Yes, that makes more sense. The act of switching from OTA to SAT would not remove the OTA tuner from the weak channel.
subscription question about HD
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I have two antennas on my roof. My roof is sheet metal so an indoor antenna is not possible at all.
The antenna is about 20 feet high.
Putting a motor on it isn't a good solution for me. They are expensive and they don't auto-rotate when you change channels. I would have to manually rotate the antenna when I change channels and I'm not cool with that procedure. It may work well for others but for me personally it wouldn't suit my needs. The dual antenna (actually triple antennas) make the most sense, I can point & tweak each antenna independently of each other, the signals will all be there on one wire for whatever devices (three so far) that feed from that wire to tune in whatever it wants at that moment. Actually I have two devices now that can record OTA at the same time, my DN tuner and my Home theater PC.
The antenna is about 20 feet high.
Putting a motor on it isn't a good solution for me. They are expensive and they don't auto-rotate when you change channels. I would have to manually rotate the antenna when I change channels and I'm not cool with that procedure. It may work well for others but for me personally it wouldn't suit my needs. The dual antenna (actually triple antennas) make the most sense, I can point & tweak each antenna independently of each other, the signals will all be there on one wire for whatever devices (three so far) that feed from that wire to tune in whatever it wants at that moment. Actually I have two devices now that can record OTA at the same time, my DN tuner and my Home theater PC.
So, your triple antennas, do you diple
triplex) the coax feeds from the antennas into one coax to feed your TV/receiver? If so, I wonder if 2 directional indoor antennas could be diplexed for me to point to the opposing transmitter locations?
triplex) the coax feeds from the antennas into one coax to feed your TV/receiver? If so, I wonder if 2 directional indoor antennas could be diplexed for me to point to the opposing transmitter locations?
You can try a splitter in reverse to add antennas onto a single cable, but... That is not recommended because strong stations can enter multiple antennas and (if the phasing is wrong) null themselves out at the junction. There exist band traps, such as the JoinTenna, which are made to do this. But they are expensive and designed to add only a single channel on one antenna to the cable carrying all the rest.
A very crappy, or even omnidirectional, antenna mated to a signal amplifier, might be a better solution than putting up multiple antennas.
A very crappy, or even omnidirectional, antenna mated to a signal amplifier, might be a better solution than putting up multiple antennas.
Ah yes, I didn't consider phasing. Either in phase, the signal amplifies, or if out-of phase, the crest from one wave would be canceled by the trough of the other.
My current antenna is not amplified...I'll try an amped one with an actual power source to see if that works for me.
My current antenna is not amplified...I'll try an amped one with an actual power source to see if that works for me.
So, your triple antennas, do you diple
Right now I have a VHF and a UHF antenna connected via one of these.
More pictures of the antennas
I want to put an identical, matching, second UHF antenna up for a total of three antennas. I plan to combine the two UHF antennas with one of these.
The output from that can feed into the UHF input of my existing UHF/VHS Combiner.
I guess I could then feed that into a booster before it is split inside to the three tuners (and probably more as I buy 2 more TV's)
Or where ever the booster goes, I don't know. I have seen a few different kinds so I'm unsure yet, I still need to learn about them.
I'll need to make this taller so that there will be room for another UHF antenna. I want to clear the roof by several feet. I also want to replace all the wires with the same stuff I use for my dishes, RG6 quad shield with compression fittings. Yes, I learned how to make my own.
I guess it's been almost 2 years since I put up this antenna. I haven't fooled with it since then so I don't know a whole lot about ATSC / OTA..
I don't see a preamp in that picture of course it might be where you can't see it in the picture. One of those will help you alot if you don't have one.
I don't have one yet. I'm trying to read up on the different types of devices that might help boost the signal, I know very little about the details of OTA & ATSC, I just watch it.
I've seen mention of a pre-amplifier but I don't understand how they work and what's involved in installing one. So it's homework time for me.. :ranger:
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I live about 65 miles as the crow flies from Red Mountain, where all of the transmitters for the Birmingham TV stations are located.
I have a tower antenna about 60 feet high. If I unplug the power supply to my preamp I get absolutely no signal at all. With the preamplifier I get 100% on all stations except for two, that I get about 75-80% on.
There is one station WCFT 33 thats transmitter is located to the SW of Birmingham, not where the others are, even not being directly aimed at it, I still get 100% signal.
I said all of that to say this, instead of going with multiple antennas now, since you are so close to the transmitters, try tuning up what you have and you might be surprised how well it will work.
One more thing you can do after you get your antenna dialed in good for Beaumont, if you want is to "move" to another DMA in your region (provided the spot beam covers you) and get locals from an area you want but can't get with an antenna. You could "move" to a county in the Houston DMA for instance and get those locals from satellite and Beaumont from the antenna. I "moved" my service address to a county in the Atlanta DMA, so I get those from DirecTV and I get my Birmingham locals and a couple from Tupelo/Columbus from the antenna.
I have a tower antenna about 60 feet high. If I unplug the power supply to my preamp I get absolutely no signal at all. With the preamplifier I get 100% on all stations except for two, that I get about 75-80% on.
There is one station WCFT 33 thats transmitter is located to the SW of Birmingham, not where the others are, even not being directly aimed at it, I still get 100% signal.
