Winegard MS-1000 No Signal, but UHF Philips MANT940 Works

[bam1148]

I'm in Portland, OR and 8.3 miles away from the broadcast antennas. I have had a Philips MANT940 mounted outside for several months and that works fine. Reception has been excellent and I expected that since I can see the top half of the towers from the antenna mounting point.

The problem started when channels 8, 10 and 12 went back to their final VHF frequencies. I figured out that my antenna was UHF only and bought a Winegard MS-1000. I mounted it in the same position and got zero signal on any channel. I remounted the Philips to make sure there was no problem with the cable and UHF once again worked fine.

I used a six foot cable to attach the Philips indoors directly to the amplifier I use behind the TV. Again that worked just fine. My next test was to attach the MS-1000 to that same cable and, surprise, it DID WORK on all UHF and VHF channels.

Now I really don't want to mount this indoors since I already had a great mounting point outside and there is not a good spot inside. The outside mount attaches to a 100 foot cable that runs under the house to my amplifier behind the TV. I thought sure that the Winegard would work with no amplifier like the MANT940 does.

Why does the length of cable eliminate the signal from the MS-1000 and not the MANT940? What should I do next?

It would be easier to get a different antenna than rig up some kind of powered preamp at the outside antenna location.

I'd appreciate any ideas.

Bruce

[tigerbangs]

DID you get return privileges with the MS-1000? I would have NEVER recommended that antenna for your situation? I would replace the MS-1000 with a Winegard HD-7694P aimed at the Portland transmitters.