Best damn OTA antenna array, period. At any price. Which one?
- Thread starter kcoriginal
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Wingard makes an 8200U that is cheaper than the 3671 Channel Master. The specs look pretty good on it. I put a signal amp on my 3671 (CM7777). I'm getting 30 channels at night and 20 during the day. Wingard also has a signal amp that is about 20 bucks cheaper with similar specs. I pointed my antenna at Savannah, GA and get Augusta, GA on the backside. That way I didn't need a rotor.
finco 400-a-s
I would second the nomination of the finco 400 as best deep fringe home brew for VHF high. Even toning down the gain a little to keep SWR below 2.7 ( 2.3 max actual in last model) gives 11.5 -13.5 dBi net gain. And some 400s models hit 15 dBi at one optimized channel (but SWR climbs above 2.7 at more than 1 channel away from the channel optimized for... usually) The 400-A included notches to give UHF reception as well. Models show UHF performance is less than spectacular even though it hits a max of 14 dBi raw gain at channel 32-33. I don't know what gave such good results (175 miles to Lubbock TX) but the antenna models out at a net gain of 11 dBi at channel 28. So I suspect it was something besides just the antenna. I investigated this antenna mostly because I saw reviews that compared it favorably to a CM 4251 but sadly it doesn't. Also note this is a large antenna at ~ 8.5 x 7.5 feet.
I would second the nomination of the finco 400 as best deep fringe home brew for VHF high. Even toning down the gain a little to keep SWR below 2.7 ( 2.3 max actual in last model) gives 11.5 -13.5 dBi net gain. And some 400s models hit 15 dBi at one optimized channel (but SWR climbs above 2.7 at more than 1 channel away from the channel optimized for... usually) The 400-A included notches to give UHF reception as well. Models show UHF performance is less than spectacular even though it hits a max of 14 dBi raw gain at channel 32-33. I don't know what gave such good results (175 miles to Lubbock TX) but the antenna models out at a net gain of 11 dBi at channel 28. So I suspect it was something besides just the antenna. I investigated this antenna mostly because I saw reviews that compared it favorably to a CM 4251 but sadly it doesn't. Also note this is a large antenna at ~ 8.5 x 7.5 feet.
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