The repack is coming up soon, but the addition of ATSC 3.0 may (or may not) be happening concurrently with the repack so you may need to stay on your toes going forward.
Preamp Recommendations?
- Thread starter Phalaenopsis
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Soldering is great, but remember that these elements make for really great heat sinks.
Aluminum Solder! Got my antenna “fixed” today. I’ll run to the hardware store tomorrow to pick up aluminum solder. I was able to pick up 35 channels in my basement. WJBK (ch7 Hi-VHF) was very low Q compared to the other UHF channels.
Once you get it outside, aiming the antenna will be important. I use an HD Homerun tuner to do fine adjustments because it works with apps on your phone. You can watch the phone at the antenna location and make minute adjustments easily
Ideally, (and it doesn't apply yet as you pointed out) all of the VHF elements should be in the same plane. The UHF elements should be perpendicular to their respective booms.
The picture of the finished antenna otherwise looks pretty good.
The picture of the finished antenna otherwise looks pretty good.
60/40 doesn't, but there are solders (and the attendant fluxes) that are made specifically for aluminum soldering.
I have a friend who used to install antennas in the 80’s and early 90’s and he told me that I should wrap aluminum foil around the broken elements to better conduct electricity. Is this true? Would the foil help or destroy it?
Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!
Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!
Edit: Should I apply aluminum foil like he told me? Or is it stupid?
My ISP (WOW) has been down for two days now
. Maybe 5G’s worth it....
Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!
My ISP (WOW) has been down for two days now
. Maybe 5G’s worth it.... Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!
That's what you get for thinking.
Read his other posts. I'm sure you'll soon figure out what I'm now thinking...
I had some time yesterday so I tested it out. I wasn’t able to pick up Global or CHCH but I guess that’s to be expected because they are in the red zone. What is the point of the lower boom on the VU120? Is it just for support?
I had some time yesterday so I tested it out. I wasn’t able to pick up Global or CHCH but I guess that’s to be expected because they are in the red zone. What is the point of the lower boom on the VU120? Is it just for support?
Is your neighbor using that C-Band dish? If not, you should rescue it
No, a 83yr old widow lives there who hasn’t used that dish since 1995. It’s in GREAT condition but I can’t have a 10 footer in my yard. I’ve talked to her about it before and she said I could “borrow” it. Now I just have to convince my other neighbor to let me dig through their yard 
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For the extra support/strength.Bigger antenna so there's more wind load and it is "split" in the middle so it helps with that and a second clamp on the mast.
Well, I finally mounted it. I’m getting everything with great SNR except CICO-DT 32. I’m even getting a marginal SNR on CIII-DT 29 (15.6db). CBET and CICO share the same tower which is causing me big problems. If I point the antenna straight towards CBET I get an SNR of 28db, but I don’t get CICO reliably. If I span the antenna slightly to the east I get TVO with an SNR of 20db, but I don’t get CBET reliably. This is getting really frustrating. I had the same problem with the Clearstream too. Any ideas? I’m thinking I should use the VU 120 for VHF and the Clearstream for UHF and combine them with the TVPRAMP1Z. I removed the lower boom on the antenna because the plastic holders broke. I also got a RCA replacement 75-300 ohms matching transformer.
