Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

CDN_VT
CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
in Solar Skeptics, Hype, & Scams Corner #1
Seeing Windsun posted a spammer thread A Billion Spam Emails

I thought that enough who live off grid , away from cables etc. ,Might know stuff about our so called "New Digital Age " that went Digital..
I once had 5 OTA (over the air) channels , Now one and its poor to worse than my first viewing TV in the 50-60s .

Im rural and 70 miles or 188km's from the transmitting towers. all towers are the same direction , (towards the smoke) .

I have a old large antenna up a mast outside 30' / 10meter up..It is a VHF/UHF/FM outdoor type , the ones that you would see on house's in the days before cable and satellite. (trying to explain how to dial a rotary phone ;) to a I-pad kid) ..

Now if you ask anyone in a electronic store about this , they have NO IDEA !!

Call the FCC/CRTC and they say most OTA are UHF and I need a UHF type, with a booster up the Antenna.

Since we have some very smart , and real users of what they post, I ask you fine folks ,

Those who have great distances to receive air waves of the local news and going-on's , how do you off the grid / antenna folks get any signal ??

I can NOT justify 40$ a month plus for a satellite of commercials plus..
VT
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    i know what you are saying here as i used to get stations in west virginia and ohio before when using analog tv. now i don't know they even exist as i can't receive them anymore. if the stations you want happen to still be on vhf as well as uhf then that regular type of vhf/uhf antenna should do it, but the key is height and low loss cable or 300 ohm twin lead. it may be good to have a mast mounted preamp to overcome the losses in the cable or twin lead. it doesn't work well to use the preamp inside at the tv. if the antenna doesn't have very many elements to it then it may pay to upgrade the antenna. if it is all uhf stations to be gotten then a very high gain antenna can be used with not too much space. one has to watch here too for if you have too much gain the beamwidth can be narrowed too far and some stations off to the side can be made worse.

    sometimes more than one identical antennas can be used, but feeding them is tricky if you don't know what you're doing and side by side will have the same effect as a single antenna of too high of gain. in this case having one antenna above the other on the same mast can fix that. you may need to talk to somebody in that general area to help you with this as they would see what you are up against and know what to do about it. even try one of the stations and ask for an engineer to help you with advice to receive their station.

    adding-
    there may be no guarantee this will even work well enough to your satisfaction, especially in the case of no signal being present now.
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  • nsaspook
    nsaspook Solar Expert Posts: 396 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    70 miles is a long way to receive a solid digital OTA signal. but if you can get one signal then it should be possible to get the others

    Height and gain are the primary requirements. If the stations are UHF that's good because high gain antennas are smaller and the signal will be stable on the fringe area if it is there.

    This combo has the gain to get the stations if you have a clear shot to the antennas. If you do decide to try, junk all your old coax and only use new RG6 with quality connectors.
    http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=91XG&d=Antennas-Direct-91XG-UHF-TV-Antenna-(91XG)&c=TV Antennas&sku=853748001910
    http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=AP8800&d=Winegard-AP-8800-UHFVHF-High-Gain-TV-Antenna-Preamp-75-Ohm-Input-(AP8800)&c=Pre-Amplifiers&sku=615798100223
    http://www.solidsignal.com/c/products.asp?tc=over-the-air-tv-antennas-supplies&mc=03&d=over-the-air-tv-antennas-supplies

    General antenna TV data. http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html
    http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/XG91.html

    If you need to receive something Blake usually has something for you for a price. http://www.blake-uk.com/jbx.aspx
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    My other hobby is satelite tv and off air tv.. http://global-cm.net/ Here is a good web site that has more info than you wull find anywhere. Mike Kohl knows more about satelite tv and off aur tv than anyone I know. He has all tv channels listed In the united states and you can find out whether you have any vhf channels that can be received in your area. The winegard antenna that he has listed as the best is the one I would get if you can also receive vhf. His prices are preety high and you should be able to buy it cheaper from somewhere else. You can also get an old big satelite dish and get thousands of channels for free with a manhatten fta receiver. There signals are the type that Dish satelite used but are not scrambled and it is legal to get the non scrambled channels. There is a 75 ohm transformer on the antenna that goes bad also. If your connections are carroded you also get a weak signal. When digital tv came out there were unscrouplous people trying to tell you need a digital antenna, NOT TRUE!! You do have to get a good strong signal to receive digital. If you get a good enough signal the picture is clear, if signal is weak you don,t get anything, not like you got a snowy picture with analoge :Dsilarvic:D
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    i located you by your coordinates to be around parksville bc. i would imagine you are trying to get vancouver stations, but in my looking it up they failed to show a channel allocation so i still don't know if you need both vhf and uhf. the water inbetween you and vancouver actually would make this easier to accomplish. try it when there's hills and mountains in the way.:grr

    nsaspook really laid it out for you there and that's quite a bit to digest. solarvic has some good input there for you as well. he does bring up a good point too about the so called digital antennas as that's pure bull crap hype they use to get you to buy another piece of crap that probably doesn't work or work well.

