Antenna Advice

[bmoon1492]

Hi All,

I'm new here, but have been reading your posts and thought that I might get some advice.

I'm located in OldSaybrook, CT 06475 and have a Radioshack 160" VHF/UHF/FM antenna at about 40' up with a coaxial cable that runs about 50' to my HD Tivo DVR.


According to the antenna.org (sp?) I have broadcasts coming in from 305 degrees at 29 miles & 344 at 37 miles. The 305 is ABC and I should be able to get that without a pre-amp, however, I can only watch ABC at night and during the day signal moves from 14-25 but nothing is constant or stable. The 344 degree stations are between 10-15 on the signal strength meter and are not viewable.


My question is how can I boost the antenna's reception so I can all of the stations in Connecticut with no problems? I'm considering a pre-amp that boosts UHF/VHF by about 29 and also considering getting a different antenna but thought I might run it by this forum for advice.

 

[Jim5506]

Ideally I'd change to a Winegard 8200P or a CM36 series antenna and see if it needed an amplifier, but for now I'd add a CM7777 or a Winegard pre-amp.

These have S/N ratios <3.

RadioShack amps have higher S/N ratio and are therefore less effective.

 

[bmoon1492]

Thanks! After reading and reading in this forum I wondered if a different antenna would make a difference.

I could change and get a refund at Radioshack but I wonder if in the end it would be worth it? Is it going to make or break the setup?

Also, I would not go with an other Radioshack equipment.

 

[Rick0725]

for now add the cm7777 preamp.

also you did not mention if you had a rotor...if not... good idea to install one there to peak signals from the different directions.

and if you still are not satisfied, go with the winegard hd8200p (177") or cm3671 (174") antenna as jim suggested.

the 160" radio shack is an underperformer comparing size in comparison to the higher end cm's and winegards.

 

[bmoon1492]

Thanks for the information on the Radioshack antenna! I may just pull it down and get a Channel Master since it about the same price, I guess I have about 30 days or so according to the RS receipt.

As far as the rotor I have not gotten that far. To date its been en exercise of me on the roof and the wife watching the TV via handheld radios until a signal is received.

However, I planned on getting one so Ican move it to grab signals from the various directions but because no one in my area has experience with OTA's that I could find i wanted to limit my out of pocket.