Getting Frustrated as heck

[campuscop2003]

Just installed a Huge directional antenna, its about 20+feel from the ground, about 10 feel above the roof line. I had issues getting Fox and NBC. I rotated the antenna for like 2 hours until I achieved 80 to 92% quality on both (Tivo Meter). Now I completely lost my CBS, ABC, and PBS which are far closer than the two stations I have almost 100%. The Fox station is 26 miles away, and NBC is also approx 24 to 28 Miles away. The stations I lost are only 15 to 20 Miles away.

I also had to install a 10dB amp in the line to boost the signal I do have. What should I do here. I thought about getting a second antenna, maybe a multi-directional and somehow combine it with the big boy.


The Stations I lost are so close, a 110" beast of an antenna that I have should get these channels! Getting frustrated here. Just dumped dish network to go this route to save money too.

Thanks

 

[Mr Tony]

can you post your tvfool report?

TV Fool

That will help a little better

 

[Mr Tony]

Well I ran a city level TV fool report
TV Fool

and the issue is you've got towers in 3 directions

Fox & NBC (and an independent station) are south of town (190 degrees)..closest at 8 miles
CW is NE (55 degrees)...10 miles
ABC & CBS are NW (325 degrees)...20 miles

NBC is on VHF..rest are UHF.

You may need 2 separate antenna...a VHF only for NBC and a UHF for the rest....or a rotor

 

[campuscop2003]

I checked and I am basically only getting Fox and NBC. Fox and NBC are coming in almost at 100% at times according to TiVos signal meter, so I think I got the beast pointed right for those. I lost signal on CW, ABC, CBS.... which I had fine before when I couldn't get NBC or Fox. I am new to this. Had Dish network for along time. Haven't used OTA since I was in high school 12 years ago.

What type of antenna should I add? Didn't really want to do the rotor thing My dad had one and we had to rotate the antenna too often depending on what channel we wanted to watch. I have plenty of pole space left under my beast of an antenna.

Also what would be the best way to tie them all together into one line. My antenna is located behind my shed with a single quad shield coax run to the house.

 

[Mr Tony]

How well did you get the others beforehand?

What antenna is it that you have now? You mention the length but no model #

So you got kinda a cunundrum here...You can get 2 separate antennas and combine them together just fine. The issue is you have UHF channels on both directions so there might be an issue when you combine them that the Fox station may not work

To combine them I would use this
Pico Macom UVSJ UHF VHF Band Separator/Combiner for Antenna (UVSJ) - Pico Macom - UVSJ -

and for an antenna either one of these would work
Antennacraft U-4000 UHF/HD 4 Bay Bowtie TV Antenna (U4000) - Antennacraft - U4000 -
Winegard PR 9022 Prostar 1000 UHF TV Antenna (PR9022) - Winegard - PR-9022 -

What doesnt make sense is I have a VHF antenna aimed SW for a distant VHF station. Last night while reorganizing the cabling I hooked the antenna directly to my converter box.
Here CBS, ABC, MY, CW, PBS and Independent are on UHF and are NE of me all about 30 miles away and they all came in at near 90 signal (60 is threshold)...on my UHF antenna aimed that way they all bury the needle at 100.

So I dont know why you cant get the stations that are close to you

 

[campuscop2003]

I have something simular to this one, in the RCA from Lowes flavor.


Channel Master 3671 Deepest Fringe Crossfire Series Antenna

 

[Mr Tony]

damn thats a big antenna...if it truly is that size thats overkill and might have issues.

I havent seen antennas at Lowes in a while so cant compare

is there anything in the way like hills/mountains/buildings that we dont know about

 

[southofi-10]

My opinion is rca antennas are not good.The channel master cross fire is a great antenna,but you shouldn't need the lower vhf band,so you have wasted element.Just my 2 cents.
I would have recommended a antennacraft vhf high band and channel master 4 bay uhf antenna.You mount those bugger in the desired direct and you should be good to go.
I just posted on another thread that the new digital tv's DO NOT like amplifiers of any kind.
Please realize that digital tv broadcast on vhf high and uhf.SO,it's much better to have seperate antennas pointing at seperate towers.It has always been better to use seperate antennas actually.That hasn't changed.Use a high quality combiner and presto.....
My system consists of 2 - 20' towers with 2 antennas on each.
I believe solid signal sells antennacraft.Best bafg for the buck$
I wish you luck.If you need a few links,just send a pm.I'm glad to help.

 

[SparksPA]

Check the basics things first. Since I have no idea how much experience you have with OTA antennas bear with me while I offer a few suggestions about common problems and misunderstandings about them.

Keep in mind that the larger the antenna the MORE directional it is. That means that you have a lot of gain right down the bore-sight of your large antenna but anything that is not directly in front of the very narrow beam width of your large antenna will be rejected.

Do you have a rotor on your antenna? If you do, make sure that it is accurately calibrated with a reliable compass so that you are not trying to find a station that is not in view of your antenna.

A few other basics:
The narrow end of the antenna is the front. Point it at the station.
Most OTA antennas are 300 Ohm and require a matching transformer for use with coaxial cable. Is your matching transformer OK?
If your antenna has any of those rigid solid wires that criss-cross over each other parallel to the main boom on the antenna, are any of them bent and touching each other, or the boom itself? They shouldn't touch anything other than the rivets that they are connected to at each active element.
Remove and inspect the connectors. One stray strand from the shield coming in contact with the center conductor at any of the connectors and you signal goes away. It is a very common problem that is frequently overlooked.

There is signal out there. It is just taking a detour before reaching it's intended destination. Find the problem and I bet that there will be a lot more stations to watch than your neighbors can see.