Winegard Square Shooter OTA Antenna

I've installed hundreds of OTA antennas over the past 35 years. My favorite is the Winegard HD7210 Ghostkiller. It's available at Solid Signal | DIRECTV® Systems, HDTV Antennas, DISH Network, satellite equipment and home entertainment supplies & accessories

I am in the Greenville Spartanburg, South Carolina area. I get four sets of PBS HD and all of the networks. Analog is crystal clear and better than cable or satellite, of which I install both Dish and DirecT.

My favorite amp is the Channel Master Model 3041 DSB amplifer, which can be had for under $30 delivered on eBay.

The nice thing about the Ghostkiller is that it has only 3 inches of vertical height. A standard satellite "J" pole makes an ideal mount. Unlike some uhf only yagi's the Ghostkiller is mechanically balanced and puts very strain on the mounting pole.
 

Attachments

  • ghostkiller.jpg
    ghostkiller.jpg
    71 KB · Views: 202
I live in los angeles (zip 90064) and have until recently been with Directv. I just bought a HD samsung TV and am wanting to get away from the monthly fees, so Im going OTA.

I am in a pretty good location. While I am 26 miles from the antenna farm on mt wilson, it is up on a mountain and I have an unobstructed view of it from my apt unit. I live on the top floor of a 4 story building. I currently have two sets of coax coming into the unit for the two TV's I have, both going to the roof into the directv dish.

My goal is to find a reasonably small antenna that I can put on the roof, and send the signal down those two cables to each TV. I had looked at the winegard square shooter but I really have no idea what Im looking at other than size.

Other info of note: While digital stations are all UHF now, in 2009 channels 7-13 will be using their VHF frequencies to transmit. 2-5 will remain on their UHF.


Questions:

1) What antenna should I get? Would the square shooter work?

2) Will I need some sort of a splitter to service two lines? And if so, will the signal still be strong enough?
Is this you too?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/hd-over-air-ota/106674-need-help-choosing-ota-antenna.html
 
I just saw these pics. We want to install ours in our attic as well. Can you tell me where you got that mount and mast your are using? It looks like a longer version of the dish mount.

Antennas Direct provided the longer "dish mount" with my LaCrosseA antenna.

I don't know if they come with the Antenna Charles has but it looks the same as the one I got.

Longer than the usual 20 inches are available on Ebay. See:
32" Long Satellite or Antenna mast $ SALE $ PRICE CUT $ - (eBay item 280127752337 end time Sep-20-07 14:44:44 PDT)
 
The Winegard HDP-269 is the amp that comes with the amplified Sharp Shooter. Some people have good luck with the SS, others do not. Stacking amplifiers is not a good idea. If you need more signal get a better antenna.

Actually, digital TV reception is an art, not a science. No one can say for sure whether it will work for you or not. If you buy one, be sure to buy it from a place that will let you return it if it fails to meet your needs.

That being said, I prefer antennas that look like antennas, because I believe that the laws of physics do not change and traditional antenna design has proven itself to be reliable and effective. Most gimmicky looking antennas are just that, gimmicks, not antennas.

Actually, digital TV reception IS a science...and a technical skill. It's the result, that is art.

Methods of alignment:

OTA Alignment
 
Last edited:
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)