I just bought a cm 4228 8 bay uhf antenna and was wondering if anyone here has any info or personal experience w/ it. I am about 30-35 miles from transmitters and hope this will do the trick. I also need to find a way to work it into the current set up of a 622 and an 811 receiver. Thanks for any help.
New Channelmaster 4228, good Idea?
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First of all, YOU MUST have a good ground going down the side of your house into the ground (preferably a stake.
I used my 4228 with the 811. There is a coax with 2 ends that tie into the antenna. Run RG-6 cable from the antenna to the back of the 811 or 622.
Go to www.antennaweb.org
type in your info and you will be given all parameters of any channels in your area. The 4228 will pick-up to approx 40 miles max depending on hills, buildings etc....
Get your compass out and point the antenna in the direction of the channels you are trying to get.
Go into your dish menu and pick OTA channels.
You can do a manual search with the digital channel # or let the dish receiver do it for you.
This will get you started.
More "Techy" guys will add to this
Good luck
I used my 4228 with the 811. There is a coax with 2 ends that tie into the antenna. Run RG-6 cable from the antenna to the back of the 811 or 622.
Go to www.antennaweb.org
type in your info and you will be given all parameters of any channels in your area. The 4228 will pick-up to approx 40 miles max depending on hills, buildings etc....
Get your compass out and point the antenna in the direction of the channels you are trying to get.
Go into your dish menu and pick OTA channels.
You can do a manual search with the digital channel # or let the dish receiver do it for you.
This will get you started.
More "Techy" guys will add to this
Good luck
That antenna has a pretty good reputation. It is UHF only so are you sure none of your locals are using VHF ?? Worse, some are going to switch from UHF to VHF after Feb 2009....
I have the same antenna, and let me tell you that it ROCKS! I live over 70 miles from my local broadcast towers and it pulls in all the major networks nicely. Some better than others, but they're all watchable. As in the last post, check out antennaweb.org to see what direction to point your antenna. The 4228 is HIGHLY directional, meaning you can't just put it up and hope for the best, it has to be aimed in a specific direction. You may need an amplifier also, but since you're so close you may be ok without it. Try it without first. If you don't get good reception, don't worry too much. Just go back to the place you bought the antenna from ( I got mine from www.solidsignal.com) and look for an antenna amplifier. Radio Shack has them as well. Mine gets 30db of gain, so it helps a lot, but then again, I'm a lot further away than you are. Next, make sure you use RG-6 cable from the antenna post adapter to a good ground. This will not only protect against static discharge from the antenna, but will also help filter out ambient electromagnetic noise in the surrounding area. Next you will need a splitter to split the signal between your 622 and 811. If you find that you do need the amplifier, make sure that the splitter you use is power passing so that your amp can send the juice to the antenna. Once all that is ready, head into the menu of your receivers and do a scan for your channels and BINGO....you're watching HD local networks.
Hope this helps!
The 4228 picks up BOTH VHF and UHF. I'm able to get both frequencies on mine.
i bought from SOLID SIGNAL as well.Only 1 is vhf and it is channel 10 which I hear this unit picks up high uhf channels. All others are in the 19-43 range. Why would digital switch to vhf after 2009, it is limiting in channels 2-14 and is harder to get. I was under the impression digital tv was mainly on uhf. THANKS
i was looking into this antenna too.. does anyone know how can i tell weather my area has uhf or vhf broadcast... does it have anything to do with channel numbers....
I'm using the 4228 with a 7777 preamp with modest results, but I am in a fringe area. I'm only about 25 miles from several of the antennas I'm trying to receive (channels 24 and 32), but on the wrong side of the ridge, i.e., poor LOS, and that is a big factor for UHF reception (or lack of). But I get a great signal on a station from 30+ miles in another direction (ch 15) that is not so affected by that ridge.
One upside, the 4228 will do a commendable job receiving the high-band VHF signals as well, better than a yagi. That might help with the situation Hall pointed out...
One upside, the 4228 will do a commendable job receiving the high-band VHF signals as well, better than a yagi. That might help with the situation Hall pointed out...
Check www.antennaweb.org. Channels 2-6 are low-band VHF; channels 7-13 are high-band VHF, and everything 14 to 69 is UHF...
LOS does play a HUGE part in how well the signal comes in. Especially over 30 miles out. After about 30 miles, the signal starts to kinda like break up since it has to bounce off of so many different obstacles. Luckily......I live on top of a hill!
