The government stole my free TV

[Newsman]

This is about principles.
The airwaves were free when we got our first TV in 1950 and I see no reason why they can’t be free now.
The government stole my TV and I want it back.
The promises were that if you had good reception before it would only get better.
Ha! They should have said:
“ I’m from the government, I’m here to help you, bend over.”
I want my free TV back and I don’t care what it costs. Well, I might care a little bit.

OK, now that’s off my chest here’s the situation.

I live just west of Howells, NY, 10934 on a bit of a hill, exact location is:
(Google) 41.481274,-74.482241 That is right on road in front of house. And on (Yellow Pages .com) 41.481684,-74.482311 puts the target right on the roof when you look at satellite photo.

Prior to digital switchover we got 2,4,5,7,9,11,13, all the pictures were clear, no snow unless it was a monsoon out there and then 13 and 11 faded.

Antenna is a fairly straightforward 25-year old antenna.
Ten arms from front to back and from narrow to wide. Then there are seven same size arms slightly above and between the lower arms.

We live in a large gambrel, facing south (for the solar) and the antenna didn’t reach above the roof and the widest arm was some 4 inches from the upwardly sloping roof and pointing south east towards NYC 166 degrees.

Feeding three older, from 2 years old to 12 years old. Signal through a small Radio Shack amp/distributor in the basement, some 25 ft from antenna.
Now we only get 7, 11, and a couple local religious stations on 48.1, .2 and .3 as well as 54.1 .2 .3 .4 and .5

We had bought two converters, A Tivax, suppose to be best at long range signals and a Zenith DTT901. Feeding just one set, a 8 year old Magnavox, they both get the same channels but the Zenith pulls in signal better. This is without the amp.

Moved antenna up on top of roof with additional pole. It is now 28 feet higher than old set and adding another 25 feet to the ground for 53 feet off the ground.

Net result We now get Channel 13 w/ the Zenith, no change w/ Tivax.

By the way all of the stations are coming off Empire State building 65 miles away.

The FCC coverage maps (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/ ) show we should get all but channel 2.

HERE is a response from Channel 2.
“What you are experiencing is reception of ONLY the VHF signals.
2,4,5 and 9 are now on UHF and require different methodologies.

We are finding that people with traditional VHF/UHF antennas on the roof are having troubles as the UHF sections of these antennas are poor at best, especially at long distances and in the hills and valleys.
A 4 Bay UHF panel antenna has been helping a lot of people (about $40)
We are continuing to test and find the dead zones to come up with a plan to mitigate it.
Please keep the faith - EVERYONE is working on it.”

When I first found this site there was an entry about a VHF antenna, a UHF , a rotor and an amp. Then someone posted just after that it was such a good setup it was worth repeating, and they did. Now I can’t find it.

Saw info about the big Delhi or as someone said, it’s like parking a ford Taurus on you roof. Not sure I have the room for that.

Sorry for length of post.
So heres the questions: What kind of setup would you recommend? Is the comment from Channel 2 about small UHF true? And can you get me my free TV back???
Thanks, MikeC in Howells NY

[tigerbangs]

You are a candidate for my deep=fringe prescription, which is the system that I think that you were referring to in your post. You need a Winegard YA-1713 VHF high-band antenna and an AntennasDirect XG-91 UHF antenna mounted on the same mast 4' above the VHF antenna. Combine the output of the two antennas with a Channel Master Titan 7777 preamplifier, which has separate VHF and UHF inputs. Replace ALL your antenna cable with new RG-6u coaxial cable! Mount the antenna array on top of a Channel Master 9521a rotator. Get as much altitude as you possibly can. Run the coax cable from the preamp and the rotator control cable into the house, and connect the preamplifier power supply to a 4 way high-quality 1 Ghz or better splitter then make your run to your TV tuners.

http://www.antennasdirect.com
http://www.channelmaster.com
http://www.winegard.com
http://www.channelmasterintl.com/docume ... lation.pdf

[KH-55]

Newsman I'm farther out than you from the sounds of it and I feel exactly the way you do about this switch. Thing I really dislike is getting the news taken off the air so I don't know what my Government or the world is up to nor what crimes or streets are closed locally in the city if I go up that way. If they had set it up to where everyone who use to get analog signals still got the digital signals is the only fair and right way they could have made this change. Bet a lot of Congressmen bought stock in cable and sat companys LOL.
Can't help, but took my putting in info from tvfool to get a reply since it tells you exactly how far away the stations are at and the strength of their signals. Use your Lat/Long at http://www.tvfool.com, insert the right hieght of your antenna and then click make radar plot. On that page at the top is a link you can save to post here which will give the guys a better ideal of your location info. From that info looks like I'm in for a lot of work to get mine back on, but it will be worth it to keep it free.

