Antenna near metal? and attic with tile?

[goldengoose]

I am trying to figure out if it will work for me to put an outdoor OTA antenna up.

Currently getting about 3/4 of the stations available with indoor antenna placed near the balcony wall but inside. Pretty finicky with only good spot kind in the middle of the floor so would like to move it.

I need to hide it well. My question is I have balcony with metal railing. If i put antenna up directly on it will it work? Or will the metal interfere with signals.

I have attic prewired and it could up in there. There is a tile roof and I had heard that attics severely limit signals.

Other question is how well do the flat coax cables work? The ones you can put in by windows without having to drill more holes?

 

[Jim5506]

If you can get a 3-4 ft separation (preferable vertical) from the balcony rail, it should not interfere. Horizonal metal of any kind should be kept away from antenna.

Attic install will cut usable signal by at least 50%.

 

[goldengoose]

Thanks for the information--that will save me some time setting up the antenna.

 

[jgantert]

I can confirm this. Aluminum siding will severly hamper any antenna reception!

 

[vurbano]

I can confirm this. Aluminum siding will severly hamper any antenna reception!

Got that right. My neighborhood is a sea of it. Ended of having to put mine on the roof. Works great since then.

 

[dish_in_the_sky]

Try a 2- 4- or 8-bay antenna, or Hoverman (Google Gray-Hoverman for details)

These antennas have screens on the back. If the metal is behind the screen, or parallel to it if the antenna is facing away from it, then the metal will not seriously affect reception.

However, nearby metal can increase multipath problems too. That can be helped by using the most directional 8-bay antenna (such as a channel master 4228.) This is because the narrower beamwidth rejects more multipath.

Good luck... As always, your mileage will vary.