegard tech that I have been working with. His reccommendation is to try the SquareShooter. I am going to contact VOOM to have this antenna replaced with a SquareShooter. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
He probably thinks its mutipath as well. I didn't know VOOM would buy you a squareshooter, they may just give you some money towards it.
 
deputycag:

I had Voom upgrade me to a Channelmaster 4228 (unampfied), which I have installed in my attic. This is a long range directional antenna, which is rated for 60+ miles. So far its been working great.

I have to agree the bigger the antenna, higher, and placed outside should get the best signal. Good Luck!!!
 
the square shooter is a small antenna, but its main purpose is to reduce multipath signals in reflective environments. If you can I would still place it outside, its pretty small and unobtrusive.
 
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