? on 2 OTA

[ricks]

I live in a townhouse so have to do weird things to abide by FCC rules on antennas not over one meter. Now that you're convinced I'm not totally nuts, to my question.

I originally was using a Silver Sensor inside with a CM preamp. Signal strength OK for some - not so great for others. I installed a Square Shooter outside using the same preamp, which meets the FCC restrictions on antenna size. Problem is I can get a great signal for all of my locals except ABC, which is located in the opposite direction of all the main towers and behind my townhouse. If I shift the Square Shooter 20 or 30 degrees away from optimum for the main towers, I can barely pickup ABC. This is an unacceptable compromise position since I get some dropouts on the main stations that come in just fine if not a compromise aim. I can pick up the ABC station moderately well by using the Silver Sensor inside. So, I want to use the Silver Sensor inside only for ABC and align the Square Shooter for all of the rest.

How do I configure this the best way? Should I purchase another preamp for the inside Silver Sensor? Can I then combine the two signals using a splitter (or would I want a diplexer?). Would I need to use both power boxes for the preamp or could I run both amps through one power box. Etc. What problems am I not recognizing?

Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Sean Mota]

Not sure how to do combine them. You could by an A/B switch. You will need to manually change the switch for each antenna. I think RS carry those.

 

[ricks]

Well, an A/B switch would be more convenient than unhooking every time I wanted to change channels. Can you explain why the two OTA signals couldn't be combined? Aren't they the same thing? I was hoping that somehow combining the two would not only solve my directional problem, but also boost the overall signal strength.

 

[edsmith100]

ricks,thats what i do .i have a north,south station location.i whent to r/s and got aa/b switch for coax ant,works great,one ant pointed n other s.i do have to get up when i want to watch either ant,small price to pay for hd out of market football. ed

 

[occammd]

Ricks, the a/B switch is your best bet. The squareshooter is designed to reduce multipath by a large degree so you will not pick up the tower 180 degrees out from the ones you are pointing at. You could combine, not with a diplexer, but you will lose about half of your power level from each antenna as you do it. And the big issue with combining is now you have out of phase signals at the same frequencies in both wires being combined into one. The best way to do this is with a jointenna, but as mentioned, you will lose power.
The A/B switch has no power loss and no noise issues due to combining, just a little inconvenient (man, remember when we used to actually get up to change the channel?). If you don't want to get up, RS has a switch with a remote I believe.

 

[occammd]

Your question about using the same premp, you need to use a combiner that passes DC, then make sure your PS can handle both loads

 

[ricks]

Ricks, the a/B switch is your best bet. The squareshooter is designed to reduce multipath by a large degree so you will not pick up the tower 180 degrees out from the ones you are pointing at. You could combine, not with a diplexer, but you will lose about half of your power level from each antenna as you do it. And the big issue with combining is now you have out of phase signals at the same frequencies in both wires being combined into one. The best way to do this is with a jointenna, but as mentioned, you will lose power.
The A/B switch has no power loss and no noise issues due to combining, just a little inconvenient (man, remember when we used to actually get up to change the channel?). If you don't want to get up, RS has a switch with a remote I believe.

Thanks. Now I understand why you can't just combine them. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

 

[occammd]

Just to clarify, what I meant about multi-path is that the squareshooter is designed to reduce multiple reflections of the same signal from sources at many angles, that is why it may try to reject your station that is behind it.

 

[mtuller]

I'm in the same boat as you, I have the stealth antenna pointed to the majority of my local channels, but our ABC station is not broadcasting locally yet. Fortunatley there is a remote ABC channel but its 180 degrees in the other direction, so like you I have a two antenna setup with a cheapo Phillips powered indor antenna that sits on my TV, amazingly the little thing is able to pick up the ABC station over 35 miles away with a singnal strength of 40 or so. I to have been looking for a way to combine the signals but I have not found a solution other than using the A/B switch that I have now.

 

[ricks]

Just to clarify, what I meant about multi-path is that the squareshooter is designed to reduce multiple reflections of the same signal from sources at many angles, that is why it may try to reject your station that is behind it.

Yeah. I am aware of that. I believe Voom also will supply the CM antenna that looks like a boat radar antenna if the Stealth won't work well. I understand that round antenna has huge multi-path problems. I never tried the Stealth since it is longer than one meter. Still have it at home in the box iffn' anyone wants to buy it off me.