    vic,
    i'm sending you a pm as i don't want to tie up and defocus from the op's concerns.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    If youre in parksville, you should be able to get YVR stations as well as Victoria fairly easily with a good dtv antenna. I was Powel River last summer, and in an RV my friends hold get (with a simple directional dipole) get stations all the way down the coast even Seattle.

    Tony
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  • sawmill
    sawmill Solar Expert Posts: 93 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    After being on the local cable system for several years, we reached the breaking point! Prices raised twice yearly and a decrease in local channels was the menu. Last month We bought a cheap digital antenna ( E-Bay) to determine if we could receive any of the digital stations. This was placed on a temporary pole on the deck just for testing. Could not believe the results. We received 17 stations which include the 4 major networks plus PBS.

    Just about all the transmitter locations are in the 75 to 125 mile range. The picture quality is far superior to the cable system. There are several factors involved in digital reception, very dependent on your location. This $30 antenna immediatly canceled the cable service at $60 per month. With a HDMI cable connection to the TV from the computer there are hundreds of programs available on Hulu FREE for the asking. If you are following a series you might have to wait a few days until it's available on Hulu, no big deal.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,631 admin
    #8
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I only have basic cable because my Internet service is cheaper+basic cable vs Internet itself.

    I have a relatively cheap (amplified) antenna and find that I get a whole bunch of stations... And many of the stations even have 2-4 subchannels... Get nearly 100 channels. Of course, there are only about 2-4 stations that I watch with any regularity... :roll: Been kind of cool--getting the old series like Rifleman, older movies, etc. (kind of mixed and variable programming).

    I do find that the receiving the digital signals are quite sensitive to antenna orientation for good reception.

    The neat thing is this receiver that can pick up stations from SF to San Jose is just a $60-$80 USB TV receiver (about the size of a USB thumb drive) that I can plug into any modern PC/Laptop with USB. And it adds basic DVR functions too...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Thanks Folks for all the info .
    Im not in parksville , but 60+ clicks away , up a hill (mountain to prairie / flatlanders) .

    I have been reading info off the web, But In Canada channel allocation maps are a semi joke, CRTC has this in place and from there , stumble to where you can see CBC (Canada Broadcasting Corporation) only.

    Tony last Summer In PR , was that After Aug 1st or before , because after it went dark in quite a few homes. Im truly amazed that you even say you received digital shows from Seattle .Checking the CBC coverage only because As a TAXED Paying , CBC is to be broadcast to all of Canada. Edit ADD: I used Google earth to measure PR to Seattle TV towers , 291 KMs ,( Im 118 from Mount Seymour TV towers).. That must be some RV with Digital antenna.

    Mr Solarvic , great site & info , But Im only into TV / Clap Blab for a quick view of National News , local also some times.
    My Washington Pad will be also changed but there is a totally different amount of signals & subchannels .

    Mr Bill , posting of your USB TV receiver link would be great also, So are you using any special program for receiving the TV signal on your computer?
    Currently the evening entertainment is watched from a standalone PC that has Media Player Classic with XdCoed's for watching shows commercialess from all country's ..

    I enjoy quality viewing with ethics. (as with the old series like Mr Bill posted)

    I did get to speak to a technical engineer from a Independent TV broadcaster , My ranch is past the fringe reception area but with the antenna system that nsaspook posted up and what I had looked into previously with regards to antenna & amplifier , Both the Tech,myself & the postings here have made me decide to spend the money on upgrades.

    I have purchased Antenna ..plus all the rest that was posted up from naaspook .
    Maybe I should of included the USB portion also ? I could add it if Mr Bill has a look and see's it's what he is using and getting at.


    VT
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    http://www.antennaweb.org/ lists likely propagation paths, and suggested antanna gain requirements. After 50 miles or so, UHF does not reliablly bounce - it's line of sight. So if you, or the transmitter are not on a hill, nomatter what the antenna gain, there is no signal to get.

