Finding a direction to point...

[dpearceMN]

I live in a town with only one transmitter about ten miles away. I used to be able to get it with my directional antenna, but not since I decided to experiment with the direction I have it pointed.

I have it pointed in the right direction for the local transmitter but no joy. But at night I can pick up transmitters several hundred miles away in another state! 100 degrees in another direction!

I suspect I need to aim the antenna. I could buy a rotator for $100 but it's is likely to be pointed and then never turned again.

Is there a cheaper option? Climbing up on the roof fourteen-eleven times if not appealing. Is there a manual rotator (non-motorized) out there?

Thanks

[tigerbangs]

please-post-your-tvfool-com-results-when-posting-questions-t649.html

tips-for-getting-good-antenna-advice-read-before-posting-t52.html

[dpearceMN]

As you requested:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... e4a73706d7

My zip code is 56001. I plan on running only two newer digital TVsTVs. There are numerous trees surrounded my property but no houses as high as my antenna. The trees are 50-80 foot tall while my antenna is about 35 foot above the ground.

[tigerbangs]

OK, the information that you gave me will make this quite easy, thank you! KEYC, channel 12 is close to you, true, and a decent antenna should get it for you without a problem by aiming it at a compass heading of 232 degrees. However, you have a large number of translators stations about 30 miles from your location that rebroadcast all of the Minneapolis-St. Paul stations in digital, and you should also be able to get those stations without a problem, as well.

All of the translator stations are on UHF, while KEYC is on VHF. If you want to see those stations, too, I suggest using a two-antenna solution on your roof: a small VHF high-band yagi aimed at the KEYC transmitter plus a high-gain UHF antenna aimed at the cluster of translators that lie at a compass heading of 261 degrees. I would suggest using an AntennasDirect 91XG for the UHF stations, and an AntennaCraft Y-5-7-13 VHF high-band yagi aimed at the translators at 261 degrees. The antennas can be mounted on the same mast, but should be separated vertically by at least 4'. Combine the signals from the 2 antennas using a Pico-Macom (or equivalent) UVSJ antenna joiner, and you will probably want to consider a small distribution amplifier/splitter indoors like a Channel Master CM3412, which will amplify and divide the incoming antenna signal so that the signal cables can be easily run to your 2 TV sets. Be sure to use high-quality RG-6u coaxial cable for all your connections.

When the new antenna system is finally properly installed, you will need to go into the tuner menu on your TV sets, be sure that the tuner is set for 'off air' or 'antenna' and NOT CABLE, then have the tv tuners scan for all the available stations. You should see between 19 or 20 TV signals when all is working properly, including all your major networks. Good Luck!

[dpearceMN]

Thanks for the information. How did you identify the translator stations? I couldn't figure out who belonged to who.

Right now I'm aimed about 232 but I'm not getting KEYC but I am getting KGAN (Cedar Rapids, IA 141 deg), KIMTCBS (Mason City, IA 150 deg) and KDSM (Des Moines, IA 173 deg). All over 150 miles away. Is it possible to get skip with UHF? I called KGAN and the engineering department says they have nothing this far north.

This why I was thinking about a rotator simply because I guess I'm getting reflections rather than straight shots.

Thanks for the help.

[tigerbangs]

I have a feeling that you may have your antenna pointed 180 degrees out of sync. If you are not seeing KEYC, which should be VERY strong in your area, either you have a bad antenna, bad coaxial cable, a mis-aligned antenna or a TV stuner that has not been properly scanned.

As for identifying the local translators, if you refer to your TVFool.com plot listing the translators by call letters, you can Google-search each translator to identify which MSP station they relay. For Example K30FM rebroadcasts KSTP, ABC from St Paul.
K43JE is Public broadcasting from Austin, MN, etc.

[dpearceMN]

I have the front correct, so I'm going to play with pointing it different directions and see what happens.

With HDTV broadcasts, do they vary in strength given the time of day?

[tigerbangs]

Stations do not vary their operating power at different times: it is always constant, however, atmospheric conditions can serve to either propagate or attenuate signals. Your sporadic reception of stations 150 miles away is a result of this phenomena.