OTA TV Antenna

[Sandra44]

• posts : 1
• Points : 0
• Joined : Fri Sep 14, 2012

Hello,
I have erected an old Square GRID Parabolic antenna with an AIDC-3731 downconverter on it which was left at my old house by a tv company I used once. It has a coaxial cable hook-up on the downconverter and is about 16 feet off the ground, on a pole. I first checked my tv with rabbit ears to make sure I didn't need a converter box and received 16 digital channels. I then ran 50 ft of round R-6 cable directly from that tv to the outdoor grid antenna by plugging the cable into the downconverter cable hook-up but can't get a signal. I have tried turning the antenna in all directions but still no signal. I don't want to remain with the rabbit ears as my daughter said this would humiliate her, so I want to be able to use an outdoor antenna preferably this grid antenna I already have. I was hoping you could guide me on how to utilize this antenna or tell me what's wrong or what I need to do to fix the problem. I am a housewife that knows just enough about OTA signals to get me in trouble, so please help in layman's terms. Thanks!

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[boba]

• posts : 1
• Points : 0
• Joined : Fri Sep 14, 2012

Hello,
I have erected an old Square GRID Parabolic antenna with an AIDC-3731 downconverter on it which was left at my old house by a tv company I used once. It has a coaxial cable hook-up on the downconverter and is about 16 feet off the ground, on a pole. I first checked my tv with rabbit ears to make sure I didn't need a converter box and received 16 digital channels. I then ran 50 ft of round R-6 cable directly from that tv to the outdoor grid antenna by plugging the cable into the downconverter cable hook-up but can't get a signal. I have tried turning the antenna in all directions but still no signal. I don't want to remain with the rabbit ears as my daughter said this would humiliate her, so I want to be able to use an outdoor antenna preferably this grid antenna I already have. I was hoping you could guide me on how to utilize this antenna or tell me what's wrong or what I need to do to fix the problem. I am a housewife that knows just enough about OTA signals to get me in trouble, so please help in layman's terms. Thanks!

​

From a google search your down converter isn't for TV reception (looks more like ham radio) You can move the rabbit ears outside and connect the cables with a F-81 (splice) and some black electrical tape for a temporary connection. Using www.tvfool.com you need VHF lo & HI along with UHF to get the available TV stations you may want to look at TVfool results and decide what stations you need to make you happy then buy a TV antenna that suits your needs.

 

[Bob2011]

That setup you have is used for wireless cable TV or wireless broadband in the microwave frequencies above 2.5 GHz. OTA TV is below 700 MHz so that antenna won't work at all.

If you just want the local stations then a simple 2 bay or 4 bay bowtie style antenna should work for you. If you want the Baton Rouge stations then a larger VHF/UHF combo antenna will be needed.

 

[Sandra44]

Thanks for the reply! I decided to check the grid antenna alone by adding a belum directly to it and it worked!

 

[egnlsn]

Those antennas are for MDS or MMDS. Used to be an alternative to cable before DirecTV and Dish Network launched. The downconverter converted the signal(s) from 2.4GHz to to whatever TV channel it's made for. Around here, it was channel 6.