Recommendation for very strong UHF signal

[Will62]

I am in the process of buying a home in a small town in Iowa. I did a Signal Analysis and noted a PBS translator in town is probably going to cause problems with out of town reception since I will need a pre amp to obtain most of the other signals that I would watch.

RabbitEars.Info

RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.

rabbitears.info

Note the Ch. 28 power at the top of the list is the issue. I am wondering if I should buy a Notch Filter like this which will attenuate the signal by 25db.

Amazon product
View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072K6BNP1/?coliid=IZED7P7DEE5B5&colid=3O2PB0XPYIL0T&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Or should I consider a single channel trap from a company like Tin Lee to completely eradicate just Ch. 28 allowing no possibility of interference to any of the other signals. If Tin Lee's option is best, which specific model do I need? Noted a couple would possibly work but I don't h ave any experience with their products.

 

[Will62]

Thought of one more thing. For a couple of very weak signals in Keokuk (Ch. 14) and (Ch. 17) in Quincy, I was thinking that ganging a couple of UHF antennas might bring them in. A decade ago I lived outside of Kansas City and a Antennacraft HBU 55 on my roof was able to reliable catch two UHF signals that were just as weak as these even though I had trees nearby and a small hill terrain toward the direction of the towers. Using a good pre amp certainly helped. Any thoughts?

 

[primestar31]

Just get one of these, and you are set no matter what. You can combine up to 3 different antennas, pointed 3 different directions. It'll filter, and you can add or delete channels manually: Televes SmartKom 531981, "Rotor Killer" Antenna Combiner/Preamp

 

[Will62]

Mike. This appears to be overkill for my application. I am planning to use a rotor and will only feed one TV. But the bigger issue is the need to significantly reduce or eliminate the Ch. 28 signal. Just how much signal strength will this reduce with Ch. 28? It's not clear to me in the instructions.

 

[primestar31]

Mike. This appears to be overkill for my application. I am planning to use a rotor and will only feed one TV. But the bigger issue is the need to significantly reduce or eliminate the Ch. 28 signal. Just how much signal strength will this reduce with Ch. 28? It's not clear to me in the instructions.

You don't need a rotor with the Smartkom, it combines multiple fixed direction antennas, levels the signals, OR you can completely eliminate a channel, or move it to another one of the antennas pointed away from it, so the signal is lower.

With this, you don't need to rescan all the time like you would using a rotor. Rotators are 1970's technology, they don't fix in a digital world.


View: https://youtu.be/ZxquKMAq4c0


View: https://youtu.be/zvpW6-N0ICA

 

[Will62]

Mike. I will consider it but bear in mind I like to DX. A rotor is far more effective for aiming for the strongest signal than a fixed antenna when you have a swarm of stations coming in some nights from a variety of directions. If I decide to put up two antennas to feed two TV's then this may be a worthy option. But for the rotor application a Notch Filter seems prudent.

I should add that I currently own three rotors and they all work fine. Ditching them and spending $200 for the SmartKom doesn't seem all that wise when my older technology will do what I need it to do. It won't require a cell phone or computer to operate either. This appears to be a gadget developed for tech people that like to enjoy messing with new technology. I already do some of that with my work in radio and my two small radio stations. After watching the video I don't see any real advantage to using the SmartKom for my situation especially when my older but reliable technology functions fine and will achieve my objectives.

One other important factor that comes into play. There have been times where if I didn't have a rotor to fine tune a channel, I would not get the best signal because multipath would impact the signal at different times of the year. When I lived in a suburb of Cincinnati this was the most recent case. Thus, if I aimed my rotor at 5 degrees for a channel in the Winter, by Spring, due to leaves on trees or some other issue such as a new taller structure going up nearby, I had to re aim the rotor a few degrees to insure I would still be able to get the best watchable signal. Fixed antennas do not allow for this and I don't want to be outside having to fine tune fixed antennas at different times of the year if possible.