Trying to find the best antenna..93003

[73PopTop]

Thanks for the reply tigerbangs.

Would the FM6 go at the bottom of the mast? I assume I would need to secure the mast with guy wires or would a tripod do? Also, do I need any additional hardware or will the FM antenna be "integrated" along the same coax?

Thanks.

[tigerbangs]

I would mount it below the other antennas on the mast, since it isn't as height-critical as the other antennas.

You can add the antenna to the existing coax cable by adding a VHF-FM combiner, but if you insert it before your preamplifier, you will ned to disable the FM trap in the preamplifier, or you won't see any improvement in reception

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc ... er-(CA8800)&c=Signal%20Combiners&sku=615798300593

[73PopTop]

Thanks tigerbangs.

How high should the antennas be from the ground? Our roof is about 16-17' above ground in one spot towards the back of the house (where I'd like to install) and about 22-23' in the front of the house. I was thinking about adding more mast say 10-15' sections above the roof in the back of the house which puts the antennas about 26 or 31' above ground.

Thanks!

[tigerbangs]

Higher is usually better, but, in any event, the antenna should not be blocked by roof structure: make sure that, if you mount on the baqck of the house, that the antenna sees over the highest part of the roof.

[73PopTop]

Thanks tigerbangs.

I'm anxiously awaiting my antennas and the CM7777. Will let folks know how it goes..

Thanks!

[73PopTop]

So I've tried the "Antennas Direct 91XG UHF TV Antenna (91XG)" and it works great. When I tried/tested it inside the house I picked up about 30 stations with about 15-20% signal strength. However, I tried it outside with a 50' cable on top of an 8' ladder and picked up 40-50 stations directly connected to one TV set. What is surprising is that I get channels 7,9,11,13 that I thought were only obtainable with the VHF antenna (Winegard). Anyway, I picked up the stations above with about 20-30 signal strength, but clearly usable without venturing to the roof yet. I'm starting to think I might not need the Winegard VHF yagi or perhaps the pre-amp 7777. Not sure yet..maybe it was a good day weather wise etc with the 91XG.

Anyway, I'm still testing. Now, I'll unplug the cable TV to one set and see what I find using my ladder test. Interesting data point.. FWIW.

[73PopTop]

So, I've tried the 91XG with the CM 7777 pre-amp and get all the stations I thought I could only get with the Yagi Winegard antenna. I'm pretty impressed that I get around 75 stations (albiet 35-40% International.) Now, it's time to find a permanent home on the roof and whether to use a tripod or vent mount or wall mount (leaning toward the latter..the vent looked a little fragile and don't really want to poke holes in the roof.) I like the design of the 91XG too since it doesn't look like all the neighbors' antennas.

[73PopTop]

OK, I've got the 91XG doing about the best that it can in this location. Note, that this a eve mount installation since I really didn't want to venture onto the roof to make adjustments. I had to move the antenna several times on the mast to find the best reception for all stations. Interesting that about a foot to a foot and a half from the top of the antenna mast actually got the best reception on all channels. Also, interesting to note that channels 7-13 work fine on this UHF antenna. Maybe just lucky I suppose, but I'm very satisfied with this setup. I've even got my neighbor and a friend switched over to this setup. Thanks tigerbangs for the help!