Deepest Fringe Antennas

[Yes616]

A question for the deepest and I do mean "Deepest Fringe People".

I really want to compliment my HD satellite tv service with a good OTA antenna. I had one years ago but back in 1977 I went with cable and let that old Channelmaster Quantum antenna rot away. It was a pretty good VHF antenna that gave me all the NYC VHF channels nice and clear and they are about 85 miles from me LOS.

I was looking at TV Fool and there is a column there showing how strong the signals are. It is shown as Pwr (dBm). The weaker the signal the higher the negative number. It looks to me that some of the stations I want show around -103.0 but most are stronger than that.

For some comparison, does anyone in my situation actually see stations listed for your area that are that weak? Does it matter much if there are 2 stations in the non-gray area on the same channel but in different directions? Of course I am considering a directional antenna with a rotator. Am I reading the chart correctly? Any other input? Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

[Don_M]

Don't have anything that weak here, but there are proven ways to pull in signals like that:

* Get the antennas up as high as you can, particularly if you need to overcome treetops within about 100 yards. This may require the use of a steel tower.

* Use two separate antennas., one for VHF, the other for UHF. Separate antennas do a better job than single, all-channel models in capturing signals in the deepest fringes.

* Your VHF antenna choice will depend on whether you wish to receive any DTV stations on channels 2-6. If so, the Wade-Delhi VIP-306SR is the top choice, bar none, for deep fringe reception of channels 2-13. It's made by a Canadian company which doesn't ship directly to consumers and which lacks a consistent U.S. supply chain, so it can be quite difficult to obtain one. The alternative is a Winegard HD-5030. If you have only channels 7-13 to worry about, the Winegard YA-1713 becomes the antenna of choice.

* A UHF antenna recommendation is much easier: Antennas Direct 91-XG (aka XG-91). It's so directional that it's highly capable of picking out co-channels in different locations and at long distances.

* You need a pre-amplifier. In most circumstances, the Channel Master 7777 is best. It has two inputs for combining VHF and UHF antennas and a single output for a downlead. Follow the instructions for how to switch the pre-amp from a single, "combined" antenna input to "separate" antenna inputs. However, if any of those "stronger" stations you mentioned are within 25 miles, or you have two or more stations stronger than -50 dBm, you may be better off with a Winegard HDP-269 to avoid reception issues resulting from pre-amp overload. The HDP-269 has only one antenna input, so separate antennas would need to be combined ahead of the pre-amp using a UVSJ combiner.

* A rotor is pretty much a given that far out. Get a Channel Master 9521a, and buy an optional thrust bearing for the rotor. It will greatly extend the life of the motor.

* Mount the UHF antenna at least four feet above the VHF antenna. It will benefit from the additional height, and the difference prevents the antennas from impacting reception negatively.

I've read posts from viewers who have pulled in signals down to about -112 dBm with antenna systems like the one I've suggested. Good luck!