OTA antenna upgrade advice

[elocs]

I had my antenna upgraded last summer to a SquareShooter and I still do not get my NBC station which is about 60 miles to the north and east of me. My other stations are about 8 miles to the NW and SW and my SquareShooter upgrade got me those.
The NBC channel is mapped and is receivable in the downtown of my city and I am 2-3 miles closer to the tower than that.

I just called Voom and Installs will come out on Monday morning to upgrade the antenna. The csr said they would call first, and they have in the past. If I get the same one as the past, they are good as far as showing up and doing the job, but seem to know mostly about the dishes as opposed to the ota antenna. Any advice for when they call as to what kind of antenna to ask for? Should the fact that the channel is mapped and receivable in my area make a difference. If I can get this channel, then I can drop cable and save $13 a month.

TIA

 

[dougmcbride]

Good source of info on OTA antenna issues is at the HomeTheaterSpot. They have a specific forum there to discuss OTA issues, and there are a couple of real antenna gurus that offer great advice.

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/UBB55

In general though, have you checked http://www.antennaweb.org and checked to see what kind of antenna it recommends for your location? If not, good place to start. It gets you into the ballpark antenna-wise. Look closely at the channels it thinks you should get, their direction from your location, and distance to the broadcast towers as your primary info.

There are always other local variables for your location that it can't always handle, but again, it usually gets pretty close. It all boils down to antenna size, pre-amplification, and ability to move the antenna (rotator) if needed.

In a large number of cases, unless you are blocked by terrain/trees, or get significant reflections of the TV signal from buildings/terrain (referred to as multi-path), getting good OTA reception is straightforward with the right equipment. Unfortunately, it seems to have become a dead art since the advent of cable, but there are still folks around who can help.

I encourage you to go over to the HTS after getting your info from antennaweb.org and ask relevant questions.

Good luck,

Doug

 

[elocs]

Good source of info on OTA antenna issues is at the HomeTheaterSpot. They have a specific forum there to discuss OTA issues, and there are a couple of real antenna gurus that offer great advice.

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/UBB55

In general though, have you checked http://www.antennaweb.org and checked to see what kind of antenna it recommends for your location? If not, good place to start. It gets you into the ballpark antenna-wise. Look closely at the channels it thinks you should get, their direction from your location, and distance to the broadcast towers as your primary info.

Doug

I got some good info and advice from hometheaterspot, but antennaweb.org didn't help because they don't even list WEAU ch. 13 from Eau Claire as being hd. It also lists Fox ch. 25 as being digital, and has since I checked it last May and of course it is not, or not yet at least.
Installs emailed me the the info on the installer and it is the same one that I have had before. I will call this morning and see what they may bring. I sure hope they will have something because they already know that the SquareShooter will not pick up ch. 13 from Eau Claire, 60 miles from me.

 

[elocs]

The installer is convinced that a new antenna will not work for me and will be bigger than I want and will cause interference with my other stations. He complained about how little Voom pays for a service call ($45) and how poor they are about paying. He pretty much tried to talk me into going with Dish. He also claimed that Dish bought both Voom and its programming, but I know better. At least I think I do. Time will tell. As for now, I wonder if it is even worth messing with an antenna upgrade that the installer appears to be anxious to show me will fail to deliver.

 

[jimmykce1]

I am using a Channelmaster 4228 which is rated for 60+ miles. I have this antenna mounted inside my atttic and has been working fine. This antenna is a large directional antenna.

 

[branchbouncer]

I also have the Channel Master 4228 it is mounted out side in the back yard (opposed to the roof where it looks bad)11 feet off the ground and it works great.I had tried 5 other antennas prior to the Channel Master with varing results,but the 4228 blows the others away,I purchased the antenna for 49.50 form a local electronics shop,money well spent

 

[elocs]

I cancelled my antenna upgrade on Thursday afternoon, the day of the great Voom news.
After thinking about it for most of the day and hearing the installer's negative attitude that the antenna would not work without interferring with my other stations, I also decided that I did not want a big antenna with a rotor just to get one station.
I haven't had to mess with that kind of situation in nearly 40 years and I decided that it wasn't worth it to get just one station. My unobtrusive SquareShooter gets the other stations fine and its shape is an interesting contrast to the Voom dish.

 

[Voomster]

OTA Antenna Upgrade to prefection

Howdy,

My original OTA (over the air digital antenna ) sucked

I live in the SF Bay Area and have KNBC HD in San Jose about 55 miles south
have San Bruno Mountain kind of West and Twin Peeks Towers in San Francisco with a total span of about 180 degrees

I was upgraded to a Weinguard Digital antenna with amp I believe there is only one model of this kind. And Voom approved a Channel Master Rotor

Now I can receive KNBC HD San Jose with a signal strenth of 98% to 99% even in the rain and it's over 55 miles away. :up

I currents receive about 43 digital & HD (ota) broadcasts including a free ota 4.2 HD of HDnet

If you live in the San Francisco Bay - East Bay area and you don't have Voom
my condolences

Loving Voom HD and their OTA - diplexer :clap

Voomster bow