    I'm using a 60 mile range UHF, in an attic, with comp asphalt shingle roof, and get good signal from Mt Wilson (los angeles) 20 miles away.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    You are losing some signal just by having your antenna inclosed in an attic, littls like having a bit of shade on your solar panels. I have the best uhf vhf channel master antenna I could find and and have it on a 30 ft tower and get reliable UHF channels from 90 miles. There still are some vhf channels in my viewing area. I guess now the channelmaster antennas are made in China. I have a usa made one. And niel a friend told me one of his friends has one of those antennas that look like a flat disk and it gets all kinds of channels. It is omni-directional. I never had one but was thinking of trying one to see what it will do. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • nsaspook
    nsaspook Solar Expert Posts: 396 ✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    CDN_VT wrote: »
    Maybe I should of included the USB portion also ? I could add it if Mr Bill has a look and see's it's what he is using and getting at.
    VT

    If there is a signal that combo will find it, just be sure it's on a stable mount. That USB receiver will be great for tweaking in the signal from the antenna if you have a laptop but I think better units are available. http://www.diamondmm.com/TVW750USB.php

    The designer of TSReader on the Artec-T14A.
    http://www.freelists.org/post/opendtv/20060726-Wolfssons-Wednesday-Words-MarksMonday-Memo,3
    There is a free version of TSReader that can give you more detailed OTA channel data than the usual player program.
    http://www.tsreader.com/tsreader/index.html
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I shall make a small and probably not very valuable contribution to this thread. :p

    Since having given up the Shaw cable in Langley due to the expense/usage factor, I installed a "digital" antenna (rabbit ears) to see what was available OTA. What I can receive is: CTV Vancouver, CTV Victoria, CityTV Vancouver, Global Vancouver, CBC Vancouver.

    Reception quality: the video is noticeably sharper than cable. However, there are significant incidences of "drop out", which with digital means the sound goes dead and the picture freezes meaning portions of the program are lost (unlike with analog where you can "fill in the blanks" from the distorted signal). Often the signal drops to the point where "low signal power" is reported instead. It seems almost anything can interfere, such as walking beside the antenna or bad weather conditions. Clearly the digital signal is very low power and not designed for large coverage area.

    Since the Shaw satellite signal at the new house in 100 Mile has the same problem as their cable (a lot of money for a little watching) I intend to try it here as well. Exactly what channels really are available is apparently subjective; just because it is listed in the area (there apparently are repeaters to carry at least some of the Vancouver stations up to here) doesn't mean you'll get them at your specific location. If I can get even a hint of signal strength may shell out the money for a ChanelMaster antenna on a pole. Maybe with a rotor (remember those?). :D
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,631 admin
    #14
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I have the Hauppauge 950Q for a couple years (with free software updates/downloads--so far) -- No idea if it is great or just passably usable. But is seems to work fine for me on a Windows 7 laptop.

    I also use the external Video input to digitize from other analog sources. Files ain't small (at least what I have been able to produce)--but they seem fine otherwise.

    Antenna--I find that even 10-20 degrees +/- can make a huge difference. But--once I find a "good" position (I just have it on a shelf in my 2nd floor room), it is stable (don't need to keep tweaking). We have some good sized hills/ranges (1,000-2,000 feet) which caused a lot of ghosting with analog TV.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #15
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I was in Powel River in Aug of 2010.

    I second 'Coot's comment on a cheap rabbit ear. We have a seasinal rental house in Maine the we spend some time at, and don't want to spring for cable. With simple rabbit ears we were able to get a dozen HD digital strains. Most were crap, but we could get the networks.. I have a couple of complete Bell expressvue dishes and receivers I can sell you cheap if you are interested!

    Tony
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #16
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Mark Your satelite dish must not be aimed very well if you get dropouts of your Shaw direct. I hardly ever have dropouts here in Pennsylvania and there are people in Mexico still get a good signal. The snowbirds from Canada take thier receivers south for the winter. I do have the chanelmaster on the 30 ft tower but hear they are made in China now. The winegard is suposed to be the best now. http://www.global-cm.net/LOCAL%20TV%20HARDWARE.html Solid signal another link from nasa spook should have this also art a lot cheaper price. Where I got my channelmaster from. I supose you probably know where to look for in Canada. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #17
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Just to clarify, the drop outs are with the OTA digital - not the Shaw satellite.
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #18
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=HD8200U&d=Winegard-HD8200U-Heavy-Duty-Platinum-VHFUHFFM-HDTV-Antenna-(HD8200U)&c=TV Antennas&sku= Here is the solid signal link for that winegard antenna. solarvic
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #19
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Good info guys. Thanks a lot for sharing. Here in Nova Scotia, only the couple of cities, but not the rural transmitters have switched to digital - - - so far - -
    So it's good to know what we'll be up against to get the two still existing "peasant TV" channels if we quit Bell ExpressVu.
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  • nsaspook
    nsaspook Solar Expert Posts: 396 ✭✭✭
    #20
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    solarvic wrote: »
    Winegard-HD8200U-Heavy-Duty-Platinum-VHFUHFFM-HDTV-Antenna ... solarvic

