Will this antenna & wire work?

[navychop]

I have a Channel Master CM-3671 antenna with a Channel Master CM-9521A rotor and a Channel Master CM-7777 pre-amp.

I am quite happy with the setup. But I must admit, the pre-amp overpowers local stations so I turn the antenna 90 degrees from the aim point for those stations. I'm considering bypassing the pre-amp permanently as I no longer watch the distant stations.

There are several good long range antennas out there. There was one that was too large to ship normally, and you just had to find a store stocking it or pay for partial truckload. I wish I could remember the name.

Antennas last for decades. I'd wait on that decision. If you get acceptable results as you test it as-is in-place, keep the antenna and just put it on a new rotor. I also think you'll find that it will take more time than expected to run coax, install and wire rotor, AND install a new antenna. Maybe longer than the minimum rental time. The antennas aren't heavy, but they are awkward to handle, especially in a bit of wind, which you can expect up there.

Remember to bring ALL your tools and anything you could conceivably need on that lift, to avoid repeated trips up and down.

 

[detroit_fan]

That's a good price, esp if it included a way to deliver and return the lift.




Yes, at the antenna end is best. Don't forget to use cable ties or similar on the coax.

I don't think that included delivery and pick up, but i have a utility trailer that i think will work to move it. the place is only about 10 mins from my house so hopefully it won't be bad to do if i have to go that route. i will use cable ties, but does the coax need to be grounded or anything? if so, how?

I have a Channel Master CM-3671 antenna with a Channel Master CM-9521A rotor and a Channel Master CM-7777 pre-amp.

I am quite happy with the setup. But I must admit, the pre-amp overpowers local stations so I turn the antenna 90 degrees from the aim point for those stations. I'm considering bypassing the pre-amp permanently as I no longer watch the distant stations.

There are several good long range antennas out there. There was one that was too large to ship normally, and you just had to find a store stocking it or pay for partial truckload. I wish I could remember the name.

Antennas last for decades. I'd wait on that decision. If you get acceptable results as you test it as-is in-place, keep the antenna and just put it on a new rotor. I also think you'll find that it will take more time than expected to run coax, install and wire rotor, AND install a new antenna. Maybe longer than the minimum rental time. The antennas aren't heavy, but they are awkward to handle, especially in a bit of wind, which you can expect up there.

Remember to bring ALL your tools and anything you could conceivably need on that lift, to avoid repeated trips up and down.

How long have you had the rotor? only reason i ask is that yesterday i was researching that same model and come across a lot of complaints about the newer ones, people said they switched from metal gears to plastic ones and they were failing much faster now.

thanks for the links and suggestions, i'll read up on them.

 

[navychop]

Bought it about 6 years ago. I'm sure there must be another rotor out there. I remember they used to sell a huge old one, built like a tank, and priced similarly.

 

[Bob2011]

If you just want Detroit and Toledo then a simple 4-bay antenna mounted halfway up the tower would probably do really well. The previous owner probably was able to watch some Cleveland channels back in the analog days with that antenna pointing east. Today you would need something much larger to pull it off. I wouldn't go crazy with a new antenna and rotor until you're sure of what you're trying for.

 

[Stargazer]

I think you should hook the antenna up and see what you can get before doing anything else. You can simply twist both wires from the existing wire onto the center conductor and outer jacket of RG-6 coax wire to do the test if you have some laying around to see what it gets then buy the appropriate adapters afterwards if it works for you. For the cost of getting up 30 foot safely, you might as well just keep that antenna up there for one set of local channels and buy another antenna for another set of local channels. I would go with the bow antenna. Most likely they had the antenna pointed to receive locals already.

 

[Larry1]

Just how bad does the tower seem to be? If it looks as if the tower has movement between the 3 individual sections, it may be time to replace the bolts holding the sections together. But DON'T remove the bolts completely to replace them with new bolts. The trick I have used is to remove one bolt at a time, but only remove one half way for it is still holding the tower section is still held in place and start a new one in where the old one is starting to come out. Also, if the old holes have elongated, then use a larger diameter bolt and force it through the hole. It will be tight, but you should be able to twist it through. This will firm up the tower greatly. If the rust has been too great and the metal is too thin then it may be time to take the tower down. Also inspect how the tower is currently attached and make sure it does not need any braces replaced. Try visiting any local small TV stores and see if you can find anyone who does tower work. For the price of the lift, you may be able to get someone to climb the tower for you.
Remeber, be safe and do not try any tower work if you do not think you can do it safely. Work at your own risk.
Now my antenna needs are different from yours, but I like the combination of an Antennas Direct 91XG and a Winegard 1713 with the Channel Master rotor.