I said all of that to say this, instead of going with multiple antennas now, since you are so close to the transmitters, try tuning up what you have and you might be surprised how well it will work.
One more thing you can do after you get your antenna dialed in good for Beaumont, if you want is to "move" to another DMA in your region (provided the spot beam covers you) and get locals from an area you want but can't get with an antenna. You could "move" to a county in the Houston DMA for instance and get those locals from satellite and Beaumont from the antenna. I "moved" my service address to a county in the Atlanta DMA, so I get those from DirecTV and I get my Birmingham locals and a couple from Tupelo/Columbus from the antenna.
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I'm sold.
I will try this. I guess I will check on Amazon for one because they have detailed, actual customer feedback and ratings on the products. That's how I came to make the decision on the UHF remote extender.
Once I find one with a lot of good feedback I'll zero in on a low price, I have the "Invisible Hand" browser plug-in that I use heavily.
This preamp doodad would be cheaper and less complicated than three antennas and what-not. Not to mention, I would have to make the antenna taller and that is a scary prospect!
It's made of two fence rails and is 21 feet tall, if I stand on the peak of my roof I can just reach the top of it but I have to stand on the edge of the highest part of the roof which is certain death if I fall!
I know I hijacked this thread a bit with my discussion of my indoor antenna issue...but since it's along the same lines, just a quick update:
I put in an order for an amplified indoor antenna. I'll report back my results once I have it in hand and hooked up.
I put in an order for an amplified indoor antenna. I'll report back my results once I have it in hand and hooked up.
What do you guys think of this thing? Amazon.com: Winegard ANWI8700 Winegard AP Signal Amplifier: Electronics
I'm on amazon prime so I can have it by Saturday for $40.
I'm on amazon prime so I can have it by Saturday for $40.
I just bought one of these, Amazon.com: Winegard ANWI8780 Winegard ANWI8780 Signal Amplifier: Electronics
While shopping on Amazon I found this information about TV antennas.
On mine, there's a UHF and VHF combiner up top, a splice in the middle where I put two short wires together to make one long wire, then in the house it goes into a One in, Five out splitter, hooked to it are the VIP211k, my Hauppage tuner in the Home Theater PC and a Vizio flat screen. That's a lot of stuff going on. I'll eventually be adding two more TV's to all this. Plus the wire is OLD RG6. I want to replace it all with brand new RG6Q and one single wire top to bottom. To heck with all this old patchwork quilt mess..
But this amp, sounds like it's going to be just what the doctor ordered..
On mine, there's a UHF and VHF combiner up top, a splice in the middle where I put two short wires together to make one long wire, then in the house it goes into a One in, Five out splitter, hooked to it are the VIP211k, my Hauppage tuner in the Home Theater PC and a Vizio flat screen. That's a lot of stuff going on. I'll eventually be adding two more TV's to all this. Plus the wire is OLD RG6. I want to replace it all with brand new RG6Q and one single wire top to bottom. To heck with all this old patchwork quilt mess..
But this amp, sounds like it's going to be just what the doctor ordered..
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Those preamps are made to mount up on the pole that you have the antenna on, so you can get your new RG6 cable, and get your antenna down and mount that preamp there after you tie the VHF/UHF antennas together, and then run your new wire down to your power supply for the preamp, and then a wire out of the power supply to the splitter. I dont know if you will have any unused ports on the splitter, and I dont know if it really helps anything or not, but I always put a terminator on the unused ports on the splitter. I would get that antenna tuned in real good for Beaumont, and then, like I said, if there are some distant regional locals that you want and cant get with the antenna, you can "move" your service address with Dish to a county in that DMA, and have two or perhaps more sets of locals.
I would have gone to Walmart and purchased their amplifier for $25. I think it's 24db and just place it inside where your TV is. You can always take it back if it doesn't suit your purpose. That's what I use here in Florida since the stations are 35-60 miles away.
Walmart.com: GE Video Signal Amplifier: TV & Video
Walmart.com: GE Video Signal Amplifier: TV & Video
Dee,
Here is a website that seems to have a lot of information on it about preamps and how to go about installing them Dennys Antenna Service. Take a look at that.
Here is a website that seems to have a lot of information on it about preamps and how to go about installing them Dennys Antenna Service. Take a look at that.
Well, it's too late to cancel my order for the preamp, it's been shipped, so it is what it is..
And thank you for the Denny's link, that is very helpful!
Oh and my indoor splitter, it's a ~One in, Five out~, three outputs are in use, two are not.
These terminators, I have bought FTA switches over the years that had little metal connectors screwed onto some of the inputs.
I dug through a box and found two of them on a 3x4 FTA multi-switch. I assume these are the same thing? Can I take them off of this switch and put them on the OTA splitter?
Thanks!
And thank you for the Denny's link, that is very helpful!
Oh and my indoor splitter, it's a ~One in, Five out~, three outputs are in use, two are not.
These terminators, I have bought FTA switches over the years that had little metal connectors screwed onto some of the inputs.
I dug through a box and found two of them on a 3x4 FTA multi-switch. I assume these are the same thing? Can I take them off of this switch and put them on the OTA splitter?
Thanks!
