What antenna for digital translator stations?

[Mr Tony]

Helping a relative out with this.
He's got a place up near the Canadian border in Warroad, MN so we're not working with full powered stations here.

doing some looking there are 2 sets of digital translators near him..a batch east of him and a batch west. The ones to the west is what we'd try to get as they have the Big 4 + PBS. The ones to the east are only PBS, NBC & ABC

Here is the tvfool report
TV Fool

so we're working with channels 42, 46, 48, 50 & 52. The issue is while they are only 21 miles away they are at only 1.17 KW power. CBC would be nice (CBWT-3) but not necessary.

What UHF antenna do you all think he needs? It will be split 2 ways. HDTV in main room...converter box in bedroom

thanks guys!

 

[mike123abc]

For a while I had a 2kw station 31 miles away. I just used a large standard antenna I got at lowes. I did get a good UHF amp and I had to point it strait at the tower.

 

[Bob2011]

These are all at the high end of the UHF TV band so I would avoid any of the new style UHF antennas that are engineered to pull in VHF-HI. A DB4 would probably be the best choice money wise or a DB8 if money is no issue and you want the best gain. I would go for a decent Yagi corner reflector if you are going to use a rotor.

 

[Jim5506]

Doesn't the 91-XG have its highest gain in the upper UHF area?

Of course if they are not co-located you may have to use a rotator, maybe a 4 bay cat whisker antenna might work better for its broader reception pattern.

 

[Mr Tony]

wont need a rotor as they are all on the same tower (260 degrees)

I'll check out the DB4 & 8 and show him the options this weekend

 

[sergei]

Well I can think of a few issues that will affect the reception at that location. Is the place in the woods and if so how tall and dense are the trees. Second is he going to install a tower or mount the antenna on the roof.

Regardless of the above, for maybe the best all round performance and cost I'd look at something like the (older) Model 4228 UHF or (newer) 4228HD UHF/VHF Multi-Bay made by Channel Master with a preamplifier, maybe also a distribution amplifier and a rotor. It's got a small turning radius (20 inches) and a reception range of between 45-60 miles depending on model. And weather (snow) might not be a big problem with it.

I didn't see the other post about the DB4 antenna, either one should be a good choice as both are the same layout. Myself I prefer the 4228 8 bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/OUTDOOR-DIGITAL...302?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56417542c6

 

[Mr Tony]

sergei
He lives in town and it would be on the top of the 2 story house

I dont know why he would need a rotor if all stations are at the same location 260 degrees. The TVfool report (posted in my original post) shows 2 sets of translator stations in yellow
3 at 101 degrees (which are NBC, ABC & PBS)
5 at 260 degrees (which are PBS and the Big 4)

so we just need to aim the antenna to 260 degrees or so. He wants all the networks so even though the stations at 260 degrees are further away (by 6 miles) it would give him all the nets

 

[sergei]

Before he spends any money on something that might not work has he checked with any of his neighbors to see they can get any of the stations using an outside antenna.

 

[Mr Tony]

well there is a Radio Shack in town and in Roseau (where the towers are)...and they're franchise stores so maybe they can help too

 

[Mr Tony]

Before he spends any money on something that might not work has he checked with any of his neighbors to see they can get any of the stations using an outside antenna.

well he drove around town and saw a few larger VHF/UHF antennas facing WSW. His neighbors have cable (which according to him looks like hell).
I wish I still had that old U120 antenna that I took from the cabin...Cant find it

 

[Mr Tony]

follow up to this.

He went to the Radio Shack in Roseau and they sold him a "big antenna". I asked him what it looks like and after him describing it, it sounds like a straight UHF antenna about 9 feet long. It took him a little bit with the aiming but did get good results. All stations come in really good on the HDTV (around 80-85 on the meter). The converter box works too but it has no number meter (just the colored bar) so we dont know.

So he's happy

 

[Don_M]

He went to the Radio Shack in Roseau and they sold him a "big antenna"...

Sounds like AntennaCraft's MXU59, which is in the RS catalog now. Its boom is 100 inches long. I've read lots of rave reviews and absolutely no complaints about it.

 

[Mr Tony]

Thats what I thought too....although it is a franchise store so they could have had an old U120 there still

I'm going to see him this weekend so hopefully he lets me know more about it