Another newbie question, which OTA

[twotone7777]

Hi.

I have been lurking for sometime trying to decide if the HD OTA is worth it or not. I have DTV, with HD, but no local HD available yet. So, it is pretty much worthless, except for ESPN. My main goal is to watch my beloved Lions(Laughter outloud noted). So, I really only need the Fox affiliate, anything else would be a bonus. I would love to get the main ones, if possible. I live in Greenville, MI, 48838.

According to antennaweb, here is what I have:
*green - uhf WZZM-DT 13.1ABC GRAND RAPIDS MI 295° 32.0 39
*red - vhf WWMT-DT 3.1CBS KALAMAZOO MI 202° 37.5 2
*red - vhf WOOD-DT 8.1NBC GRAND RAPIDS MI 202° 33.5 7
*red - uhf WXMI-DT 17.1FOX GRAND RAPIDS MI 204° 33.9 19
*blue - uhf WTLJ-DT 54.1IND MUSKEGON MI 250° 32.5 24
*blue - uhf WZPX-DT 43.1i BATTLE CREEK MI 163° 34.9 44
*blue - vhf WGVU-DT 35.1PBS GRAND RAPIDS MI 251° 32.1 11
*violet - uhf WCMU-DT 14.2PBS MOUNT PLEASANT MI FCC Ext 12° 41.9 56

My concern is that I had to mount my sat dish very high, due to my treeline. My other concern is ease or there lack of, for installation. I have installed many sat dishes through the years, but have never had to do an antenna. Knowing the tree situation, I will not even try to get by with an attic install. It will for sure need to go on the roof.

So, my questions are this:

What type of setup would you go with?
How difficult is the install, relatively speaking? One person/2 person job?
Does anyone know of any local(grand rapids, MI) sources for purchasing the ant?
What are the recommended online sources?

I realize I have seen numerous posts about this topic, so I am hopefull someone can give me a quick rundown. I was initially thinking of the channelmaster 4228, but I thought I should ask first, so I do not end up buying something that does not work.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Hall]

~30 miles away isn't a big deal (I pick up a station that far away with an indoor antenna) and CBS, NBC, and FOX are all in the same direction, 202' to 204'. To pick up ABC, you'll need either a rotator to re-position your antenna or a 2nd antenna (and an A-B switch).

Of those (4) stations, two are UHF and two are VHF, so you'll need a combination antenna.

You also don't need "line of sight" so much to pick up the signals. Do you have any sort of low-cost, indoor antenna available ?? If so, try one just to confirm that LOS isn't a necessity.

 

[texasbrit]

The CM4228 won't work for you if you want WWMT, the 4228 is a UHF antenna with pretty good performance on hi-band VHF (maybe down to channel 7) but WWMT uses channel 2 for digital so you need a good UHF/VHF combo antenna, Rick has recommended a Winegard, I have never used this one but they make good antennas...
I can't believe WWMT is sticking with channel 2 for their digital station, they have had every chance to change - most stations with lo-band VHF have moved to hi-band or to UHF...

 

[Tower Guy]

The CM4228 won't work for you if you want WWMT, the 4228 is a UHF antenna with pretty good performance on hi-band VHF (maybe down to channel 7) but WWMT uses channel 2 for digital so you need a good UHF/VHF combo antenna, Rick has recommended a Winegard, I have never used this one but they make good antennas...
I can't believe WWMT is sticking with channel 2 for their digital station, they have had every chance to change - most stations with lo-band VHF have moved to hi-band or to UHF...

I believe that WWMT has asked the FCC for a high VHF channel.

 

[Jason Kragt]

I believe that WWMT has asked the FCC for a high VHF channel.

Yes. They have requested channel 8 as soon as WOOD-TV (analog) is forced to abandon it. February 2009?

 

[twotone7777]

You would need

winegard hd7084p antenna
cm7777, ap8275, or ap8700 preamp
cm9521A rotor
3' tripod
2- 5' heavy duty mast
coax and connectors
rotor cable
8 ga. copper wire
grounding block
ground rod

Not to sound like a cheap @ss, but do you really think it is necessary to go with the big dog? If so, fine.
I was thinking however, of getting an antenna from somewhere local(lowes) around here, just to see if I can get any signal, then return it. If I do get signal, I would go all in for the bahama mama setup.
I will keep all updated, but dang, is this stuff expensive.

 

[Jim5506]

A lower quality (cheaper) antenna will give you less signal (up to 50%) and have to be replaced much sooner - you may well be looking at false economy. The more expensive antenna will be cheaper in the long run.