    That's a solid antenna and will replace my old Radio-shack VU-190 that's been up for 10+ years. She lost a few VHF elements during a big snow and wind storm last year. I don't really need the gain of a large antenna but need the directivity to reduce multi-path signal dropouts from large passenger jets. The glide-path for the local airport is between my house and the TV towers 30 miles away.

    http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3074/2447447797_1dd11f22cd_z_d.jpg
    http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/VU-190XR.html
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  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    #21
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I found a good source for a FTA (Free To Air) satellite setup ($77 complete +shipping).
    wsidigital.com
    GALAXY 19 has >250 free channels from all around the world (not many in english though).
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  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    #22
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    Good info guys. Thanks a lot for sharing. Here in Nova Scotia, only the couple of cities, but not the rural transmitters have switched to digital - - - so far - -
    So it's good to know what we'll be up against to get the two still existing "peasant TV" channels if we quit Bell ExpressVu.

    Yes very good info , I purchased just under 2 bills of stuff and I'll find out next month.
    Ill take pictures and fill out the findings. RG6 to the Amp power splice , after that my house is finished with a Pine T&G ceiling .

    VT

    And thanks again folks.
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  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    #23
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    solarix wrote: »
    I found a good source for a FTA (Free To Air) satellite setup ($77 complete +shipping).
    wsidigital.com
    GALAXY 19 has >250 free channels from all around the world (not many in english though).

    Solarix, went there but do not know which model or brand to zero in on..... ??? no prices shown
    ps galaxy 19 is a bit far east for some of us out west, so may not get a good signal.

    thanks
     
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  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    #24
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    You have to register and get set up as a dealer (doesn't cost anything) in order to get pricing. Its the OmegaSat DSB-5701 receiver and dish/LNB.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #25
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    "I don't really need the gain of a large antenna but need the directivity to reduce multi-path signal dropouts from large passenger jets. The glide-path for the local airport is between my house and the TV towers 30 miles away."

    nsaspook,
    this is a bit late and may benefit you from what i already described in stacking 2 identical antennas with one above the other. spacings and the feed can get complex though. think of a single simple antenna as like a light bulb out in the open. (i know it's not that simple but for arguments sake) it lights up things fairly evenly around you. now a gain antenna is like a flashlight and concentrating more in one direction. the more gain the smaller, but brighter, the lighted circle of light will be. the key here is it's a circle of light. now putting 2 identical antennas one atop the other will squeeze it to a more horizontal oval roughly shaped like somebody would draw an eye to look like. if you were to do these 2 antennas side by side then it would squeeze it to a more vertical looking oval and you don't want that. this means that 2 smaller gain antennas one atop the other can give you the same result it would take a much much larger single high gain antenna to do. so why not just stay simple with 1 high gain antenna you might ask? because that gain is also a matter of squeezing the single antenna pattern from side to side as well as up and down and it could result in a minor wind blowing on the antenna enough to swing it back and forth slightly to and away from the station. you don't want the side to side antenna response to be that critical, but up and down you do to reduce the plane reflections. you may not totally get rid of the reflections either if they are that close to the main signal even with one atop the other high gain antennas. btw, this is known as vertical stacking.
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  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    #26
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    So with vertical stacking and pre Amps that must be mast installed, Are you adding a coaxial combiner / splitter from both Antennas into the pre amp ?
    And with this fuzzy logic , are splitters and combiners directional ? the same or different ? Im now also thinking that they should be custom made for water / weather protection. A "Y" cable !

    Thoughts ?

    VT
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  • nsaspook
    nsaspook Solar Expert Posts: 396 ✭✭✭
    #27
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    niel wrote: »
    " you may not totally get rid of the reflections either if they are that close to the main signal even with one atop the other high gain antennas. btw, this is known as vertical stacking.

    In my case turning the receiver antenna main gain lobe offset from the TV stations 5 to 10 degrees puts a radiation pattern null on the main reflection and gives a weaker but more stable signal. My first DTV receivers were using the first and second generation chip sets with very poor mulit-path rejection, all of the modern TV set use at least a 5th gen chip what handles my problems easily.

