What is the BEST ATTIC Antenna??

[kirk_olson]

I'd like to keep my antenna in the attic to keep my house looking stealthlike. I'm about 20 miles out from the towers, nice flat area, and a two story house. The Stealth antenna with amp is getting ABC, NBC, PBS and kinda CBS. I'd just like to get all of the channels consistently well and hopefully get FOX and WB(Low Power Stations).

I went to Radio Shack today and bought a VU-90 Link. It's about the largest antenna that I'd like to put in my attic(Not much more room). I also bought a RS Preamp and that helped also. I think this antenna might be too directional because I move it and get one station ok and one bad, then I move it and vice versa. I also got a lot of noise on WB. I could get FOX and WB but only like 10-12 signal strength coming in and out.

I think I might take these back and try a CM 4228 or 4248 along with a CM 7777 Preamp.

How well do you think these will work in my attic?

Oh yeah, plus I think we should start a seperate antenna forum, that would help also.

Channel Lineup
NBC Frequency Assignment 50
PBS Frequency Assignment 49.1, 49.2, 49.3
ABC Frequency Assignment 34
FOX Frequency Assignment 24
WB Frequency Assignment 36
CBS Frequency Assignment 47

 

[owlbox]

I have this combo (4228 and 7777) in my attic in MA. I'm about 25mi from the towers which are all at the same beam heading which is fortunate as this antenna has a 1/2 power beam width of around 25-28 deg. If you don't need the gain, you might be better off with the 4221 which has a beam width of around 60 deg. I don't know where you are but if you get snow on your roof, attic antennas don't work well in the winter. I'm putting my antenna outside next week. Good luck.

 

[StevenD]

I'll say it before Rolltide does....

ANTENNAS BELONG OUTSIDE AND IN THE AIR!

 

[kirk_olson]

I'll say it before Rolltide does....

ANTENNAS BELONG OUTSIDE AND IN THE AIR!

I'd better say it before EVERYBODY else does....


AGGIES SUCK!!!

 

[jrv331]

Can you explain what bean width is?
Thanks
John

I have this combo (4228 and 7777) in my attic in MA. I'm about 25mi from the towers which are all at the same beam heading which is fortunate as this antenna has a 1/2 power beam width of around 25-28 deg. If you don't need the gain, you might be better off with the 4221 which has a beam width of around 60 deg. .

 

[owlbox]

You lay the bean down on the table and the shorter dimension is the bean width.

 

[owlbox]

Ohh... you mean beam width. It's how far off the intended direction you can be and still have gain that is within 3db of the max.

 

[vurbano]

lmao owlbox!!!

I have a rca ant40u directional yagi uhf only in the atticno preamps.lots of diplexers. im 20 miles from all towers I get all stations most at 100 signal strength on D* scale. I paid 34 bucks. it was a 90 dollar antenna. its not even mounted just laying on the floor.

 

[vurbano]

maybe he meant bandwidth?

 

[kirk_olson]

For all of you IN THE AIR people, how much better do you think my antenna would perform at about the same height as the roofline?

 

[Lobstah]

That depends on how poorly it's performing now. Remember, OTA stuff is a "digital" signal, so you pretty much have it, or you don't. If you're getting pixelation, then it's due to poor signal strength, and moving it outside may help.

Lob

 

[Gr8Reb8]

I'd like to keep my antenna in the attic to keep my house looking stealthlike. I'm about 20 miles out from the towers, nice flat area, and a two story house. The Stealth antenna with amp is getting ABC, NBC, PBS and kinda CBS. I'd just like to get all of the channels consistently well and hopefully get FOX and WB(Low Power Stations).

I went to Radio Shack today and bought a VU-90 Link. It's about the largest antenna that I'd like to put in my attic(Not much more room). I also bought a RS Preamp and that helped also. I think this antenna might be too directional because I move it and get one station ok and one bad, then I move it and vice versa. I also got a lot of noise on WB. I could get FOX and WB but only like 10-12 signal strength coming in and out.

I think I might take these back and try a CM 4228 or 4248 along with a CM 7777 Preamp.

How well do you think these will work in my attic?

Oh yeah, plus I think we should start a seperate antenna forum, that would help also.

A really usefull bit of information that you left out is what channels these stations are on. Not the 3.1, 3.2 etc but the actual channels brodcast.
For me:
3.1 is on channel 2
8.1 is on channel 7
13.1 is on channel 39
17.1 is on channel 19
35.1 is on channel 11
etc.
You will find the actual numbers for your area on antennaweb.org. Look at the frequency column.

 

[kirk_olson]

There we go, I edited the Original Post to update my channel's Frequency assignments. Hope that helps

I also ordered a Square Shooter and a CM 7777 Preamp and am going to put that baby outside under my eave I think to see how that works. Got to keep the misses and neighbors happy.

 

[Gr8Reb8]

Since it looks like all your channels are UHF (and high ones at that), have you tried the Silver Sensor? It usually does very well with uhf channels. I have the Channel Master 3000 in my attic, and I get all my locals except for channel 35.1 (frequency 11).
So with that antenna in my attic, I get:
3.1 and 3.2 (frequency channel 2)
8.1 and 8.2 and 8.3 (frequency channel 7)
13.1 (frequency channel 39)
17.1 (frequency channel 19)
41.1 and 41.2 and 41.3 (frequency channel 20)
43.1 and 43.2 and 43.3 and 43.4 and 43.5 (all on frequency channel 44)
I also get 54.1 but I'm not sure what frequency it is on since it's not specified on Antennaweb.
I do not get 35.1 (frequency channel 11). I know the antenna will pick it up if I take it outside since I have tested that.

The Channel master can be found here: http://www.solidsignal.com/cat_display.asp?CAT=Antennas%20TV

 

[kirk_olson]

I do have a Silver Sensor and it works ok. I'd like to get a bit more distance though and I thought a bigger or better antenna would work better. The little Silver Sensor is pretty darn good though. I'll see how the Square Shooter works since I've read a lot people getting great results.

 

[Lobstah]

I've had a couple of msgs from folks that have traded in their Square Shooter for the RatShack mentioned earlier, and had much better results, but YYMV.

Lob