Need some advice...

[Mastadon]

Hello, I am very new to the HD OTA concept, and would appreciate any help you guys could spare. I live in the 27410 area code and currently own an Optoma HD projector, and have a Zenith DTV1080 receiver on the way. I have looked at Winegard antennas, but don't know what size I need. I am also not sure about the kind of preamp I will need. Thanks again for any help!

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

http://www.antennaweb.org will tell you what "color" you need to get the channels you want. you will need a "blue" ant to get WXII 12 NBC so a standard ant will not be a good choice. My sig lists the OTA unit I use but it is more than you should need.

 

[Mastadon]

So it looks like I need a "violet." The farthest channel from me is a "blue" that is 77 miles from me. If I amplified it, what is the smallest antenna I could go with? Your 8200 is rated at 100 miles for example, but does it pick up farther with a preamp?

 

[Tower Guy]

So it looks like I need a "violet." The farthest channel from me is a "blue" that is 77 miles from me. If I amplified it, what is the smallest antenna I could go with? Your 8200 is rated at 100 miles for example, but does it pick up farther with a preamp?

A preamp may help, but it won't be a panacea. My advice is to buy a violet rated antenna and add a preamp for extra margin on foul weather days.

 

[Mastadon]

In one product description I read that the 8200 was only a "blue" antenna, and became a "violet" after adding the preamp. So is it a "power" difference, or are they two different "types" of antennnas?

 

[Jim5506]

Violet is defined as a deep fringe antenna WITH the preamp.

 

[branchbouncer]

Terrestrail DB8

Got a DB8 the other day I am 90 miles from Washington DC and I am pulling all of the channels except for channel 7(ABC) but I haven't had a chance to fine tune it as the weather is a bit cold today.I have also tried Richmond and had good luck in that direction but haven't decided which I will go with--which ever i can get all the major networks from.I am dealing with a mountain range 12 mile to the East(Blue Ridge)as I sit to the west of them but I am at 1700 feet so I am almost even with them --slightly below but not by much,the setup is DB8 with a CH7777 amp,before i added the amp CBS was not there along with 6 or so analog uhf signals with the amp they showed up,I must also say the the tuner in the Samsung DLP is better than the D*stb as far as finding and locking on to signals

 

[NightHawk]

So it looks like I need a "violet." The farthest channel from me is a "blue" that is 77 miles from me. If I amplified it, what is the smallest antenna I could go with? Your 8200 is rated at 100 miles for example, but does it pick up farther with a preamp?

You can't get away with a small antenna. You need to think big and tall.

With an antenna on an average rooftop and flat terrain the practial limit for UHF is about 65 miles regardless of antenna type. The reason is the earths curvature and the only solution is to get the receiving antenna up in the air. Not sure where you are but if your around 70 miles from Greensboro your going to need a high-gain antenna mounted high in the air for a resonable chance of success.

brancebouncer's 90 mile performance is not typical and can be attributed mostly to his 1700 foot elevation, not his antenna.

Also some of the Greesboro stations are using directional transmit antennas so alot depends on which direction you are from the city.

 

[branchbouncer]

You can't get away with a small antenna. You need to think big and tall.

With an antenna on an average rooftop and flat terrain the practial limit for UHF is about 65 miles regardless of antenna type. The reason is the earths curvature and the only solution is to get the receiving antenna up in the air. Not sure where you are but if your around 70 miles from Greensboro your going to need a high-gain antenna mounted high in the air for a resonable chance of success.

brancebouncer's 90 mile performance is not typical and can be attributed mostly to his 1700 foot elevation, not his antenna.

Also some of the Greesboro stations are using directional transmit antennas so alot depends on which direction you are from the city.

Thats probabaly right,you figure that the stations in DC have thier broadcast signal up at lets say 500 feet and that coupled with my elevation allows a bit more distance for reception.The more I read I think that I would have been better off with my CH 4228 rather that ths DB8 the more that I look at it all it is a CH 4228 that some one cut into forths making two antennas and then coupling them to make one(back to the 4228 design)but probably suffering gain by adding the combiner,I'm driving back to the old house and will grab my 4228 and try that also

 

[Mastadon]

Ok, to clear things up, I am in the city limits of Greensboro. I have mounted my antenna today, I got a Winnegard 9095P. I have it on my chimney(single story house) and on a rotator. I did not buy an amplifier, because the guy at the store told me it wouldn't help reception, only boost signal lost due to a long run of RG-6. I think he is talking about a different kind of amplifier?

