Thinking of dumping satellite for OTA

[john262]

There are twelve channels broadcasting digital OTA signals in my area. (Elko, NV.) All but one of them are low power translators. According to the FCC's website they are all 1 kw. We have one so-called full power station but it is only 1.5 kw. All of the translators are only about three miles from my house. I can see them out my window. The full power station is about ten miles away from another direction (Grindstone Mountain) but it is one of my stronger stations. It is about 60 out of 100 on my digital converter box's signal strength meter. The rest of the stations vary from about 35 to 50.

Anyway, I can get all twelve channels upstairs with an indoor antenna, but downstairs I can only get one and it drops in and out. Occasionally during thunderstorms, the channels upstairs drop in and out but that usually doesn't last very long.

All I have is SD TV's, but the OTA signals have a better picture than my Directv hookup does, although Directv's picture is still pretty good.

Anyway, if it is feasible I want to disconnect Directv and go OTA only. My question is this. Isn't it safe to assume that since I can get twelve stations upstairs with an indoor antenna, I should be able to get good strong signals with an outdoor antenna on my roof?

I want to connect it to four TV sets, three upstairs and one downstairs. Is it feasible to split the signal four ways? I assume that I would need an amplified splitter or a preamp or both. Would this amplifier introduce much noise? If it degrades the picture at all then I am defeating my purpose since one of the main reasons I want to go OTA only is because of the superior picture quality.

Do you think I would need an omnidirectional antenna to get the one full powered station that transmits from another direction? I'm not sure how relatively strong digital signals behave when they come in on the side of a directional antenna.

Thanks.

John

 

[Paradox-SJ]

If you put a good (ChannelMaster or Wineguard) antenna outside you should be able to get everything in your area just fine.

Check to see what channel they are broadcasting on...especially if any are VHF as that will make a difference on what antenna to buy.

You also mentioned that they are coming from two different towers so you will have to decide how you will address that. (roatar, two different setups, speciality cut antennas)

Once you figure out the best antenna for your application...then you will have to setup your in houes distribution since you have 4 TV.

With 4 tv's you will most definitly need some sort of amp/ preamp as with each split you lose 3.5 db of signal.

 

[john262]

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention that they are all UHF except for one which is on channel 12. (Those are the channels they transmit on, not their virtual channels.) So I guess I can use a combination high V/UHF antenna. Right? According to Antennaweb.com, I need a medium sized antenna.