Antenna choices for 75089

[rwiz47]

OK, so I live in 75002 and you recommended the 7694p for me to get the Dallas channels...Im down with that..but my father lives in Rowlett and is actually a few miles closer than me, but he must be in a freakin hole because his address shows pretty much Red or the color just closer than that...So my question is will a 7694p work for him as well or will something like the 7696p be in order? He doesnt have anything blocking him at all around his house as they are spread out more. Im about to order mine and wanted to go ahead and get his as well at the same time.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[tigerbangs]

The HD-7694P will do fine for him: a red are is not a weak-signal area, but may have multipath issues, which a directional roof-mounted antenna will solve for you.

[rwiz47]

Hes the same as me the only towers that matter are all grouped up in Dallas so it makes that part easy. Thanks , now to order a couple 7694p's and get this done.

[rwiz47]

Ok, I have installed my 7694p. I get all the channels I figured I would, except ABC which is the trouble station for the Dallas area always...

Now my picture looks great, HD nice and shiny..but when I check the signal on the TV its about 60-70%..This is just to one tv with only a barrel to connect the line from the antenna to the line to the tv. I expected better than this even though as far as I can tell the picture seems perfect. Now my first question is, how much of an error in aiming the antenna really matters for this antenna? IE it wants me to point it at 203-205 degrees, i used a compass and its close, but if its say really at 210-220 degrees is that really going to affect the signal much?

Would this be a case where a pre amp would bump me up another 10-20% in signal strengh? or am i dreaming and would I only net about 5% improvement?

The neighbor does have a couple of tall trees that are close to my path, but no joke they are just far enough apart that its aiming right between the 2 tree tops where there is open space.

[tigerbangs]

I have to wonder whether our coax cable is any good: did you use new cable or did you reuse other cable? If your coax is good, a preamp might help you, but you should have a good signal on all of your stations, including WFAA-DT. Be sure to check the following, though, before spending any more money:

1. I wonder if your antenna is aimed 180 degrees off: Is the forked part of the antenna facing the transmitters? Mis-aiming is the most common cause of low signal strength.

2. Make sure that your the "F" fittings on your coax cable are not shorted out. If you installed your own fittings, crossing drain wire across the center conductor is a common problem. If you have a VOM meter around, try checking resistance between the center conductor and the outer body of the "F" fitting with the cable disconnected from the antenna. If you find any continuity between the two, you need to replace the fitting, or the cable.

3. If you are re-using cable, follow the cable into the house to see if there are any signal splitters installed in the line> A splitter will significantly reduce your signal if you didn't plan for it when selecting an antenna.

Good luck, and get back to us: you should see signal-strengths of 80-100 on your local stations if your antenna is installed properly

[rwiz47]

The cables are new, one is a long one I had the Sat guy make and leave me when he installed my HD dish a couple months ago and the other I made, I have a spool of RG6 and compression ends and all that. I will double check but all that should be fine. I checked and for the common channels Fox, NBC i get 100% signal, and some others in the 60-70% range. But I dont get WFAA at all, nada. It is pointed correctly im pretty sure, I looked at a neighbors to get an idea and used a compass, its pointed with small end in front or < towards the towers. But like I said it may not be exact on the degrees, but close. Sounds like a few degrees doesnt matter that much. But maybe it does for ABC?? its the only VHF channel I care about as well if that matters. With me getting all the others so well I dont know what to think for not seeing WFAA at all.

[rwiz47]

Everything looks fine that I can tell so I have no idea why Abc is not comming in. I mean I dont even see any analog either for abc if any of that is still running. I would feel better if it was just a poor signal or something....

Is it premature to think about a WInegard HDP-269 pre amp? Or go with something like the CM 7777? NBC and Fox both are showing 100% , but CBS is around 70%. I dont want to over do it and end up overloading, but dont want to under shoot it either. Or is there something else to try? Im really surprised im having issues with this antenna in my location, Im only running maybe 50', no splitters just 1 barrel joining 2 cables. I know WFAA is the channel running low power and like the only one on VHF

[tigerbangs]

Your next choice would be to look at a Winegard HDP-269 preamp, but it's only likely to make any reall difference on WFAA-DT

[rwiz47]

OK I added the 269 Preamp and now get all UHF channels 100% and I now get ABC WFAA but im only getting like 4 bars on the signal. I havent seen any pixiling on there yet, but the fact that its only 4 out of 10 bars makes me think they just arent putting out a good signal as there is no other reason I can see why I cant get this channel better.

[tigerbangs]

WFAA is scheduled to raise their power when their analog signals signs off on June 12. They will go back to Channel 8 at that time, and you should see a better signal.