 

[detroit_fan]

ok, back to this project. last night we were at meijer and i picked up an rca antenna (ANT751R)-

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024R4B5C/?tag=satell01-20

This one was already assembled and returns are easy there so i decide to come home and see how it performed. i just set it in my attic, so it is laying flat on the floor, and ran 25 feet of coax to the closest tv. it is picking up the following channels-

11.1 TOLEDO CBS
11.2 METV
13.1 TOLEDO ABC
13.2 LIVE WELL NETWORK
13.3 TOLEDO WEATHER
24.1 TOLEDO NBC
24.2 RETRO TV
30.1 TOLEDO PBS
30.2 FAMILY NETWORK (NOT SURE WHAT THIS IS)
30.3 CREATE (AGAIN, NOT SURE WHAT THIS IS)
36.1 TOLEDO FOX
36.2 COOLT TV

Now like I said that is just with the antenna sitting on the floor. it's not picking up detroit, but the antenna is pretty small and D* gives me Detroit locals anyways. SO it looks like this is the way to go and i won;t have to mess with groundign that giant tower outside and dealing with all that mess.

The signal strengths are mostly in the 70's, so maybe a preamp would be a good idea? I don't know a lot about preamps, so not sure if one would help, would love to hear some advice on that subject. once i great it mounted and all the coax run it should be less than 50 feet of coax total.

 

[boba]

You probably need a distribution amp rather than a preamp.

 

[Mr Tony]

The signal strengths are mostly in the 70's, so maybe a preamp would be a good idea? I don't know a lot about preamps, so not sure if one would help, would love to hear some advice on that subject. once i great it mounted and all the coax run it should be less than 50 feet of coax total.

how many TV's? I know in your other thread you want to get a AM21 and hook that to your Directv receiver.
Is that the only spot you are going to hook it up to? Or are you going to hook it up to more TV's

 

[detroit_fan]

how many TV's? I know in your other thread you want to get a AM21 and hook that to your Directv receiver.
Is that the only spot you are going to hook it up to? Or are you going to hook it up to more TV's

now that i have MRV is am only going to hook it up to the 1 tv (HR34). so no splitters, just 1 coax line from antenna to am21n

 

[Mr Tony]

since you are just going with the AM21 I would wait until you get it hooked up to see how it works. TV's have different meters.
Have you tried to move the antenna in different directions to see if the signal changes

 

[detroit_fan]

since you are just going with the AM21 I would wait until you get it hooked up to see how it works. TV's have different meters.
Have you tried to move the antenna in different directions to see if the signal changes

ok, i'll get it all set up and see what happens. i did move it some, and it improved some. my attic is hard to get into, so i was just sticking my arms up there and moving it, when i can get up there i can probably situate it better. what is the minimum signal strength i should have for reliable reception?

 

[Mr Tony]

on the AM21?

mid 50's or so...I think I've locked a signal at 38 or so and it was fine.
Each TV meter is different....my Panny plasma pixelated around 35-38 or so...The AOC TV can hold a signal down to 20 or so

 

[detroit_fan]

on the AM21?

mid 50's or so...I think I've locked a signal at 38 or so and it was fine.
Each TV meter is different....my Panny plasma pixelated around 35-38 or so...The AOC TV can hold a signal down to 20 or so

sounds good. i'll order an am21 and get it hooked up and see where i'm at.

 

[Mr Tony]

sounds good. See what kind of signal you get on there then let us know.

 

[detroit_fan]

sounds good. See what kind of signal you get on there then let us know.

sure will. now amazon is 1-3 weeks before they ship the am21, so it could be a little while. solid signal had them, but after shipping and taxes(they are in MI too) it was quite a bit more.

 

[Mr Tony]

order it directly from Directv

$50 + sales tax

go into your account and under my equipment then accessories it shows the AM21...takes about 3-4 days to get

 

[detroit_fan]

cancelled the amazon order and purchased one from directv online. i forgot all about just ordering directly from them. the directv site still lists the am21, but i assume it is the am21n

i was looking at the manual for the am21 online, looks like there is a power cord that connects the am21 to the hr34, then only 1 plug from the am21 to the wall? so the hr34 is not plugged into the wall directly anymore?

 

[detroit_fan]

Th AM21N arrived today, had a question about the power cords. The AM21 came with a power cord that connects to the back of it then goes to the wall. The AM21 also has a hardwired power cord that is supposed to run to the HR34 and supply it power, but why? Is this just to save outlets? So when I disconnect the HR34 power cord that came with it I will just have an extra power cord?

 

[Mr Tony]

unhook the power cord from the HR34 (the back of it)
plug the "pigtail" cord from the AM21 into the HR34
hook the USB cable up from the AM21 to the HR34
plug that original power cable (the one that is still plugged into the outlet) into the AM21

system will boot up.
When you go into adding the antenna make sure to use a Toledo zip to load those channels