[Newsman]

Tigerbangs, got the recommendations and am getting ready to order up. Thanks for the prompt reply. Question about the rotor. The Channel Master Titan 7777 is getting slammed in the reviews I found. Seems there is a major problem now that it is being made in China. Seems it's freezing up, (not from the cold) at 0 and 36o degrees (not temperature) and on several sites, (Amazon) people are really praising (before China) and hating it ( Since China) the product. Any other suggestions for a rotor??
Hate to buy one and then have to try and get the antenna down again. At my age I want this to be the last time I'm up 30 feet off the ground. (Did I mention my height phobia???)
MikeC

[Newsman]

MikeC again. Stupid me. Working multiple screens and flipping back and forth has me all screwed up. Previous post said the 7777 when I meant to say the Channel Master 9521A rotor getting bad reviews. Sorry about that one.
It'll be a wonder if I'm even able to hook everything up without falling off the roof. Hope not.
But I did have a question about the gain on the 7777. With me getting 7, 11, and 13 do I need to worry about overloading on gain the VHF side of the 7777 or should I get the 7778?
I'm just so damn happy that I am getting answers that I'm screwing up the replies.

[tigerbangs]

Channel Master 9521a rotators are now in very short supply because Channel Master has redesigned the motor to solve the problems that others have encountered. If you are wary, you can use a Hy-Gain AR-40, which is a lot more money, but pretty indestructible, and may border on overkill. You'll find that almost all of the rotators sold these days are made in China, so I can't suggest a comparably-priced alternative.

I strongly suggest that, if you don't like heights. that you hire a handyman to do the work on the roof. Imagine what it will save you in hospital bills...LOL

[Newsman]

Re: the 1ghz splitter. Am I looking for something like the HRvS4 HRS and HRvS Series splitters that utilize diode protected circuitry to prevent DC backfeeding,
OR
do I need something like the Channels Plus Model 2514 DC & IR Passing 4-way which passes DC IR signals on the coax. Splitter/Combiner is a bi-directional 4-way splitter/combiner that provides a 1 GHz bandwidth and is ideal for antenna and coaxial cable operations.

I figure the passing ir and dc refers to the signals for the rotor. Is that right? If so does that mean that a rotor signal wouldn't go through the Holland.
If these don't do it just give me a brand and model. Thanks, MikeC

[tigerbangs]

There are so many splitters on the market that its impossible to name all of them, but the splitters that you mentioned will work. The Channel master 9521 uses a 3 conductor cable of its own, which has nothing to do with the coaxial cable. It is preferable to the Eagle Aspen rotator, which feeds its signal up the coaxial cable.

[Newsman]

OK now. Wasn't really surprised that most of the items you recommended were on back order what with the change over but I finally have all everything in.
A couple of questions regarding hooking up cables and rotor wires.

1. The grounding block for the RG-6, I am assuming that the block should be up on antenna. Does that go before or after the amp?

2. Can the wires be bundled or should the be separate? I am using quad shield and I will have the RG-6, ground and a wire for the rotor. I am guessing that the shouldn't be taped together to the mast. Can they all go through the same standoffs or does each line have to be routed individually?

3. When the lines leave the mast can they be fastened directly to side of house, or do I again need the stand offs?

[tigerbangs]

neither the coaxial cable nor the rotator control wire require standoffs:you can use electrical tape or zip ties to attach the cables to the pole, and use cable clips to attach the cable to the side of the house. The coaxial grounding clamp should be installed on the coax cable just before it enters the house AT GROUND LEVEL. Connect the grounding rof the the cable clamp with either aluminum or copper grounding cable.