Need help resolving OTA Dropouts

[kelton325]

I am having trouble consistently pulling in all the OTA Locals with my Dish 622 receiver. I tried tweaking the direction the antenna is pointed, and the best I can do is the following. These are the only channels I really care about:

53.1 - 75%, drops out alot, unwatchable
6.1 - 100% (only VHF channel, antenna pointed right at it)
28.1 - 90% (pretty stable)
4.1 - 81% (drops out alot, almost unwatchable)
10.1 - 87% (pretty good, drops some)
34.1 - 0% (nothing obviously)

I can get 4.1 and 34.1 at a higher level at the expense of 10.1 and 28.1.

I have the following antenna installed in my attic:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103085&cp=&kw=antenna&parentPage=search

My zip is 43113.

I know, I should have the antenna outside, but I'm only 24 miles away (give or take) and I think I can make it work inside the attic. Does anyone think a different antenna would help? What about a pre-amp? I'm thinking of ordering a CM 7777 - is that worth a shot?

 

[Jim5506]

The pre-amp cannot amplify what your antenna is not receiving. Unless you have a very long run of RG-6 (you are using RG-6?) the amp will not solve your problems.

Your attic install is the biggest problem. you are losing at least 3dB (50%) of your signal by being inside. Attic installs can also introduce multi-path that would not exist of be problematic out doors especilaly if you have AC ducting up there too..

Your antenna is not the deep fringe antenna you would need for an attic install at ~25 miles.

You have a snowballs chance of getting 34.1 with this antenna in the attic - it's 40 miles away!

You need to either put your current antenna outside or get a bigger antenna for your attic. The CM 4228 would be an improvement if it will fit.

 

[kelton325]

Thanks for the info!

I think I may need to go ahead and measure for the 4228 to see if there's room. Do you think it will pick up my one VHF station (broadcasting on 14)? If not, will I need to use a separate VHF (maybe my current antenna) and a combiner of some sort?

 

[Tower Guy]

Thanks for the info!

I think I may need to go ahead and measure for the 4228 to see if there's room. Do you think it will pick up my one VHF station (broadcasting on 14)? If not, will I need to use a separate VHF (maybe my current antenna) and a combiner of some sort?

Channel 14 is the lowest UHF channel. The 4228 should work fine outdoors. If the end of your house happens to face the TV towers you can mount the antenna on the side of the house under the eaves where it would be very inconspicuous.

 

[Jim5506]

The 4228 is adequate at picking up high VHF signals. Be sure to attach the two reflector screens to each other with zip ties or similar. This makes the reflector act as a VHF antenna giving the unexpected performance on channels 7-13.

 

[NightHawk]

The 4228 is adequate at picking up high VHF signals. Be sure to attach the two reflector screens to each other with zip ties or similar. This makes the reflector act as a VHF antenna giving the unexpected performance on channels 7-13.

My 4228 has a single reflector. I assumed they all did. Is this not so?

 

[NightHawk]

Realisticaly though while the 4228 works on VHF channel 13 it's doubtful that it will provide any better gain than the VU-90 at that frequency. kelton's biggest problem seems to be his NBC affilate on 4.1 or channel 14. Just don't expect miracles from the 4228 at the low end of the band. It would be a better choice for the other major networks however.

 

[kelton325]

If I got the 4228, could I use a combiner (or something like that) and hook my existing antenna (for VHF), and the 4228 (for UHF) together?

 

[NightHawk]

You could combine them but there are a few things to watch out for. By directly combining the two you will suffer a 3 dB combiner loss in either antenna which may negate any benefit. That could be avoided by combining them using a dual input amplifier like the CM 7777 but a pre-amp at 24 miles might cause its own problems.

There is also the chance with either method, because both antennas would have some gain at channel 14, they can easily combine out-of-phase providing poor results. Custom filters would be needed to prevent that.

Sorry there is no easy answer. Combining antennas is tricky. The real answer of course is to get it out of the attic, but you already knew that.

 

[Rick0725]

or if you already have an amp the channel master cm0549 vhf/uhf combiner...i have used them, A few months ago I combined my hd8200p for vhf and a cm 4228 for uhf then amplified with an hdp269 preamp. Worked great the combiner and the cm 7777 have a circuit which isolates the 2 bands to lesson the interactions of the 2 antennas. the cm0549 boasts of .5 db loss and goes for less then $8 online.

by the way...took the cm 4228 down...liked the performance of uhf better on the hd8200p.