xg 91 vs. db8

[krisman]

i have a xg 91 right now, works great, couldnt ask for a better antenna. i have been messing with it, and have found more channels. the only problem is they are about 45 degrees from where im pointed. i am wondering if a db8 was just as good or better and instead of pointing at just one direction, does this mean that it would cover a full 90 degrees?
would this not suit me better?

 

[CowboyDren]

You'd only get about two-thirds' the signal you're currently getting, and two-thirds' the signal from the other cluster, by trying to split the difference.

 

[Tower Guy]

i have a xg 91 right now, works great, couldnt ask for a better antenna. i have been messing with it, and have found more channels. the only problem is they are about 45 degrees from where im pointed.

The best antenna for stations 45 degrees apart is a 4 bay such as the DB-4, 4221HD, C2, or HD-4400. I don't know if that's a big enough antenna for your existing stations.

 

[Splicer]

And I can recommend the Antennacraft U-4000.

 

[Tower Guy]

And I can recommend the Antennacraft U-4000.

I bought two of them last month. The U-bolt brackets that are riveted to the vertical pole were loose. The rivets were not tight.

The antennas did work fine. I used the antennas out of phase to receive UHF stations that were spaced by 47 degrees.

 

[Splicer]

Were they loose on both? Both of mine came tight and right. I also ordered them about a month or so apart.

 

[CowboyDren]

I've bought a couple of them, and they were fine. I haven't tried using one more than 35 miles out, though.

 

[krisman]

well mine are going to be at least 50 miles apart. 50-60 i would say still recommend the 4 bays?

 

[Tower Guy]

well mine are going to be at least 50 miles apart. 50-60 i would say still recommend the 4 bays?

I can't say without an exact tvfool report. If the antenna is aimed halfway between both stations the signal strength will be about the same as a 2 bay antenna that is aimed properly. Depending on the relative strengths and channel assignments, you can mis-aim the antenna to favor the weaker station.

What I did with the pair of 4 bay antennas was as example #1 in this web site.

Stacking multiple antennas

The antenna was installed at this tvfool location. TV Fool

The trick here was to avoid overload from WNLO on channel 32 and still receive WGRZ on channel 33 even though it is 20.5 db weaker and 38 degrees further east.

To make matters worse, the location is 2 miles from the Niagara Falls airport.

 

[krisman]

i think maybe a rotor would be an easy fix to this situation that im in. but i dont have the first clue about rotors, how they work, how theyre installed or anything. if there is a wire that has to run under the house, then forget it, i have no more space for anymore wires. can someone tell me how this would be instead of buying another antenna?

 

[Tower Guy]

i think maybe a rotor would be an easy fix to this situation that im in. but i dont have the first clue about rotors, how they work, how theyre installed or anything. if there is a wire that has to run under the house, then forget it, i have no more space for anymore wires. can someone tell me how this would be instead of buying another antenna?

I'd be happy to find a solution without a rotor. Post a tvfool report so that we can analyze it.

 

[krisman]

well alright then, i know that im pretty far out but im dragging in 11 channels so far. see the channel 3.1, 9.1, and sometimes 12.1? well thats what im gettihng when i turn the pole 45 degrees. but you see the ones in pink, it says i should be getting 43.1 fox and 8.1 cbs EXACTLY where i am pointed right now, but there are no signs of either one, how can this be?

the xg 91 i have right now does a very good job i think, and the preamp i have the winegard does a good job too. just wondering how to get all the rest of these channels.....without spending a whole lot of money

 

[CowboyDren]

Wait; is it a '91 or a '42? Didn't look big enough to be a '91 to me...

 

[krisman]

sorry, forgot to leave the tv fool report

TV Fool

now maybe you can see what im talking about. is there a chance at all that i could have the antenna too high? that report is at 20 feet, i have it at about 25 right now.
im almost positive it is an xg 91, i threw away the receipt i think, but ill make sure. Is there a difference between the 2?

 

[Splicer]

Wait; is it a '91 or a '42? Didn't look big enough to be a '91 to me...

Where is there a picture?

 

[krisman]

right here

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=45786&d=1262292594

so im pulling channel 3.1 in at a strength of 30 which is 146 miles away?

i didnt think there were any antennas that would go 100+ miles?

if i can get nbc then i can get rid of the yagi and move the pre amp closer to the xg, would that help any? and move the xg down the pole a bit?

 

[CowboyDren]

I see now. It's either a 43XG or a 91XG, which have stamped director elements. The 42XG has directors made of rods. You can see the pictures on this page. The 43 is a little over 4' long, and the 91 is a little less than 8' long, and there's a 1dB gain difference for the latter. They should perform pretty similarly at your distances.

You can play with height; I've seen dropping an antenna a few feet make the difference between getting and not getting a signal. Don't hold your breath, though. It's possible but unlikely that an atmospheric anomaly is allowing you to get ch3.1 (rf47) from almost 150 miles away, but I wouldn't count on that on a daily basis.

 

[krisman]

yes its a 91. 3.1 is coming in about every time i turn the antenna though, the only 3 times i have tried it when it was turned. im going to need to lower it when warm weather gets here because the top pole is bending a little bit causing it to point more upward than it is supposed to. but still, why am i not getting 8.1 and 43.1 cbs and fox (0 strength), when guys 3 miles from me without a preamp are getting them in clear? and where does this leave me with having to turn the antenna? its getting kind of old having to run outside and turn it every time.

and still nothing from my network tv either, arent there supposed to be like 6 more major networks besides abc,nbc,fox,cw,and cbs that everyone should get?

 

[CowboyDren]

the top pole is bending a little bit causing it to point more upward than it is supposed to.

Bending and pointing the antenna upward is probably helping with that Tropo skip. Wiggling is bad, bending is okay.

but still, why am i not getting 8.1 and 43.1 cbs and fox (0 strength), when guys 3 miles from me without a preamp are getting them in clear?

Brother, radio waves are funny. Your neighbors could be three YARDS from you and getting different channels. You have crossed the line from radio theory into radio experimentation. Some dude on the internet is probably not going to help you as much as walking around your house, holding a 20' long pole with a $150 antenna on it and yelling at your wife, "How about now?!?"

and still nothing from my network tv either, arent there supposed to be like 6 more major networks besides abc,nbc,fox,cw,and cbs that everyone should get?

At fifty miles, even with a $150 antenna, it's a crapshoot. This is why little dish service is booming right now. I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear, but you may have hit the wall.

 

[Tower Guy]

Now maybe you can see what im talking about. is there a chance at all that i could have the antenna too high? that report is at 20 feet, i have it at about 25 right now. I'm almost positive it is an xg 91, i threw away the receipt i think, but ill make sure. Is there a difference between the 2?

Your challenge is to receive multiple UHF/VHF stations when aimed at 136 while preventing overload from WBXX.

Also, the UHF only XG91 that you have can't pick up WBIR or WMAK because they are on VHF.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you have a preamplifier. If so, the preamp can cause you to receive stations when the antenna is mis-aimed because the strong WBXX signal can get weak enough when the antenna is aimed further from WBXX.

Step 1 is to get a VHF antenna for WBIR and WMAK. An Antennacraft Y10-7-13 or Winegard YA-1713 are good options.

Step 2 is to to add the two signals together and use an overload resistant amplifier. Two options are: #1: HDP-269 with UVSJ. #2: AP-2870 Option #1 will be more immune to overload, option #2 will pick up weaker signals when there is no overload.