TIRED OF THE PRICE OF CABLE "HELP"

[THELAW]

i need advise i live in se pa
17560 zip
2 story house ( will put antenna at about 35')
tall trees around house
live in the country

i've tryed the web programs to find out what channels i can get, but to be honest
i dont know by call letters what i would get, im so used to cable channnel numbers.
any suggestions
tom

[tigerbangs]

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

[BoatingBanjo]

I'm in the same boat.........sick of Charter cable and 99% of what I watch is available OTA anyway.
Here's my location reference:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 36594c75c0

Looking for best overall solution for OTA reception. Whatever is recommended, I'll probably try in my attic, just to see how it works, but can mount above roof if attic reception isn't acceptable. I do have a good many tall pine trees in my neighborhood and like on the west shore of Lake Norman, in case the lake may affect reception.

Wondering is there are any really good UHF/VHF omnidirectional models availabe?
Guidance will be much appreciated.

[Cutthecable]

Hi Mr BoatingBango.

Based on your location and TVFool signal results I would recommend a UHF only antenna. The reason is you only have one VHF-hi station on channel 11, PBS station WTVI-DT. So unless you want to receive that station specifically you only need a UHF antenna. You will still receive PBS station WUNG-DT and possibly WNSC-DT

Ok so what type of antenna you ask. I would recommend a AntennasDirect DB4 UHF antenna. http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-DB4-Multi-Directional-Antenna/dp/B000EHYG9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295654965&sr=8-1

They cost $45 from Amazon, you will also need a J pole to mount it on they cost about $25, finally you will need RG6 coaxial cable with F connectors, Home Depot may sell precut and pre-fitted cable with F connectors. Not sure if your existing Charter cable feeds multiple TVs if it does run the RG6 from the antenna to the distribution splitter that feeds all your TVs otherwise directly to your TV.

Attic installation should work OK at your location, if you are missing a few stations then you may want to consider a roof mount using the J pole on the roof, side wall or gable. If you install on the roof you need to consider grounding the pole, the benefit of a roof mount is you could run the RG6 directly to the Charter cable grounding block on the outside of the house as the feed in point.

I would recommend pointing the antenna in the direction of 150 degrees magnetic or SouthEast, the reason is these are your weaker stations and about 22miles away, the local stations are only 15 miles in the SouthWest direction at 232 degrees magnetic and should be received off axis without any issues.



If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Good luck and welcome to the cable cord cutters club.

Regards,
Cutthecable http://www.tvictory.com

[Cutthecable]

Mr Law,

You really need to enter your adddres into the TVFool tool and post the link back here, it won't show your address in the the link so no worries there.

Based on your zip I see the following signal plot. First look I would say the following you will need an external VHF/UHF hi-gain antenna and it will need to be roof mounted as high as possible, your distances from the transmitters look short but clearly have line of sight issues.



Good luck and welcome to the cable cord cutters club.

Regards,

Cutthecable http://www.tvictory.com

[BoatingBanjo]

Long delay since last message, but I just now finally cut the cable today. Based on your DB4 antenna recommendation, but still needing an attic installation, I bought a DB8 bundle, including the PA-18 preamp kit, which is located at the antenna in the attic. This feeds into an approx 30 ft. run of RG6 coax that inputs into a cable company provided 1x8 splitter, which has one output that feeds through 12 inches of RG-6 into a 2nd 1x8 splitter, of which 4 outputs are used. I get weak signal symptoms (signal loss, pixelation, freezing, etc) especially on nodes that are fed from the 2nd splitter. I suspect I'm doing more splitting/distribution loss than a preamp can overcome. Would a 1x1 powered amp likely resolve this? Other recommendations? Should I terminate the unused splitter outputs with 75 ohm f-connector terminators? Any guidance appreciated.

[tigerbangs]

It was never my suggestion, and I would have never recommended a DB-8, since the DB8 is a UHF only antenna, and doesn't work on VHF. You have 2 VHF stations in your TV market. I any event, mounting an antenna in an attic reduces thesignal available to the antenna by 50-90%. For best results, always mount your antenna outdoors, preferably at the highest point on your roof.