Happy Turkey Day Tigerbangs

[traderlars]

Tigerbangs, let me start by saying that you have some mad technical and personal skills and I appreciate your knowledge on the subject matter as well as the time that you put into the forum helping others. I have been searching for some material that can give me a more thorough understanding of the television antenna scene. I have landed on this forum and I'm finding that what you have to say is of great value and it has added to my very limited understanding of broadcast TV.

I have been a happy enthusiast and hobbyist of the FTA scene for several years up until the point where support for the equipment stopped being provided. FTA was clearly a fantastic way to enjoy many of the available channels crossing the airwaves and even afforded me the opportunity to learn something about other cultures through broadcasts that would otherwise never be made available to me. Since this is no longer an option, I have simply stopped watching TV completely. However, I would like to start taking advantage of the digital stations available to me. I am seeking your professional level advice about a multi-room multi-antenna setup.

I currently live in a 7 unit building with an identical 7 unit building next door. My location is Latitude: 42.011402 Longitude: -87.836904. The roof/chimney area would be the potential mount point and it seems to have clear line of sight to downtown Chicago. The antenna could be mounted as high as 30 feet on a pole (Is this called a mast?), however, more than likely the antenna will be just above the chimney at about 27 feet. For aesthetic purposes I would like to keep the antenna as small as possible and would be open to odd shaped antennas such as the Wineguard square antennas. I have also looked at the Wineguard 1080 bowtie as well because it is a smaller unit and would be less obvious to passersby. This unit would also pick up red channels and the city broadcasts one currently that is of interest to me.

The back of the building faces due east and from what I can see doesn't seem to have any large tree's or obstructions. These would produce what is called multipath. Is that correct? From reading your excellent posts I have come to the conclusion that I should mention a set of train tracks that are located about 100 feet from the building. I would like to know what I should use in this situation. I would be putting 2 of these antennas up. One for each building. So I would need two identical setups. I believe you mentioned something about multiple antennas causing multipath distortion. These antennas would be located about 20 feet from one another and again, would be identical and pointing in the same direction. From that point I would then need to split the signal 7 ways for each building. The coax run from the antenna to the basement would be about 40 - 50 feet. The coax run from the splitter point to the apartments could be as long as 70 feet in the extreme case.

Also, in your expert opinion, would an indoor set top antenna, 14 miles from the broadcast towers, withing a concrete brick building, 100 feet from a train, be able to pick up all the desired channels I now lust for on tvfool.com?

I'm not sure if I left anything out. I will be sure to add something if clarity is needed or if a new issue arises.

God Bless Tigerbangs and thanks for being a superstar.

Best Regards,

Traderlars

[tigerbangs]

Your situation isn't that difficult if you are willing to mount an antenna outdoors. Mounting two antennas 20 feet apart won't be much of an issue, either. The antenna choice is easy: because WBBM-DT is now on channel 12, you will need an antenna with good VHF as well as UHF reception, and the Winegard HD-7694P would be ideal. I would NOT use the HD-1080, since it actually has a small LOSS on VHF channels. It is actually more important to make sure that the distribution system to the apartments is properly designed. If you have good coaxial RG-6u coax cable available to each unit, then simply mount and aim the antenna in the direction of the Willis (Sears) tower, and run the coax cable from the antenna to an amplified 8 way splitter like a Channel Master CM3418, which should be mounted in a location in the building allowing the shortest possible cable runs to each apartment: that simple system shoule allow each apartment more than enough signal to enjoy high-quality digital TV as long as either a digital tuner or converter is used.