OTA Question
- Thread starter loubon
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If Dish does the install for you, try to make sure the installer puts the antenna up high enough to clear the roof of any obstructions caused by neighbors' houses and roofs, large trees etc. There's another thread going right now about a guy who had Dish install his antenna and the neighbor's house is blocking the path. You may even want to suggest a location for him to mount it when he comes (they aren't really in the business of installing OTA antennas, but they've been doing them).
There's one way to find out!
All the houses are pretty much the same height so I don't think that will be a problem. I'm still leaning towards trying the rabbit ears with an amp though.
Can't go wrong there. Even if it they don't pull in all the channels you want, you can use it when you travel or as a backup. BTW, you can probably find an RCA TVPRAMP1Z preamp for less than $20. Lowes sells them but they overcharge, IMO. When all is said and done you're looking at about $30 total, more or less, for rabbit ears and a preamp.
I live on the Oregon Coast and live 12 miles from from our translators. Using an indoor antenna I can get 4 of our 5 translators (If adjusted right) (1.8-5 KW ERP). But our low power CBS (576w ERP), is almost impossible to get a signal that will lock with an indoor antenna. With my Antenna Direct 91XG (UHF) yagi at 12 feet above ground, I get 100% off all of the translators off the vip211k. There is a huge difference in my signal strength between any indoor antenna I have tried and an outdoor antenna.
Originally I was just looking to connect the antenna to each TV and not bother with the OTA adapter for my Hopper as I do a lot of DVRing from broadcast channels and two tuners wouldn't be enough. If I go the route of a roof antenna and run the line to my Hopper 3 would my 3 other Joeys receive the OTA channels or does it need to go direct to each Joey (or TV)? Also when it goes through the Hopper would it also go out if the Dish does? (I'm thinking not since it has its own tuner(s).)
I have the ota adapter connected to the Hopper and joeys get it along the rest of the guide.
But you only get two tuners for that for OTA. You don’t get individual feeds to each TV.
Can you elaborate? Does that mean of my 4 units (1 Hopper and 3 Joeys) only two can get OTA service at the same time? If so that would be okay as I'm just looking for backup not to get rid of the Dish locals. I've read that if the Dish goes out you can still get OTA but I'm confused how because when my Dish goes out I can't access the guide (at least I don't think so) I can only get to my DVR.
It means that only 2 OTA channels are available for viewing simultaneously - there are only two OTA tuners.
Two receivers can be watching the same channel or 3 or all 4, but if someone on a third or fourth receiver wants to change to another OTA channel, it will warn you that one (or more) of the other receivers will lose the channel they are watching.
Two receivers can be watching the same channel or 3 or all 4, but if someone on a third or fourth receiver wants to change to another OTA channel, it will warn you that one (or more) of the other receivers will lose the channel they are watching.
I don't have a Hopper, but if my Dish reception goes out (rain fade), I can still access my guide.
Going back to using your existing lines, as long as you disconnect the Comcast feed, you can use the lines to feed your OTA antenna. However, keep in mind signal and splitter loss. The longer the cables, the more loss you have. The more splits you do, the more loss you have. If you lower the signal enough, you won't get reception. Every time you split, you cut the signal by 50% (a two way split has 50% signal going out, a four way has 25% signal on all outputs). Depending on how long the runs are and how many splits you have, you might need an amplifier.
How strong of an amp? Each split takes 3.5 db. A four way split would be down 7db from the input. Either get an amp with plans on returning it if you don't need it, or try without and then get one if you don't have success.
OK, thanks about the guide. I guess I never really checked the guide when it was out since it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Also I was only asking about splitting to different rooms when I was thinking of going straight into the TV. Now that I realize the Hopper will feed it to all locations that makes that a better solution.
So here's where I think I am at now thanks to all this great info and help (this place really is the best!): I'm leaning towards a roof antenna. I already have an extra pole mounted from the days when I needed two dishes. I also have the Comcrap line run to the Hopper location so that can be used to replace Comcrap. No splitter but the distance is long so an amp may be needed. I also have a direct Comcrap feed to one of the bedrooms so I'm thinking an antenna line right to the TV for that one if possible to do a split that way. That would get me an extra tuner and also it is an older Samsung TV and I use the wake up timer and that only works with an antenna feed or cable.
I'll reach out to Dish as it looks like either $100 or $150 to install based on config, I'll need an OTA adapter $60 unless I get lucky on eBay and then the antenna and possibly an amp. Any suggestions on an outdoor antenna based on the TVFool report I posted earlier in this thread? The pole I'm thinking can be reused is on the garage roof so it is about two stories high and seems to me to be clear of any obstructions (at least close by).
So here's where I think I am at now thanks to all this great info and help (this place really is the best!): I'm leaning towards a roof antenna. I already have an extra pole mounted from the days when I needed two dishes. I also have the Comcrap line run to the Hopper location so that can be used to replace Comcrap. No splitter but the distance is long so an amp may be needed. I also have a direct Comcrap feed to one of the bedrooms so I'm thinking an antenna line right to the TV for that one if possible to do a split that way. That would get me an extra tuner and also it is an older Samsung TV and I use the wake up timer and that only works with an antenna feed or cable.
I'll reach out to Dish as it looks like either $100 or $150 to install based on config, I'll need an OTA adapter $60 unless I get lucky on eBay and then the antenna and possibly an amp. Any suggestions on an outdoor antenna based on the TVFool report I posted earlier in this thread? The pole I'm thinking can be reused is on the garage roof so it is about two stories high and seems to me to be clear of any obstructions (at least close by).
Unless Dish is including the antenna (which they do in areas where they’re peddling OTA installs during local channel disputes) then you might just want to try it yourself? $100 is a lot of money and like I said before, they don’t have the meters or tools to point an antenna properly anyhow. They’d be stabbing in the dark.
Since you’re less than 60 miles from your towers, An RCA ANT751 should work well. Less than $50 (often on sale for less) and you can get it at Walmart. I’d try it with and without a preamp.
It’s rediculously easy to put together and just slides over the Dish pole.
I'm not sure I'd trust myself up on the roof (I know my wife won't) and I think I will still need some wire run as the cable is split in the house so I'd need a line run from the antenna to where it splits off to the rooms. But I appreciate the assessment to try and save a few bucks. Where does the amp get connected at the antenna or at the adapter? In other words would I need that available at the install if it needs to be connected at the roof or can I do it myself by adding at the adapter point?
The preamp has 2 parts. One part goes as close to the antenna as possible (most can mount to the J-pole). The second part is the power inserter; it goes inside the building where the antenna line first enters.
I haven't been able to catch up with anyone from DIRT yet so I called the DISH # that handles this. She told me an OTA antenna for my location isn't currently available. Had a hard time understanding her so I didn't ask a lot of questions but she said that normally it is $99 which includes the install and all equipment. She said the OTA adapter is an additonal $45. She also said that it was needed on each TV including those with Joeys but when I pressed her on this because I knew that was wrong she changed it to just the Hopper. So I'm not sure how confident I am with any of the info she gave me. Not sure if they would install my own purchased antenna and not sure why whatever antenna they have isn't suitable for my location.
Dirt confirmed that Dish doesn't cover my area although they can't determine why. Apparently they just put in the address and it says yay or nay. And I'm not having much luck finding an independent installer in Central NJ so I'm starting to think this plan is DOA rather than OTA! Also makes me wonder if the reason Dish doesn't do it and installers are hard to find is because it is not a great area for it.
Check out this link. It's mostly a resource to find satellite TV installers, but most any of these guys should be able to mount an antenna on a pole on your roof for you if you buy the antenna and the coax you need: http://www.ftainstall.com/Installer...d States&LocationGrouping=NJ&DisplayResults=1
