Need Help with Pixelated Picture

[regrap]

I'm a little new to using an antenna since I've been a cable subscriber for as long as I can remember. I recently decided that I no longer need to pay the cable fees since the majority of the shows I watch are on the major networks which are free over the air. I recently bought a ClearSteam 2 Long Range Outdoor Antenna and mounted it to my roof. According to all my research I'm only about 15 miles from the broadcast antenna's and from what I can see I have a pretty clear line of site (I live in zip code 84096). I can see the broadcast antenna's from my back deck, so it seems to me I should be getting a great picture without any problems.

So here's the issue, although it looks like I'm getting a great signal strength, some of the shows that I'm watching will get pixelated for a moment and then go back to normal. For some shows it's ok and I can handle it, but for others it get's pretty annoying. Is there something that I can do to get a better picture? I'm not sure if it could be something with my tuner, which is a HTPC (Windows based computer) that I use for a DVR, or if it's something that wrong with my antenna or cabling. I'm not sure if this matters, but I just mounted my antenna to the post that my old dish was mounted to. I figured since all of the cables were already there and it gave me a clear line of site to the broadcast antennas it would be an ideal place to mount that antenna. Like I said, I'm pretty new to this so all of my assumptions could be totally wrong so I figured I would ask to see if anyone could help.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[tigerbangs]

The Clearstream 2 was an unfotunate choice for an antenna in your situation: the area that you live in is VERY mountainous, and the Chearstream 2 is rather multidirectional. When you put the two together, you get multipath, which is what you are experiencing. The signals may be strong in your area, but they are being reflected by the other mountains, and causing the effect that you see. Fortunately, all of the Salt Lake City transmitters are on UHF, so you can use a more compact antenna that if you had to receive VHF, but you need a high-gain, highly directional antenna aimed directly at the transmitters in your situation. Even though it may SEEM like overkill, I would strongly suggest returning the Clearstream 2 and getting an AntennasDirect XG-91, which is a deep-fringe, highly directional UHF antenna. It has over 3 times the gain of the Clearstream 2, and is capable of rejecting the multipath distortion that is causing problems for you. When you mount the XG-91, use the tilt feature that allows the front of the antenna to see above the horizon to tilt the antenna up towards the TV transmitters.

[regrap]

Any idea on how big the AntennasDirect XG-91 is? I was trying to avoid mounting a large antenna on my home, which is why I initially went with the ClearStream 2. Would I still be able to mount it to my old satellite mount? Is the XG-91 the only option or would have any other suggestions? Sorry for all the questions. I'm a little new to this.

Thanks!

[tigerbangs]

The XG-91 is your BEST option, but you can also use a smaller XG-43 with success. I suggest using the AntennasDirect antennas since AntennasDirect will swap antennas for you with minimal fuss.

http://www.antennasdirect.com