 

[Jim5506]

Ok, to clear things up, I am in the city limits of Greensboro. I have mounted my antenna today, I got a Winnegard 9095P. I have it on my chimney(single story house) and on a rotator. I did not buy an amplifier, because the guy at the store told me it wouldn't help reception, only boost signal lost due to a long run of RG-6. I think he is talking about a different kind of amplifier?

No, he is mostly correct. An amplifier can't amplify what is not there, so the biggest problem from antenna to tuner is line loss in a long line.

If your RG-6 is 25-50 ft, and you are able to receive signal, you would only need to add an amplifier if you have a marginal channel or two that you want to help receive.

The danger in an amplifier is if you have strong local signals and are trying to amplify weak distant signals, the amplifier may overload the tuner with harmonics from the strong local signal.

 

[Mastadon]

I am receiving the channels, but the channels have static. The picture looks clear, but with static over-top. My RG-6 run is 100 ft right now. Once I complete the install, that might be cut down to 75 ft. Does this sound like the type of issues an amplifier will clear up? If so, how do I pick the right amplifier?

 

[NightHawk]

If you have a solid lock on the digital stations that's it. An amplifier will not improve it any further. Static, in the classic sense, is not a common problem on digital reception and an amplifier will not fix that if static is really your problem.

If you mean pixaliation however, this is common for both marginal signal strength and multipath. It's nearly impossible to differentiate between these two without test equipment but at your distance with a high-gain antenna we can make an educated guess it is a signal strength issue.

The pre-amplifier provides two advantages in the case of marginal signal strength. One is negating cable loss between the antenna and receiver as everyone alludes to. The other is setting your system noise figure to at least a 4 or 5 dB lower (better) number than the specification of your receiver alone. That's a big advantage for long distance reception. The only drawback is when you are trying to receive both strong local stations and weak distant stations on the same set-up. In that case the amplifier can cause problems but I don't think you have the strong local station issue.

 

[Mastadon]

I have seen some people post about the Channel Master 7777, would this be a good one to try?

 

[NightHawk]

Yes that's a good unit.

 

[Tower Guy]

I am receiving the channels, but the channels have static. The picture looks clear, but with static over-top. My RG-6 run is 100 ft right now. Once I complete the install, that might be cut down to 75 ft. Does this sound like the type of issues an amplifier will clear up? If so, how do I pick the right amplifier?

It sounds like you are not receiving the digital channels. Static is characteristic of analog reception.

 

[Mastadon]

Is that possible, my antenna is UHF-only? What could cause this to happen?

 

[Mastadon]

Ok- here are a few notes that may help diagnose the problem.

1.I hooked up my cable to the Downlead of the antenna. nothing is connected to the other 75-ohm connector(I think this is the Up-lead) Also, this connector block may be reversed,as in Up-lead-Downlead reversed?

2.Right now, the amtenna is about 10 feet above my roofline, could raising it another 4 feet make everything "magically" appear?

3.I am using a Zenith DTV 1080. I can't find anything in the menu that would toggle HD for the antenna section. I have cable hooked up, but nothing hooked up to the Satellite section.

This is all the info I can think of that may help. No amplifier yet. I apologize for my ignorance in the OTA dept.

 

[Jim5506]

Do you have the manual for this receiver. It appears to be a direct TV HD satellite receiver that also can receive OTA and cable. It has 3 antenna inputs 1 for satellite, one for cable and one for antenna.

The manual is at:

http://www.directv.com/learn/pdf/System_Manuals/Zenith/Zenith_DTV1080.pdf

Perhaps it will help you set it up. It appears that you do not need any dish connection for this unit to work.

 

[Mastadon]

Thanks for that link. What I was doing was assuming that for 2.1, channel 2 was close enough. I found the proper tuner for the digital channels, but cannot get any signal. Even the red channels are showing only the lowest bar of signal at all. I can move the antenna 360 deg. but it doesn't help. Do you think an amplifier may help now?