No Springfield, MA from New Britain, CT

[KEVIN_224]

I was wondering what my best options are for receiving Springfield, MA from New Britain, CT. I'm at the bottom of Walnut Hill, in the south end of the city. In the analog days, anything from Avon Mountain caused me problems. WFSB (CBS) was decent but not always 100%. I never got a reliable signal from WUVN (UNI). WEDH (PBS) didn't become watchable until they moved their transmitter to Rattlesnake Mountain, about a year before the 2009 digital conversion (relying on a snowy color signal from WEDN of Norwich to that point). I know it's my present location causing some issues. When I lived in the east end of New Britain in 1991, WUVN (then-WHCT right before going off the air) was perfect. WWLP (NBC) from Springfield was very watchable while WGGB (ABC) was slightly snowy but decent enough to see if WTNH (ABC) was blacking something out. I have never once received even a single blip of a digital signal from Springfield. I only have an older Radio Shack indoor antenna with two telescoping VHF rods. It's in a second floor bedroom facing south. Putting the TV on the north side of the house isn't practical, since the bathroom and kitchen are on that side. Anyways, here's my tvfool report, without using any optional antenna height:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=46ae1cafeba479

P.S. Despite the talk about VHF being crap on digital reception for some, I get WTNH (ABC) from their Hamden, CT site just fine. They use channel 10 for their digital. As for my set-up, a roof antenna is not practical. My grandfather once had an antenna in the attic, but it's now broken and it isn't salvageable.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

The Springfield stations are pretty tough to get. I'm in an apartment right by the Stanley Golf Course, with a balcony facing north. Even with a DB8 antenna pointed north with an amp, channel 40 has issues sometimes. Channel 57 (RF22) has a much better signal, but aiming the antenna is important. You'd probably do better with a better antenna, though a decent VHF-HI/UHF antenna might be hard to fit in an apartment. Perhaps it could be in the bathroom as an antenna/towel rack?

 

[FaT Air]

Best option: a roof mounted antenna. But there's some caveats. Some seem to be flagged adjacent or co-channel.
The co-channel (on the same channel) ones may experience too much interference to be received.
Others look to be flagged adjacent. (channels adjacent to on another)
Look over your tvfool report to confirm.
In these two scenarios sometimes, but only some times, highly directional antennas can be utilized. The antennas in this situation are not aimed directly at the channel desired, but are aimed to place the 'null' in their 'pattern' at the offending transmitter. (many years ago, could get engineering at major antenna mfgs to 'run the numbers' on their products to see if they had a solution, but that's not the case today)
For the channels that are not 'flagged' I'd try putting an antenna in the attic aimed to the north. <Better yet on the roof(??)>
Maybe a Channel Master 4220HD, 4221HD or Winegard HD4400. NOTE: these are UHF and probably wouldn't
do 8.1 (real 10) very good, (opposite direction) so a separate VHF antenna for it with a VHF-UHF combiner might be required.
Or maybe an A-B switch?
This one is similar to a 4221HD or HD4400 and says it's VHF Hi if close. Dunno if that applies if it's to the back of the antenna.
I've 'thrown away' more $$ on an 'experiment' that didn't 'pan out'.
Then there's the DIY UHF bowtie antennas. Thinking here is all you have is a VHF set of 'rabbit ears'. Think the DIY UHF bowtie would outperform the existing on the UHF spectrum. I built one and was surprised how well it worked.
Then the DIY Stealth Hawk which is omnidirectional UHF and VHF Hi AFAIK. That's it, that's all I know, or can think of.

 

[raoul5788]

I have a Channel Master 4228 and it picks up WTNH, channel 10, very well, but I'm much closer to the transmitter. The 4228 is good for high band VHF, not so much for the low band.

 

[KEVIN_224]

Distance between New Britain, Connecticut, United States and 42:05:05N 72:42:13W, as the crow flies:
29 miles (46 km) (25 nautical miles)

Distance between New Britain, Connecticut, United States and 42:14:30N 72:38:53W, as the crow flies:
40 miles (64 km) (35 nautical miles)

The first set of coordinates is for WWLP-TV and their site on Provin Mountain in Agawam, MA. The second is for WGGB-TV and WGBY-TV and their site on Mount Tom in Holyoke, MA. Again, while a proper antenna should pick this up, it won't be practical at this present location. Even with a roof antenna, I'm still almost a mile south of downtown New Britain and by the bottom of Walnut Hill, it's park and hospital near the top of said hill.

Going back to when my grandfather had some form of antenna in the attic: I don't know how well it received Springfield. I DO remember that he got a better signal of analog channel 3 with that than I did. I used to get WTNH from New Haven better with the indoor antenna in the room.