 

[texasbrit]

I must have missed WWMT's request for channel 8 in the FCC lists...
The CM4228 should be OK for channel 8 at that range. But you won't get anything much I expect on channel 3 (that's WWMT analog, correct) or on channel 2 for the digital station, in the transition period up to 2009.
Of course you could couple a CM4228 with a VHF antenna just for channels 2/3, this seems to be a good solution for anyone with just one VHF station.

 

[Bulbman2]

cm4228 and winegard 7777

I have the cm4228 and windgard7777. I live in galesburg and pick up all the digital stations including 8(7) even though it is a uh only antenna- I get 6-8-10-17-23-41-47-53.... gr and lansing and southbend. I do have a rotor but pointed at 20 degrees gr and lansing come in fine. 3 digital is out of the question although it comes in sporadically. that is exactly why I use the lansing stations and 23 pbs operates most of the day.

John

 

[tbone49]

i mounted an older combo in my attic, near G.R., 8, 13 ,17, 41, with aliittle tweaking at 90-100 , 3, 35(uhf), got worse the more i tweaked lost at 70 or so and could'nt get them above it. I tried an amb and that killed every thing. 35 is about 10 miles, 3 is like 46... any way I added an attenuater(sp) in line, and now all are pretty constant in the 85-95 range.

 

[twotone7777]

Just an update, if anyone cares. Plus a couple more questions.

Due to my concern about maybe not even able to get a signal at my house, I decided to just buy a local antenna to put up and see what I get. I bought a CM3020 for $100 and a mast from RadioShack. My two big issues are living in the woods, and having a incredibly steep slope on my roof.

What I did was mount the mast outside my bedroom window on my lesser sloped overhang for my front porch. I used just a 5 foot mast.

I ran a temporary 50' line directly into my window to see what signal strength I got. I could get up in the 80-90 range on the channel 17, and down to about 50-60 on some others in the same general direction. So, I thought,"sweet, this thing is a done deal, all I need is a rotor and I am in business". Well not so fast.

You see, I have DTV. So, I ran the antenna into my 5X8 switch(4lines from D, and 1 from Ant). Then to my HDTV, through a diplexer. Well, bye bye signal strength. I lost 17, it floated between 45 and 0, but I somehow kept, of all channels, 3. Which is the farthest away. I then disconnected the ant line from the switch, and connected it with a male to male fitting onto the run connected directly to the feed to the HDTV. The signals were better, but not as good as when I originally ran the line. So, my assumption, is I lose signal strength due to the lenght of the entire run. I have the 50' to the switch, plus another 50' to the tv.

My questions are:

Since I just bought the CM as a temporary to see what I get, should I return and go for the Winegaurd as mentioned earlier by rick0725? Is it that much better? If so, I definately want to do it. Not trying to cheap out, now that I see how nice HD is.

Will adding the preamp, do what I need it to do, in order to get the signals after the multi switch? I really cannot run a lone line to the tv due to finished walls.

Based upon what I read, as long as I have some signal strength, the preamp should help?

Will adding another 5' help out significantly?

Also, I had a problem connecting the 75ohm connector. One of the ant connecters bolts was stripped, so I could only get about 1 nut engagement. I added a bunch of washers to take up the slack. Could that also be causing some signal loss?

All in all, I am pretty excited about this. I was able to watch a little golf in HD. OMG how sweet that was.

Thanks for the guidance.

 

[twotone7777]

Also, none of the analog stations came in very well at all. I kinda thought they would look good. Not that I care, but they did not. Could anyone explain that as well?

thanks

 

[ralfyguy]

Here's an interesting comparison:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

 

[stuffinabox]

i live here in town as well, i really did not look at the model you have for an antenna, but regardless unless you go with a directional antenna here you will need a pre amp. I actually have a large tree directly in the los to the fox and wood towers with a old 15 db cable amp on i get everything i need.

Where did you get the converter box? the ones around here are bottom of the line!

Go with a channel master for best signal.
Can you run seperate lines? you will get a bit of loss diplexing, running seperate lines will reduce this loss.

If you decide to go with the better buck, i can order it all for you here.
gp

 

[Voyager6]

i live here in town as well, i really did not look at the model you have for an antenna, but regardless unless you go with a directional antenna here you will need a pre amp. I actually have a large tree directly in the los to the fox and wood towers with a old 15 db cable amp on i get everything i need.

Where did you get the converter box? the ones around here are bottom of the line!

Go with a channel master for best signal.
Can you run seperate lines? you will get a bit of loss diplexing, running seperate lines will reduce this loss.

If you decide to go with the better buck, i can order it all for you here.
gp

to SatelliteGuys. This thread is two years old. I don't think that the OP is going to respond now.