OTA Questions

[mdoverstreet]

Hey ya'll! I have a few questions about OTA reception. My hermit uncle (LOL!) lives just to the west of Leslie, AR, which is, give or take, 100 miles NNW of Little Rock. Cable is unheard of where he is and he don't watch enough TV to justify getting Dish or Direct. Before NBC channel 4 in Little Rock and NBC channel 3 in Springfield, MO went digital, he could get them both very well with an 20+ yr old antenna just barely above the roof line. He has a RCA DTV converter box, which I have since learned is nothing but crap. What kind of antenna should I get for him that would pull in signals from 100+ miles away (Little Rock, Springfield and possibly Fayetteville/Fort Smith)? He lives on top of a hill, which I think is going to help him a little. I did a scan on the RCA converter box back in November and it tried to pick up KOLR in Springfield. The only thing he's got to watch right now is PBS 6-1 through 6-4 from Mtn. View, AR, which is about 30 +/- miles east of Leslie. I've got a chance to pick up a 40 ft. tv tower. Would that be tall enough? I've also thought about a utility pole. What kind of amplifier would he need? I've got a DigitalStream DSP7700P converter box, a Winegard Model AP-8275 preamp, and a ChannelMaster Model 4221HD Ultratenna. Would this be a good setup for him? I've heard from others that he needs an omni-directional antenna. Is the one I've got an omni-directional antenna? Thanks ya'll!

Oh yeah, not sure if this post is in the right place. If it's not, feel free to move. Thanks again!

 

[Tower Guy]

I've heard from others that he needs an omni-directional antenna. Is the one I've got an omni-directional antenna? Thanks ya'll!

Your Uncle needs an extremely directional antenna. It needs to be capable of channels 7-69. To determine the necessary height, use tvfool.com and try several heights.

 

[peano]

Get the XG91 antenna with a Channel Master 7777 preamp and a rotor. I am pulling in stations 100 miles away with that combo.

 

[mserrano]

Unless you are well above average terrain, I would not count on getting reliable reception at 100 miles, without spending big bucks. But I agree with Peano that the XG91 antenna with a Channel Master 7777 preamp is an excellent combination.

Dish Network offers a "local only" option (my brother-in-law has this). I think he pays $7-8$ a month for it.

 

[Mr Tony]

this guy sounds like a great candidate for Free to air...

get a 6 foot dish and a free to air receiver and on one satellite is all 6 networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW, MY)....the only drawback is he wouldnt get his "local" news

otherise what mserrano noted would work too. Dish has locals only for 6 bucks + the $6 no access fee. Otherwise get the welcome pack + locals for 15 bucks a month.

 

[Tower Guy]

But I agree with Peano that the XG91 antenna with a Channel Master 7777 preamp is an excellent combination.

I don't agree. His strongest station is a marginal VHF. The 91XG doesn't cut it on VHF.

TV Fool

 

[mdoverstreet]

I understand that digital is really picky, but if it's going to be so hard to pick up, then why did he receive, and still does a few with an ice-damaged antenna until the 12th, channels 3, 10 and a few others from Springfield, MO and channel 4 and a few others from Little Rock, AR when they were analog? It was/is crystal-clear as well. KOLR was trying to come in at about 20% using that really old antenna that has some of the rods broken off. It wasn't even pointing toward Springfield. Also local ABC's, channel 7, tower collapsed about a year or so ago. It was near Pine Bluff. Now it's in Little Rock. They have been bragging about their power and what it was going to be like after the 12th. They have a statewide map on their website and on tv at times showing what will be their coverage area. It extends about middle way into Searcy County. That's the county where Leslie is located, but Leslie is in the southern part of the county. Is there any hope that he might get that? Also, when I'm in Northern Arkansas I start seeing a lot of houses with towers. I've often wondered what they are receiving.

 

[peano]

I don't agree. His strongest station is a marginal VHF. The 91XG doesn't cut it on VHF.

TV Fool

True enough. The XG91 is not good for VHF. My experience is with the UHF channels. I would add a VHF antenna to the XG91.

 

[ziggy29]

True enough. The XG91 is not good for VHF. My experience is with the UHF channels. I would add a VHF antenna to the XG91.

Looking at the TV Fool info, I'm not sure OTA is really all that feasible at all. According to this, the strongest UHF has a noise margin of -20! Other than the one PBS station, I wouldn't expect to get anything consistently based on this table, and spending money trying to pull in UHF might be wasted.

Having said that, if this is a hilly area, an exact address plot could change the game for better or worse -- and possibly by a considerable margin.

 

[delta_charlie]

Hi all, if OTA will not work what about a simple fixed FTA setup on G18 (123w) there is at least one Litle Rock station on that bird (KATV) and lots of other stations all over the US. A 80 cm Ku dish, cheap LNB and a receiver off of fleabay would do it. Hope this helps, DC

 

[Mr Tony]

KATV left a while ago because the tower is back up and most of the Equity channels are being sold off so may not be a good thing

 

[Jim5506]

Go to TV Fool and click on "Start Maps" in the right hand column.

Input the zip code for Leslie and it will show you a map for the area which you can change to a Google Satellite image in the upper right of the map.

Find your uncles house, center on it and set the appropriate antenna height.

In the lower right you'll see a list of stations possible from that height at that place.

PBS is about 45 miles east of him, Little Rock stations are about 72 miles almost due south.

CBS and NBC are your best bets, CBS is on rf ch 12, NBC is on rf ch 32.

I'd go with a 91-XG for UHF and a YA-1713 or similar for VHF high coupled with a CM777 pre-amp and the higher up in the air the better.

 

[mdoverstreet]

Hey ya'll. Thanks for all the replies. I found my uncle's exact spot on TV Fool's map and it looks like everything would be from Springfield. Looks like I'm going to have to get up pretty high before anything is watchable. I was thinking about starting out about 40 ft. According to TV Fool, I'd have to get well above 200 ft before anything from Little Rock would be watchable. Why is that? What ya'll think?