After doing a bunch of research and getting some great feedback from some of the members on this board, I'm going to try install an OTA antenna this weekend. However, just for interest, today I also contacted a local installer to get an idea on pricing. The guy I spoke to was really friendly, seemed extremely knowledgeable but also said that I needed a bunch of equipment to get OTA HD. Specifically, they'd install a Channel Master Antenna, rotor & amplifier. Being that antennaweb states I only need a 'red' antenna as I'm only 15 miles from the transmitting towers, installing a rotor, amp, etc seemed a little much. Don't know if any of you agree or disagree on the equipment the installer recommended. As an FYI, he also quoted a price of @ $600 for the antenna install, rotor install, amp, grounding, running one cable directly to my HR10-250. Any feedback on the equipment recommendations or pricing ? Thanks in advance.
OTA Antenna Installation Pricing
- Thread starter stumacdo
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stumacdo said:
It seems steep, but do you want to get up on your roof and climb around?
As far as needing a rotor, where are the transmitters located? If they are
in the same direction you won't need one, but if they are even a few degrees
apart, a rotor is probably needed. The amp can be added later if necessary.
Chip
I have a rotator, Amp And a 40ft High UHF VHF antenna, and I only have 250$ invested. If your only 15 miles from the stations you should be able to use a indoor antenna. without all the extras.
15 miles
I can't say that the 15 miles is always good enough for an indoor. I'm about 12 miles west of NYC, and not all of the channels in the area come in with just the indoor. I had the roof OTA put in when the new dish got put in a few days ago, and it does work like a charm. Not a thing was mentioned about rotating, etc. - are all of the channels coming from a similar area/direction?
I can't say that the 15 miles is always good enough for an indoor. I'm about 12 miles west of NYC, and not all of the channels in the area come in with just the indoor. I had the roof OTA put in when the new dish got put in a few days ago, and it does work like a charm. Not a thing was mentioned about rotating, etc. - are all of the channels coming from a similar area/direction?
The channels are actually coming from 2 different orientations, 19 degrees and 242 degrees. However, since they're almost 180 degrees apart, I was thinking that a multi-directional should be able to handle it. The antenna I picked up at Lowe's was a Channel Master Stealth Outdoor Antenna 3010 for 60 bucks. I figured that putting it on a 6-foot mast on my roof should allow me to handle the 2 directions the OTA signals are coming from. According to the specs, it's good for 30 miles UHF/45 VHF and being that I'm @ 15 miles from the transmitters, I'm thinking I'm in good shape.
Mediadrop - when they put the antenna up for you as part of the DTV install, did they just install the dish clip-on variety ?
Mediadrop - when they put the antenna up for you as part of the DTV install, did they just install the dish clip-on variety ?
My antenna was a bat-wing type, and WAS mounted to the dish pole underneath the dish. Unfortunately, this meant that it was only like 2ft off the ground and between my garage and house.
I moved it to behind the house near the back deck. Magically, my reception is almost perfect now. I'm going to mount it up even higher as well to see if I can even get a bit better on Signal strgenth. I have trouble with only one channel, that hopefully the higher mount will fix.
I'm ~26 miles from all of the towers in Nashville, and they all come from the same general direction (slighlty differing degrees), so that may explain why I don't have issues.
I moved it to behind the house near the back deck. Magically, my reception is almost perfect now. I'm going to mount it up even higher as well to see if I can even get a bit better on Signal strgenth. I have trouble with only one channel, that hopefully the higher mount will fix.
I'm ~26 miles from all of the towers in Nashville, and they all come from the same general direction (slighlty differing degrees), so that may explain why I don't have issues.
When looking up my stations they are all in yellow 8-10 miles from my apt. Should I be able to use an indoor antenna??
OTA Success
After digesting all the help offered on this board, I tackled OTA this weekend for my brand-new DTV HR10-250. First, tried an indoor amped antenna. OK with ABC, no-go with anything else. Then, attached a ChannelMaster 3010 to a 5-foot mast and walked around my roof having my wife read signal strength from the HR10-250. Attached to my chimney, ABC came in at 90+ signal, Fox @ 70, NBC @ 70, WB/UPN @ 70. Only ones I couldn't get more than 10-20 was CBS and PBS. However, if I can get everything but CBS/PBS - I'm pretty happy.
Total Cost - $50 Antenna, $10 Mast, $20 100-foot Coax , $20 Chimney Mount = $100. Quite a savings from the $600 I was quoted for professional installation.
After digesting all the help offered on this board, I tackled OTA this weekend for my brand-new DTV HR10-250. First, tried an indoor amped antenna. OK with ABC, no-go with anything else. Then, attached a ChannelMaster 3010 to a 5-foot mast and walked around my roof having my wife read signal strength from the HR10-250. Attached to my chimney, ABC came in at 90+ signal, Fox @ 70, NBC @ 70, WB/UPN @ 70. Only ones I couldn't get more than 10-20 was CBS and PBS. However, if I can get everything but CBS/PBS - I'm pretty happy.
Total Cost - $50 Antenna, $10 Mast, $20 100-foot Coax , $20 Chimney Mount = $100. Quite a savings from the $600 I was quoted for professional installation.
You may want to try a 10ft mast. I had the same signal streagnth of 10-20 for my PBS station. I went on the roof and changed the 5ft for a 10ft and got a signal of 69. The other stations that were in 80s and 90s went to 90s and 100. Glad to hear that you saved quite a few bucks doing it yourself.
Is there a minimal signal strength I should be attempting to get ? I was quite happy to be close to 70, thinking that was pretty good for OTA. Any ideas on what's minimally acceptable ?
You can try "pointing" the antenna as well. My issue is just a few degrees off I can lose either Fox or CBS. Tweaking, I got both in in at 93+, but it also sounds like I am much closer to the antennas (and I am elevated as well). All of my stations now come in 86-90 (CBS,FOX) or 93-100 (ABC,NBC, WB).
Perhaps you can take the ChannelMaster back and get a larger multi-spiked UHF/VHA antenna, one that would perhaps capture signal a bit better? They shouldn't be but $60 at Home Depot for a fairly good one.
Perhaps you can take the ChannelMaster back and get a larger multi-spiked UHF/VHA antenna, one that would perhaps capture signal a bit better? They shouldn't be but $60 at Home Depot for a fairly good one.
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