replacement OTA antenna

[tnewellcpa]

I am currently using an indoor TERK HDTV antenna (similar to Silver Sensor) and want to install an antenna in my attic.

My information is:

*yellow - uhfWXTX-DT54.1FOX COLUMBUSGA142° 8.2 49
*yellow - uhfWLTZ-DT38.1NBC COLUMBUSGA146° 8.1 35
*red - uhfWTVM-DT 9.1ABC COLUMBUSGA147° 19.3 47
*blue - uhfWRBL-DT 3.1CBS COLUMBUSGA147° 19.3 15
*blue - uhfWJSP-DT 23PBS COLUMBUSGA07-08 39°26.0 23

The TERK is just not doing the job as my house is located at the bottom of a hill and there is a two story house next door in the path to the towers (except the PBS which I am not really interested in).

I am thinking of getting a CM4228 to place in my attic (also considering the CM4221). Since all of the towers are in the same basic direction I should have excellent reception even in the attic with 40 - 50% loss due to roofing. I do however have heating and air unit and duct work in my attic as well. Does anyone have any suggestion on my antenna selection or other words of wisdom.

Thanks

 

[texasbrit]

Certainly the CM4228 would be a good choice although the CM4221 might be OK also - I assume WRBL-DT must be low power since it rates a "blue" not a "red" antenna???
Although our situations are different I have a CM4228 in an attic with ducting, a/c units etc and get great reception on all my Dallas-area digital stations at just over 40 miles, even without a pre-amp.

 

[Hall]

I have that same Terk (the non-amplified version) in my attic and it works fine. It's MUCH more directional than I realized too. My local station's towers are less than 10 miles away and in a 10-12' window. If I pointed it too much in one direction, the signal for the stations in the other direction dropped dramatically. I've fine-tuned it now and get 88+ on all stations.

There is a small religious station that's 30 miles away and 5' or so south of the other towers. I can lock on to it but haven't checked the signal strength in quite a while.

I guess my point is, unless your location is too "bad" for that indoor antenna, it *might* work with a little (more) experimentation.

 

[tnewellcpa]

After reading several post here and on others I moved my Terk HDTVi into my attic yesterday evening. It works pretty good there for all locals except for WRBL 3.1. I am getting signal strength of low 82 to 89 on all others. WRBL 3.1 is actually channel 15 so not only is it the furtherest away it is lowest on the spectrum which from what I have read also may be part of the problem. WRBL gives a signal reading of high 66 to low of 31 and does not come in clear enough to even be watchable. It is the CBS affiliate which I would like to be able to watch but until I install another antenna that doesn't look like a possibility.

Any suggestions anyone?

 

[texasbrit]

I think WRBL-DT is still running low power; I believe also they are moving to a new tower. Looks like either you will have to wait until they go full power or go for a better antenna.

 

[Hall]

Did you try extending the VHF dipoles ?? I know that station is UHF, but it's at the low end of the range..... Can't hurt.

 

[tnewellcpa]

Yes, I saw that they are running at 42 kW at 95.9 meters above average terrain but also have a modification of Construction Permit for 1000 kW at 507 meters above agerage terrain. My guess is that that will take place when analog goes dark, maybe sooner. I did extend the VHF dipoles and it had little to no effect.

My question now is do I wait or do I get a better antenna, and since I am getting strong reception off of the Terk HDTVi for the other channels do I go for the CM4221 and save a few bucks or get the CM4228. I can't find any gain information about the Terk to compare and decide if the 4221 is sufficient.

Anybody have comparison information?

 

[texasbrit]

The rumor is that WRBL-DT will go to full power "very soon", you won't have to wait until 2009 - but who really knows?? If you are happy with reception of all the other stations maybe you should wait a couple of months. If you keep monitoring the local reception forum for Columbus I am sure you will know as soon as WRBL-DT goes full power.