Adding a OTA ant. to my setup

[riggscm]

Hey Gang,
over the next couple of days I'm going to be installing a OTA antenna to pick up my local HD content.

I'm looking for any advise you guys might have for me, or any pitfalls to avoid.

I'm going to attic mount the ant. and hook up a signal amplifer to it.

thanks in advance

 

[Todd Wiedemann]

How close to the towers are you ??

You may not need a signal amp. It's possible to overdrive the signal for OTA reception.

Also, must you attic mount ?? Your results will be better if you can mount it in the open-air.

 

[charper1]

Visit ANTENNAWEB it will provide you with the best information.

 

[riggscm]

I'm about 50-60 miles away from the towers, so I'm certain I'll need a amp. I'll try with and with out, just to see how it goes.

regarding the attic mount. Must I?? well to keep peace in the house I must.

Based on AntennaWeb I'm mostly purple on mt DT stations.

 

[charper1]

Well another thing to read from that site is your directions from the towers.

If they are close to one direction, then I would get the Winegard HD9095p, or the Radio Shack no name equal if it is cheaper.

If they are in all directions, then you will need a good multi-directional antenna or more than one good directional, which gets ugly.

I also agree that you really should mount these outside.

 

[Mtnmike]

The ability to receive OTA in my location (40 miles NNW of Denver) is questionable. Some people I know are reporting OTA reception and some are not. Two questions:

Is there any way to check signal strength before buying an antennae and cable?

What is the indicator a signal amplifier would help?

Thanks

 

[colofan]

I would go over to the ota thread for denver on the avs forum.

 

[ToddHealy]

I see from your signature that you have an HD TiVo. Be aware that HD TiVos can't control a rotator. Consider installing two (or more if needed) antennas if you can't receive all channels simultaneously from one antenna.

Broadcasts in my state come from two different directions and I'm not close enough to use a multidirectional antenna. I had a pair of Delhi VU935SR antennas installed in late Spring. This set up allows my HD TiVos to record anything I receive without me needing to dial a rotor one way at 8:00, then another at 9:00 etc. Having only one antenna would defeat much of purpose of having a TiVo.

That suggestion is specific to using DVRs with OTA. In addition I'll pass along a quote I remember from somebody on another home theater site.
Bigger is better
Higher is better
Outdoors is better
Directional is better
These are generalizations of course, but they will hold true for most people.