New Antenna Request

[stevesullis]

My inlaws are using rabbit ears and their reception is very hit and miss. They have 3 tvs and all are working on rabbit ears. They are fairly thrifty and have no interest in paying for cable. Do you have a recommendation for a low cost easy to install antenna that would maximize their reception? They live at 10425 Malaga way Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.

Also, just for information. Didn't they use to have antennas that installed under the eaves of a house and worked fairly well?

[tigerbangs]

It looks as if their primary stations come from Sacremento, and the transmitters are about 25 miles from their home, and all lie in one direction. I would use a small VHF-high-band plus UHF antenna mounted ON THE ROOF, like a Winegard HD-7694P or an AntennaCraft HBU-33. Mounting the antenna is easy enough, the issue will be to divide the signal 3 ways and distribute it to their 3 TV sets. You will need to use a small splitter-distribution ampliier mounted somewhere in a central location inside the house, which will be distribution point from which the coaxial cables to the TV sets will converge. You will need to run the coaxial cable from the antenna on the roof to the amplifier-splitter, which can be mounted in an attic. or somewhere central in the house that has access to AC power. You will then run coaxial cable from the splitter-amp to each room where there is a TV set.

I would use a Channel Master CM3414 splitter-amp, which will give you up to 4 TV outlets. Please follow the instructions posted below, and you should be very successful with all the Sacremento TV stations.

http://www.winegard.com
http://www.antennacraft.net
http://www.channelmaster.com
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf