OTA Boost

[jpa25]

I'm just North of Boston in Winchester, MA. 01890. ABC broadcasts from South West of Boston, Needham, MA. 02494. I'm only 25 miles from the Tower, but I've got lots of buildings/Peaks/Valleys in between. Is there anyway I can get a potential boost on my ABC signal?

I have the Winegard Sensar OTA. I get NBC & CBS fine, I have a waiver for Fox, and ABC drops in an out on me if there is just one cloud in the sky. I have just put in a waiver request for ABC. I don't want MPEG 4 because I don't want to be locked into a contract. I'm expecting FIOS to be available within a year and will make the jump there.

I've got some people coming over for Bowl Games on Monday and it would be painful watching the HD cut in and out. I'm willing to try any patchwork solution. Thanks.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm just North of Boston in Winchester, MA. 01890. ABC broadcasts from South West of Boston, Needham, MA. 02494. I'm only 25 miles from the Tower, but I've got lots of buildings/Peaks/Valleys in between. Is there anyway I can get a potential boost on my ABC signal?
I have the Winegard Sensar OTA. I get NBC & CBS fine, I have a waiver for Fox, and ABC drops in an out on me if there is just one cloud in the sky. I have just put in a waiver request for ABC. I don't want MPEG 4 because I don't want to be locked into a contract. I'm expecting FIOS to be available within a year and will make the jump there.
I've got some people coming over for Bowl Games on Monday and it would be painful watching the HD cut in and out. I'm willing to try any patchwork solution. Thanks.

You did not mention if you were using a pre amp or not, seeing you are only 25 miles away, it probably is not nessasary., however with hills and peaks and valleys, maybe ....
Some of the others here will be able to help you better.

also check in the HD OTA forum as well.

 

[riggscm]

I'd deff try a ant amp. you can grab one from Radio shack for like 50 bucks if I remember correctly

 

[jpa25]

So something like this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...94&cp=&kw=antenna+amplifier&parentPage=search

Looks easy enough, and worth a shot. Thanks guys.

 

[boba]

www.antennaweb.org shows that ABC is channel 5.1 and actually is broadcast on UHF channel 20. It also shows that your broadcast towers are from Az.216-221 degrees and you actually are closer than you think to the broadcast towers. All of your digital broadcaster are using UHF channels so the Sensar may not be the best antenna for you. I would recommend a Channel Master CM4221 4 bay bowtie UHF antenna rated for a 45mi. range.

 

[Sady]

I have same one

I love my Channel Master CM4221. I have 2. One pointing west & 1 pointing north.

 

[jpa25]

Thanks Boba, I'll give that a shot. The amplifier did me no good. Its strange, my ABC signal is fairly steady at 69% in good weather. It'll drop out on occasion, but in bad weather it jumps from 69 to 54 to 0. Its all over the place. Does it matter that they installed it so its actually hitting the power wires coming into our house? Out on the roof yesterday I noticed the installer only used on bolt to secure it, and that the antenna part isn't secured at all, just sitting on the mast.

 

[jpa25]

Do they sell these at radio shack, or do I need to order from somewhere. I'm having trouble finding this on the web. It would be great if I could pick one up today.

 

[riggscm]

well I'd say it matters. Sounds like the ant is just kinda flappin in the wind and subject to all sorts of rotation and what not. That is if I am hearing you correctly.
I'd suggest you mount the ant somewhere where its not in contact with anything like a cable, or wire, or tree branches etc...
Most mid to long range ant's are directional, and need to be pointed at the source of the signal. That being said if your ant is directional, then the free rotation allowed by it just sitting on something will really mess with your ablility to pick up the wanted signal.
Also with the amp that I suggested to you...
From experience I can suggest a couple things to you.
firstly making the connection between the antenna coax and the preamp as close as possible to the antenna will make a difference. Also, if you are multiplexing the antenna signal by feeding it into your 5x8 switch for example, you want to put the adjustable amplifier before the multiplexing device. Just some thoughts for you

 

[jpa25]

Its the sensar antenna. It doesn't really rotate on its own. I can move it, but easily, but its semi-secure on its housing. It appears to be pointed in the direction of Boston. Clear as can be today and I just can't get NBC or CBS OTA. Frustrating.

