Noob + ViP 722 + OTA

[nilpoc]

First of all, hello! This is a great site. I've had Dish for years now, but am new to HD and OTA.

My current system: I got my 1080p set Monday and upgraded to the ViP 722 yesterday. I have a strong signal from all three satellites and no local HD channels available.

For OTA, my Winegard Squareshooter 2000 VHF/UHF with preamp should arrive tomorrow (one tower is 40 miles due north and the others I need are 30 miles due south). I plan to mount the SS2000 on the dish, but can put it in the attic as plan B. I estimate a 45’ run from sat dish to receiver.

My question: What would be the best setup to send OTA to my receiver? My installer told me that I couldn’t put another diplexer on the Sat line since it was already diplexed for the two-channel receiver, which didn’t sound right to me. Assuming I could do it anyway, would it be better just to run another cable just for OTA for the strongest possible signal?

Thanks for any advice. I am sure other questions will come up as the install progresses.

 

[webbydude]

You *can* diplex your OTA with the incoming SAT and outgoing TV2 signal. Truth be told, it's better in the long run if you can make a separate/independent OTA run to your 722 receiver (stronger signal...potential channel conflict with TV2, comes to mind). Just to reiterate, it can be diplexed, but IMO it should be a last resort.

I hope that helps

 

[navychop]

You might get good service out of the squareshooter, but it may not have been the best or most cost effective solution. At least it's not a Terk.

I strongly recommend against mounting on the dish. Aim will not be the best. Since you have a N-S orientation, there are antennas that will "catch" from both sides quite well. So you are unlikely to need a rotor. But a roof or eave mount would be best. At your distances, mounting inside the attic is probably not a good idea.

Yes, you can probably diplex quite nicely, I've done it. But I now always run a separate coax for OTA, for simplicity and flexibility.

 

[garys]

I have a separate cable for my OTA since several of the channels are barely within range, diplexing would take away enough signal to cause the receiver to loose the signal at times and that becomes very frustrating. Plus the fact that it would be a longer coax run since the dish is in front of the house while the ota is along the side near the rear of the house. I had to try a couple of different locations around my house till I found a place where I could get all my locals without the need to use a rotor, I have two 622's and that really could have made using the ota a science project.

 

[nilpoc]

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I'm going fishing.

You might get good service out of the squareshooter, but it may not have been the best or most cost effective solution. At least it's not a Terk.

The squareshooter looks solid to me, from my reading and limited experience. I'll definitely consider your advice to not mount on the dish. If I'm happy with the cost of the antenna, what's the other problem?

 

[digiblur]

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I'm going fishing.



The squareshooter looks solid to me, from my reading and limited experience. I'll definitely consider your advice to not mount on the dish. If I'm happy with the cost of the antenna, what's the other problem?

The squareshooters I've seen have performed very poorly compared to say the CM4228 or CM4221 line. One wouldn't even pickup the digital ABC on RF 13 that you can pickup with simple indoor rabbit ears.

There's always the other option of "moving" too if the OTA situation doesn't work out for you.

 

[Voyager6]

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like I'm going fishing.



The squareshooter looks solid to me, from my reading and limited experience. I'll definitely consider your advice to not mount on the dish. If I'm happy with the cost of the antenna, what's the other problem?

Reviews for the SquareShooter 2000 are mixed. HDTVexpert — Product Review: Winegard SS-2000

RESULTS
The SS-2000 performed pretty much as expected. It locked up a total of 22 total stations (13 analog and 9 digital) with the antenna, including all of the major networks. Most of the received waveforms were clean and any multipath that resulted was in the range of the 4200’s equalizers.
But the SS-2000 didn’t always produce the strongest signal on a given channel. Radio Shack’s 15-1880, which did very well against the SS-1000 indoors, once again trumped the field of contenders by pulling in 26 total stations and did much better with VHF signals than the SS-2000.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...oter-high-band-vhf-uhf-amplified-antenna.html

HDTV Magazine - HDTV Forum - View topic - ANT Winegard: Square Shooter SS-1000/2000

 

[nilpoc]

well... crap.

 

[gdarwin]

I never could get a Squareshooter to perform correctly. Too much multipath.

Stay away from the attic also. Roofing materials cause the signal to go crazy.

 

[KAB]

I'd eat the shipping cost and send it back.

 

[nilpoc]

ok, thanks for the input.

The link Voyager6 supplied rated it avg/below avg for VHF 7-13. Given I'm aiming for 10 in VHF 40 miles away even with an exterior mount, I'm leery.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[cparker]

I got one of these:
Antennas Direct C4 ClearStream4 Outdoor Digital HD TV Antenna (C4) | C4 [Antennas Direct] | Antennas Direct c4 terrestrial digital c3 clear stream color stream digital stream hd1080 hd-1080

and quite frankly I am amazed, but it appears to be outperforming my CM4228. I have the CM4228 on one house and the C4 on another house, but the 2 houses are within a quarter mile of each other and terrain is the same for each (no hills or anything)

CM4228 is no longer in production. It is replaced by the 4228HD which appears to be the same antenna, but with different reflector screens.

The C4 is pulling stations 42 to 45 miles out with no problem and right now it's sitting on a window sill inside the house.... so it's not even mounted on a mast outside yet.

I'm pretty happy with it.

** edit **
Oh, and it gets channel 7 VHF from 42 miles pretty darn well.

 

[navychop]

Keep in mind that many frequencies will be changing on 2/17/09.

 

[digiblur]

I got one of these:
Antennas Direct C4 ClearStream4 Outdoor Digital HD TV Antenna (C4) | C4 [Antennas Direct] | Antennas Direct c4 terrestrial digital c3 clear stream color stream digital stream hd1080 hd-1080

and quite frankly I am amazed, but it appears to be outperforming my CM4228. I have the CM4228 on one house and the C4 on another house, but the 2 houses are within a quarter mile of each other and terrain is the same for each (no hills or anything)

CM4228 is no longer in production. It is replaced by the 4228HD which appears to be the same antenna, but with different reflector screens.

The C4 is pulling stations 42 to 45 miles out with no problem and right now it's sitting on a window sill inside the house.... so it's not even mounted on a mast outside yet.

I'm pretty happy with it.

** edit **
Oh, and it gets channel 7 VHF from 42 miles pretty darn well.

4228HD looks like it wouldn't perform well on the VHF upper band that many people were surprised that the CM4228 would do. Many thought it was the large screens across the back.

To the OP:

If you're looking for a channel 10 at a pretty long shot then be sure and check the VHF performance. Also don't be fooled by what the station calls it...it might be a different frequency. For instance my local channel 2 is broadcasting on channel 13 for digital and will stay there. My local channel 9 is on 46 for digital but will be moving back to 9 in Feb 2009. So do your research before you buy.

 

[navychop]

Yep. Antennaweb can help you with actual frequencies.