guys, i need help!!

nothing566

New Member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2006
2
0
san jose, california
hi, i recently bought an lcd tv with a built in hd tuner. I was going to get local channels with HD but dish network wanted to charge me an additional $10-12$ a month - which I think it’s BS considering you get it for free. Anyway, so I went and bought a Terk Off-Air HDTV Antenna last night and installed it. Here’s the problem, I’m only getting four channels (UNI, TEL, IND, and PBS). I’m trying to get local channels like NBC, FOX, CBS, and ABC but the antenna doesn’t seem to work...what am I doing wrong?

I checked antennaweb.org and it said I’m about 40-45 miles from tower. I live in San Jose, CA 95136 (in townhouse with an attic)…so what should I do?

thanks guys!
 
One possible reason. It sounds like your istalled the antenna in the attic?? I hope not since this will attenuate the signal of all but the strongest channels reaching your antenna. Obviously you don't have a strong enough digital broadcast signal to lock your HD receiver on all reasonably strong channels. You also should make sure you are using the correct tranmission cable impedance (usually is 50 ohm for UHF/VHF) from the antenna to receiver with the correct matching transformer to change the antenna 50 ohm output to 75 ohm which is required by most "F" connector inputs on modern tv's. Last possibility is If the cable is too long you may have to add an inline active rf amplifier to your system to boost the signal coming off the antenna to help it travel through the 75 ohm cable to your reciever. Hope some of this is helpful. I am kind of guessing about your set up!!
 
You wont pick up anything with a Terk 40 miles from the tower. Get a real antenna and get it as high up as possible.
 
nothing566 said:
I went and bought a Terk Off-Air HDTV Antenna last night and installed it. SNIP I’m about 40-45 miles from tower.

Being in a town home DOES NOT preclude you from installing a rooftop antenna; search the FCC and you will see the laws that ALWAYS supersede local and HOA rules.

If you decide on an antenna inside the attic, make sure you get the one that is over sized.


Anyway: a TERK is not going to work correctly. I also see by the zip you listed that you are closer than 40 miles; that zip is within 16 miles to all but the NBC affiliate which is 43 miles away AND broadcasting in VHF. So you will need a medium sized, multi-directional combo VHF/UHF antenna, or a rotor. You could also try two separate antennas combined together. If you just HAVE TO HAVE a low profile antenna expect to pay through the nose to get one of those gimmicky antennas:

Large Roof/In Attic
Channel Master CM 5646
Channel Master CM 3016
Channel Master CM 3677
Winegard HD7080P
Winegard PR 7010

Low Profile
Winegard GS 2000A
Winegard MS 2000
Winegard SS-2000
Channel Master CM 3000





Call Sign-----Channel-----City/State-----Heading-----Miles-----FreqAssignment

KNTV-DT 11.1 NBC SAN JOSE CA 296° 43.1 12

KSMS-DT 31.1 UNI MONTEREY CA 147° 15.8 31

KICU-DT 36.1 IND SAN JOSE CA 341° 15.2 52

KDTV-DT 14.1 UNI SAN FRANCISCO CA 340° 16.0 51

KTEH-DT 54.1 PBS SAN JOSE CA 341° 15.2 50

KSTS-DT 48.1 TEL SAN JOSE CA 340° 16.0 49
 
Get that sucker up in the air and put an amp on it. Also not al HD tuners are equal. My H20 brings in challes that my other 2 HD tuners will not.
 
Thanks, guys.

I met with a local antenna representative in San Jose and he has suggested that I purchase the Channel Master 4228. He said based on my location I will/should receive all the local channels plus the channels 40+ miles away.

I did some research and found that CM4428 is a UHF antenna. I mentioned that to the representative and he said that the majority of the VHF channels are also broadcasted via UHF. Is that correct? It doesn't sound correct and I would hate to purchase this antenna to find out that I cannot get the VHF channels.

sorry to bother you all, but like I mentioned earlier, I’m a novice and I want to make sure I’m buying the correct antenna....one last item to note, I mentioned the antennas suggested by charper 1 and the representative said that those antennas would not be necessary (I’m a little confused considering the specs of those antennas meet my requirement based on antennaorg. I'm a little confuse and i'm not sure if the rep is just trying to pull a fast one on me, plus he wants to charge me 150$ to install the antenna. Does that sound correct?

Again, thanks for all your help guys!
 
In many cases stations that broadcast their NTSC (analog) channels on VHF will have their ATSC (digital) signals on UHF. Your receiver will map them down to the old channel number. Example - in my area the PBS analog channel is on ch 3, VHF. The digital versions are on 15.1, 15.2, 15.3 (UHF) but they appear in my channel listing as 3.1, 3.2, 3.3. I need a VHF antenna to receive the low-freq. analog ch. 3 and a UHF antenna for the digitals. Note that in some cases the final channel assignments have not yet been made, i.e., some digital channel assignments might change before the final conversion to all digital broadcasting that is now expected by the end of 2009.

Your ch12 (KNTV digital) is on a highband VHF channel and the CM4228 might be able to receive that OK (widely reported), altho' it is at some distance.

Charper 1 listed a series of antennas that will receive the channels that you should be able to get in your location. Except for KNTV, your channels are all close to you so in all likelihood you won't need a high performance antenna for the close ones, unless you have to mount it in your attic, or you have terrain or obstruction issues.

The CM4228 is probably the best UHF antenna available, so it will likely pick-up all the UHF channels that you can get from your location. 4 of your channels come from the same general direction, but to receive the others you would need to turn the 4228, or as charper 1 suggested, go to multiple antennas.

The $150 cost for an installer is probably reasonable depending on how complex your OTA system will be, how far he has to travel, etc. Ask the installer what it would cost to have him do a "site survey" for your specific application first and he can give you a better estimate from there. The $25-50 cost for the survey might be money well-spent...!
 
I live just over 50 miles from Mt. Wilson in the LA area and in my situation an indoor antenna with no amp worked reasonably well. Since you are much closer to the transmitters you may find an indoor antenna such as the Silver Sensor will work just fine. Intervening terrain is the most important factor. If you live on the other side of a hill from the transmitters you will not see anything, period. Some people living in Burbank CA just 10-15 miles from Mt. Wilson get zero useable signal and have to point their antennas south to pick up San Diego stations over 100 mi away!
 
Ota

Do Your Self A Favor--- Get A Channel Master 4228 And A Cm7777 Or Winegard 8275- Cost About 120 Bucks And Then You Be A Happy Camper
 
cm4228 uhf only with a winegard hdp269 amp.

the cm4228 will work for ch 12 but not as good as with a vhf/uhf antenna. We have a ch 12 locally and tested the cm4228 for it. the signal level on my meter favored the hd7082p vs cm4228 for those interested. The cm4228 perfomed better on uhf but not much better. They have a ton of hills (foothills of the adirondacks) around them and the cm4228 did a LOUSY TERRIBLE job with the multipath. The hd7082p tamed it nicely and minimized the ghosting on analog.

winegard hd7082p for vhf/uhf with the hdp269 winegard preamp.

the cm 7777 will overload with towers 16 miles away.

below is a pic of the winegard hd7082p with hdp-269 installed this past friday at the parent's home distributed to 5 tvs and no distribution amp. Was a beautiful day 75 degrees.

Mom freaked alittle..."what are the neighbors going to say...take it down! Its too big!"
 

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