I wish they did a better job with the install. Its also mounted on the second of three floors, on the roof of a farmers porch. So its lower than some surrounding house levels. That probably doesn't help either. I also noticed that the place has three layers of shingles on it (new house), but thats another issue.....

I'm on a mission to get ABC OTA working by Monday. I'm not the handiest guy in the world, but maybe I'll get this thing on on the roof and see how it goes. Or, I'll track down the Channel Master somewhere. No luck at the local Lowes or Radio Shack though.

Does this have to be on a level setting? Can I have it pointed upward towards they sky? According to antenna web all the locals are within 30 miles. I should be getting everything no problem.

 

[boba]

I think if you can find a local satellite dealer with TV antenna experience you would be better off employing them. If you are mounted at the second story level and you are looking through other houses you will definitely have signal loss. No a TV antenna cannot be pointed at the sky it dosen't receive satellite signals.

 

[chewey]

www.antennaweb.org shows that ABC is channel 5.1 and actually is broadcast on UHF channel 20. It also shows that your broadcast towers are from Az.216-221 degrees and you actually are closer than you think to the broadcast towers. All of your digital broadcaster are using UHF channels so the Sensar may not be the best antenna for you. I would recommend a Channel Master CM4221 4 bay bowtie UHF antenna rated for a 45mi. range.

Listen to this guy. It sounds like you are using a vhf antenna to try to pick up uhf signals. Go with a good bowtie style antenna.

 

[riggscm]

Well after looking up specs on the Sensar Antennas on the Winegard website... your antenna can handle both UHF and VHF signals no need to get a new antenna, IMHO.

What I would suggest is that you take a look at raising the mounting position. Now you can get antenna masts at all sorts of places, again I say take a peek at radio shack. they have various lengths/heights for prices around 10 to 30 bucks or so.
By raising the Sensar you'll be avoiding the interference of homes, trees etc.
Suggestion... before attaching the mast to your home try attaching the antenna to the mast, temporarily place the mast in the approximate area of your desired mounting area and check your signal strength, if it looks good then mount that puppy, if not then you don't have to deal with taking the whole thing off the home.

 

[jpa25]

No luck finding an installer. Directv won't send anyone because its OTA, and the only two local places only carry the Sensar. I'm willing to give it a shot myself, but it sounds like going through the trouble of moving the Sensar myself may not do any good anyway.

Do you think I'd have any luck with an indoor UHF antenna I could pick up at Radio Shack? That seems like my only option right now. If that doesn't work I'll just order a channel master from the web.

 

[riggscm]

hey JPA...
you know the only indoor antenna that I know has worked well for people is the "Silver Sensor", by Zenith.
Based on your zip code it would seem there's a Circuit City and Best Buy pretty close to you. I'd suggest you give them a holler to see if they stock it, and give it a whirl.

Typically Indoor antennas are not as good as a outdoor antenna, but given the hassle you'd be going through this is a easy thing to try to assist you in your quest.

As I'm typing this a thought comes to mind...
You've mentioned that you are having problems with one station in particular, perhaps there is a problem at the the broadcast location which is causing this stress.
For example CBS (2) in Chicago has problems with its ability to send out strong signals for its Dig/HD station. Something to do with the transmission frequency. Any way I'm wondering if there may not be something like that in play for your situation.

 

[jpa25]

I actually have trouble with ABC, NBC, and Fox. CBS is perfect. Circuit City doesn't have the Zenith, but they do have the TERK TV5 which got some great reviews. I'll pick one up today and see how that goes. Thanks for the help.

 

[jpa25]

hey guys,

Thanks again for all your help. I picked up a Terk HDTV indoor antenna (wanted the Terk TV5, but they were out) and things are great! Signal is now a steady 93% for ABC. I can even pick up UPN/WB/Fox now. NBC is still not coming in well, but this is much, much better than I had.

The Sensar must be in a really poor location, or just not oriented properly. Either way the indoor antenna is doing the job.

I called Directv yesterday to see if they would send someone to relocate the OTA, but they said they don't guarantee or support OTA after initial install. They did credit me back the $50 I paid them for the installation.