Weather and low power stations

[antsue]

We live in the California Sierra foothills at 2169 ft elevation less than 50 miles from the Central Valley and its broadcast stations with essentially no barriers to reception: our home is at N38 29.576, W 120 43.301. Last month we purchased a LCD tv so we bought a new hdtv antenna to replace the 40 year old (8 ft!!!) one in the attic. So we simply went the lazy way and bought this 100 mile rotary model off Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/100-MILE-OUTDOOR-TV ... 1c0e09b546. However, we used your website advice to put it on the roof and directed it to 246 degrees per your map. We do get more stations (mostly Spanish which is useless here) but not some of the major stations as we got before with our antique one in the attic. This morning it was downright pitiful with only one minor English station and several Spanish. I noticed that the Central Valley is experiencing heavy tule fog so was wondering if that ever interferes with reception? We are above the fog line so it was bright and sunny this morning here. And two favorite stations we cannot get are low power ones per your website; our old antenna never had a problem pulling them in but the new one never gets them even though they are practically on the same tower as the high powered stations and only 46 miles away. We also get a bunch of weak analog stations that are not even on your map -- they give me the impression they are much farther away. And what is very strange is we inconsistently get a high power digital station which is at the exact location as another high power digital one (sister station) which we consistently get. Overall, It just seems our reception radically changes from day to day on this new antenna. So can you answer if weather impacts reception or explain any of these reception anomalies? Fortunately we did not remove our antique antenna before testing this new one. Thanks, Sue

[tigerbangs]

Unfortunately, the antenna that you purchased is just a bad joke: the product of hype and hucksterism: it will never replace a real outdoor antenna for your situation.

Most of the Sacremento stations are 45 miles across the valley from you: a couple, like KOVR and KXTV, are quite strong in your area, however, several others, like KCRA and KTXL are much weaker, and will require a fringe-area antenna in order to see them clearly. You really need a VHF-UHF antenna that can do a proper job with all your TV stations. I would strongly recommend using a Winegard HD-7696P antenna aimed at 236 degrees by your compass. You may want to run long cable lengths, or split the signal to several TV sets, in which case, i would suggest that you also use a high-input preamplifier like a Winegard HDP-269, which won't overload on your strong stations, but will help the weaker stations in your area.

All of the stations from Sacremento come from essentially the same direction: you really do not need a rotator to see all of the major stations available to you. If you are using cable that came with the eBay antenna, get rid of it and buy high-quality RG-6u coaxial cable.

Here is your TVFOOL.com report for your coordinates: you will see that the stations vary widely in signal strength at your location.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 93b32ea5c5

http://www.winegard.com
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf

[antsue]

Thanks so much for that info but yikes, that model would look hideous on the house!!! I was reluctant to add the little one from Ebay but a 9 ft model is totally unacceptable. Isn't there something much smaller that would do the job (albeit less but hopefully better than one English station)? I would frankly rather give up altogether on TV reception than to have that ugly thing attached to it. We actually watch very little TV and use it mainly for Netflix DVDs. And with our wireless service I can watch more and more TV on my laptop, although it is only good for one person at a time. We live on top of a hill with very little soil -- solid rock which they had to blast to put in the house foundation, so putting up a pole would be very difficult/expensive. Unfortunately, after we put in the new ducts for the heating and air system in the attic it took up lots more room than before which means the old antenna is scrunched into one position with only about 3 or 4 inches of rotation at the most. Do you know if I can just add a pre-amp to the old one? It may have been installed before the house was finished decades ago so taking it out or replacing it in the attic would also be a challenge given the only access door is 2' sq. and the reduced workspace from the new ducts. I have considered satellite service (perfect hilltop location) but hesitate because they offer so many crappy programs we would never watch in the first place. So what might be your second choice given this situation? Thanks again, Sue

[tigerbangs]

Sorry, but you don't bend the laws of physics to suit your purposes: you tried an antenna that didn't work, now, if you want something that DOES work, follow my recommendation.

[antsue]

Problem solved!!! Returned the Ebay antenna for a full refund -- absolutely no problems with the vendor. Then we tried a Radio Shack High Gain Signal Amplifier ($69) on the old antenna and it worked great. Now we are getting all the stations just fine. BTW, my husband did look into getting the equipment you suggested at the local Winegard dealer and he sure didn't seem like he wanted our business so he went to the Radio Shack down the road and they were terrific. Thanks, Sue