Channel Master 3018

[Mathpro]

Quick question for you guys.

First. I live in Elmira New York 14905.

Second I have a CM 3018. I would like to be able to get all the local channels which are only 2 miles away and some of the channels from Binghamton, which are 40 miles away. Should I direct the UHF towards the weaker signals or VHF towards the weaker signals. I am also not recving the two DT channels for my area.

Third, do I need a bigger antenna, possibly a 3671 or WineGard antenna to get the Binghamton stations??

Thanks for your help

Stelio

 

[oljim]

they are both pointing the same direction small end (UHF) is the front

 

[Rick0725]

mathpro

I grew up in Endicott, new york and now live north of syracuse.

Our neck of the woods has its reception challenges with all the hills. I just installed a new antenna at my parents home in Endicott. Before I selected the antenna...I wanted to do some testing to determine if a rotor would be feasible there.

I pointed toward elmira nothing....syracuse nothing...scranton nothing. Ended up just installing an antenna to service the local market. Installed a winegard hd7082p there.

Your situation...

The digital in bingo are ch 4,7,8 vhf which are low power...2-4 kw ball park and ch 42.

You would need a winegard hd8200p with a winegard hdp269 preamp....but the chances of receiving 4,7,8 will be slim from 40+ miles away. Any high power preamp would overload at your location. Your cm 3018 may not have enough horsepower. They are part of the channel master advantage series antennas which are under performers relation to the high end winegards and cm antennas of similar size.

All the towers are on the same hill. Peak on an analog station ch 12,34, 40 or 46...which ever is weakest... then slightly side to side to try to receive the digital.

I was disappointed at my parents...reception wise.

 

[Mathpro]

How big of a difference does a pre-amp make???

I currently only have a cheap unit from Radio Shack http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...&kw=antenna&kwCatId=2032057&parentPage=search.

Would a better unit make a huge difference????

When I was pointing the antenna towards Bing....I was getting several channels from there in the 40 range, not really clear but just really snowy...so I am wondering if a better pre-amp would help not that the one I have is great by a long shot.

Thanks for your help again.

 

[Rick0725]

if you were to try a preamp suggest the winegard hdp269...the higher gain amps will overload from the towers close by.

If peaking and the preamp do not make you satisfied...the best alternative would be to replace the cm3018 with the hd8200p with the hdp-269 amp

avg antenna gain

3018 113"
lvhf 2.3
hvhf 8.2
uhf 8.4

cm3671 174"
5.6
10.9
10

cm4228
12db avg gain uhf

hd7082p 110"
6.3
10.3
12

hd7084p 133"
7
11
12.1

hd8200p 177"
7
11.5
13.3

the cm3018 and the hd7082 are comparable in size ...this illustrates what I mean by under performing. The winegards perform much better.

 

[Jim5506]

Point the smaller end of the antenna toward the weakest signal source.