    FTA receivers are a good way to get TV when nothing else works. I also have a old PRIMESTAR dish on a DiSEqC H-H motor mount to pickup signals.
    http://mysite.verizon.net/res02dad/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/100_0017.jpg
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  • Vic
    Vic Solar Expert Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
    #28
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Good thread, Thanks CDN_VT for starting it, and those who contributed. Will have to look at all of the links.

    As a Comm-oriented person, am surprised that this system was chosen.

    In town, about 10 Line-Of-Site miles from a 970 Ft high tower on a 700 foot hill the reception went from gangbusters in any room with a 12-inch clip-lead to nothing at all useful.

    Put up an outdoor antenna. But it needs to be adjusted for most of the cannels. And, aircraft in/out of a major airport interfere with reception, often. This IS on an early DTV RX, so mabe things have improved.

    At the off-grid location we went from about 25 English channels with good to excellent reception, using an RV BayWing, to NOTHING, without a multi-element Yagi and rotator. NO channel is perfect. Most channels drop-out near sunset, and aircraft have a major impact on the intermittant reception. One channel may be LOS, but, the closest transmitter is about 25 miles and over four ridges -- generally useless. Several channels are almost solid reception, but even those do drop out -- we often have inversions which have a huge effect on UHF propagation.

    Will prob have to go to Sat TV. (was this system Welfare for Sat TV services??). I do not want to make OTA TV reception my life's work. Know that can make it much better, but would rather be building HF antennas/facilities.

    BUT, will read more on the links. Thanks for the info/links.
    Wind-Sun, thanks for this great site, and allowing this type of valuable info to be posted. Vic
    Off Grid - Two systems -- 4 SW+ 5548 Inverters, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH X2@48V, 11.1 KW STC PV, 4X MidNite Classic 150 w/ WBjrs, Beta KID on S-530s, MX-60s, MN Bkrs/Boxes.  25 KVA Polyphase Kubota diesel,  Honda Eu6500isa,  Eu3000is-es, Eu2000,  Eu1000 gensets.  Thanks Wind-Sun for this great Forum.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #29
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    I forgot about airplanes! YVR and YXX are on either side of Langley, and guess where the flight paths are. That could account for the drop-outs.

    Analog was better. :p
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  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    #30
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??

    Analog was better !!
    But ALL those Analog freq's are for the Military Corporation..

    Cariboocoot , Did you View the attached pix I posted ? YVR has flight holding lanes over Langley @ 4.6 K meters high min , YXX not even close , Main Radios for navigation flight control before handing over to the ground towers (there the ones at the airport/ aerodrome )are in Surrey 72 & King (close enough) ..

    How can Mount Seymour towers be interfered by aircraft ? you need an antenna first really , up in the attic , Roof mounts allowed anymore in the Green City ?
    My West Van house is cable driven , no bird dropping areas allowed.

    And I also agree Vic , It's great also to have discussions of these type with many who are like me , Wondering ..

    VT
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #31
    Re: Digital Antennas & TV stuff ??
    CDN_VT wrote: »
    So with vertical stacking and pre Amps that must be mast installed, Are you adding a coaxial combiner / splitter from both Antennas into the pre amp ?
    And with this fuzzy logic , are splitters and combiners directional ? the same or different ? Im now also thinking that they should be custom made for water / weather protection. A "Y" cable !

    Thoughts ?

    VT

    it may not be a must for you vt, but stacking is an option. i don't want to tell you to do one thing or another as stacking could be overkill and i don't want to say not to do it if a single antenna is not going to be enough for you. stacking is good, but like i said before it can get complex as impedances can cause difficulty in matching and feeding the antennas. even antenna spacing becomes a factor and will influence different frequencies differently so this is something that is engineered to a point. if you do go to 2 antennas, do know that only 1 preamp is needed and that would be placed after the antennas were properly combined and it would still be a mast mounted preamp.

    some splitters and combiners can be directional and some have other characteristics that i don't care to delve this far into. it isn't so much fuzzy logic, but know that i am not that familiar with what is available in the tv industry for doing much of this and what methods they like to employ. i guess it really can be fuzzy if one is unclear as to the best way to go about something. now you could try a decent single antenna with a quality mast mounted preamp just to see if it will work. odds are if the stations are very poor to non-existent still, then i doubt adding that second antenna to stack will make the cut either even though it may improve things. in other words don't complicate things if you don't have to.

    do keep connections weatherproof and the use of drip loops can also help tremendously
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