2x10 - Why do you say that? Is it just for the lightning/static protection, or does the 4228 depend on a good ground for its performance as well? Maybe you know something I don't! My system could be a lot better (in fact it was when I set it up temporarily) and it might have to do with my non-existent ground at this time...
PS - a "good" ground will be one that also conforms with the NEC and any other applicable local codes. NEC requires a bond to the ground at your power entrance; an earth ground is optional, but if you have one you still need the bond to your entrance ground to meet the NEC requirement. Your local code may vary...
Keep in mind too though, that channel "14" as you know it, has a completely different number in it's digital form. Like FOX 11 out of the Charleston, WV area, is digital channel 19, which puts it in th UHF catagory.
You like apples? The 4228 picks up the UHF so well, that I actually get it BETTER than VHF digital channel 13, which is analog 8. How you like THEM apples!
A good ground will help SOME, but not tremendously. It's partly for static discharge and partly to filter out ElectoMagnetic Interference (EMI).
Here's a little science lesson. Most folks believe that lightning travels from cloud to ground. That really isn't the case at all. Imagine this....You're holding two electrical lines of standard household 110 current. You slowly inch the two hot wires closer and closer together until eventually they arc, causing a spark. Lightning is the same thing only on a MUCH bigger scale. Static charges build up in the clouds, and also on the ground. As charged cloudds move over an area of charged ground....BBOOOOMMMMM. You get lightning. Wind blowing over antennas, dishes, builds up static electricity. Albeit a very small amount. If your antenna is grounded, then these static charges are constantly dissipated to ground, thereby incresing your protection.
Make sense?
A good ground will help SOME, but not tremendously. It's partly for static discharge and partly to filter out ElectoMagnetic Interference (EMI).
Here's a little science lesson. Most folks believe that lightning travels from cloud to ground. That really isn't the case at all. Imagine this....You're holding two electrical lines of standard household 110 current. You slowly inch the two hot wires closer and closer together until eventually they arc, causing a spark. Lightning is the same thing only on a MUCH bigger scale. Static charges build up in the clouds, and also on the ground. As charged cloudds move over an area of charged ground....BBOOOOMMMMM. You get lightning. Wind blowing over antennas, dishes, builds up static electricity. Albeit a very small amount. If your antenna is grounded, then these static charges are constantly dissipated to ground, thereby incresing your protection.
Make sense?
wow. i asked this same question to my dns expert trainer.
i asked him why is it so important to ground the dish... he told me just FOLLOW THE RULEZ. he was too dum to answer.
mdwatt - Well, ch14 over the air is still ch 14, and that's UHF. True that OTA stations are (usually) sending their digital signals on different channels vs. their traditional analog signals, and those digitals are often on UHF channels. But your receiver will "map them down" to match the original analog channel number. Example, my local PBS station (analog) has always been on Ch 3. Their digital signals are subchannels of Ch 15, 15.1 (the PBS HD channel), 15.2 (the local SD digital version of the analog program), and 15.3 which is usually something like a BBC program. Those appear in my program guide as 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 respectively...
The part I left does. Most lightning is ground to cloud, but there is indeed cloud-to-cloud activity.A good ground will help SOME, but not tremendously. It's partly for static discharge and partly to filter out ElectoMagnetic Interference (EMI)...Make sense?
(I'm an EE by training; I do have a good affinity for this stuff...)
Absolutely. Obviously however, cloud to cloud lightning will do nothing to affect your dish or antenna reception. I was speaking strictly in terms of cloud to ground strikes. I've seen plenty of ungrounded dishes take direct strikes, and let me tell you that it's not a pretty thing at all.
"Why" doesn't matter. Some stations have already applied for their license with this intention. Many cities are all-UHF today on the digital side but one or more stations will switch. Just because there's fewer channels doesn't mean anything. In general, most or more will be on the UHF side....
Go to AVS Forum and find the "local HDTV reception" for your city (or nearby market) and see if that's the plan for any. You're fine for two years anyway...
If it happens, you can *add* a VHF antenna.Well, that may not be exactly true. Much of the damage caused by lightning comes not from a direct strike (which is really catastrophic to most installations, but fortunately relatively rare) but rather from the EMP produced by a nearby discharge, and that can come from either type. Since most cloud-to-cloud activity is at higher altitudes then it's much less likely that such an event will cause a problem, but certainly not impossible...
