I have a VHF-high/UHF antenna but want to change to an all band antenna sometime. As far as I know, there are no VHF-low stations in the Rochester, MN market but eventually I would like to travel in the country and want an all band antenna that would cover all channels. If I got that antenna soon, would it affect my signal due to the fact that there are no lo-VHF channels in my area? I also know all band antennas are bulkier, so also would it be worth it now due to weather conditions that could happen?
Would a VHF-low capable antenna be worth it?
- Thread starter edisonprime
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A low-VHF antenna would probably not do you much good in the future. The FCC has mandated that all broadcasting television stations move from those frequencies. The available spectrum is now 7 - 13 VHF and 14 - 69 (theoretically) with 37 and 51 reserved and 52 - 69 removed from broadcasting as well. Thus the channel reorganization. Keep in mind that these are real frequencies and not virtual frequencies. Thus a station such as WCBS 2 in New York is no longer broadcasting on VHF 2 but instead UHF 33.
It all depends on what you are expecting for performance. I have 2 all channel antennas that were $25-35 and about 4ft. long and about 6ft. wide.. They will both pull signals at about 65 miles. Our terrain is relatively flat mountains and valleys will change the distance for reception.
VHF-LO is not going away. Available channels after the repack are 2-36.
VHF low band is definitely staying. We have five low-VHF channels breadcasting now in the SF Bay Area, and they aren't leaving, and one that's now on channel 23 will be moving to channel 5 during the re-pack changes. We'll be losing all channels above 36, nothing lower than that.
I used to get analog San Francisco TV stations and same goes for Sacramento as well too.
They tend to skip into Albuquerque , NM during the E-skip summer time season on VHF low band rf channel 2 to 6!
I would not be surprised the digital signal will survive the E-skips.
I caught a station from Nebraska PBS station on channel 3 few years agos and lasted 6 seconds or so.
Got to see picture and sound! Cool or what
!?
But digital TV DXing is little harder so be patient.
You will be rewarded for it.
The best way to know the skip is opening up is by using all mode radio receiver and run in on 6 Meter ham radio band.
Go to 50.150 + or - Mhz using Upper Sideband "USB".
Now when you hear ham ops working DX then try to punch in rf channel 2.1 and see what happen.
Like I said be patient you will get the goodies.
Have fun TV DXing!
They tend to skip into Albuquerque , NM during the E-skip summer time season on VHF low band rf channel 2 to 6!
I would not be surprised the digital signal will survive the E-skips.
I caught a station from Nebraska PBS station on channel 3 few years agos and lasted 6 seconds or so.
Got to see picture and sound! Cool or what
!?But digital TV DXing is little harder so be patient.
You will be rewarded for it.
The best way to know the skip is opening up is by using all mode radio receiver and run in on 6 Meter ham radio band.
Go to 50.150 + or - Mhz using Upper Sideband "USB".
Now when you hear ham ops working DX then try to punch in rf channel 2.1 and see what happen.
Like I said be patient you will get the goodies.
Have fun TV DXing!
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I used to get analog San Francisco TV stations and same goes for Sacramento as well too.
They tend to skip into Albuquerque , NM during the E-skip summer time season on VHF low band rf channel 2 to 6!
I would not be surprised the digital signal will survive the E-skips.
I caught a station from Nebraska BPS station on channel 3 few years agos and lasted 6 seconds or so.
Got to see picture and sound! Cool or what
But digital TV DXing is little harder so be patient.
You will be rewarded for it.
The best way to know the skip is opening up is by using all mode radio receiver and run in on 6 Meter ham radio band.
Go to 50.150 + or - Mhz using Upper Sideband "USB".
Now when you hear ham ops working DX then try to punch in rf channel 2.1 and see what happen.
Like I said be patient you will get the goodies.
Have fun TV DXing!
Yes, that season is fast approaching and I'm looking forward to it. Furthest station received for me, so far, is WOWT from Omaha, ~212 miles. Also a station from Wichita, ~202 miles.
You're living in a time warp. Fast forward to now where we're staring down the barrel of the repack that will remove channels 38-51 from the picture (37 was never in play as you noted). More than a few markets will have VHF low as part of the repack and if full power stations aren't already in that range, the low-power stations may fill some or all of them in. The repack phase 1 of 10 is scheduled to be completed after Thanksgiving.
Los Angeles has a 2, 3, 5 and a low-power analog 6 prior to the repack. New York City has channels 2, 3 and 4. Philadelphia has 2, 4 and 6.
Once Next Gen TV starts gaining traction, it seems likely that even more channels will be operating down low at least until ATSC 3.0 is officially declared the new broadcast TV standard and DTV begins to fade away.
Well someday I’d like to travel home to home across the country and wasn’t talking about RV if that’s what you think I meant. I would like an RV someday though, in which I’d like a smaller antenna and satellite dish (I’d have satellite for my homes as well).
Unless you're venturing about in substantially unimproved camping sites, many formal RV parks have some manner of CATV or even cable service.
I recently purchased and installed two of those "150 mile" antennas for about 32 bucks apiece that are rotatable and cover VHF/UHF and include a built-in rotor, preamp, coax, and remote. They are very small compared to the old-school VHF-UHF antennas and would fit very nicely on an RV so you might want to check those out. They perform very satisfactorily here at the home QTH so far. Now how long they will last is another story hi hi. Only way to find out is to try it.
As for TV DX, we definitely experience this here during the warm months so it'll be interesting to see how these antennas pan out.
Great post and comments!
As for TV DX, we definitely experience this here during the warm months so it'll be interesting to see how these antennas pan out.
Great post and comments!
I was having visions of the antenna spinning around and subsequently flying apart at highway speeds. There's a reason that the popular mobile TV antennas are either enclosed or have only a couple of flat wings.
While the amp claims to be full-range, the antenna itself specifies only VHF-high and UHF.
If that thing receives TV from 150 miles I'll eat my hat.
Looks more like a 25 mile antenna.
But the price is not bad if it doesn't fall apart in six months or a year.
If they lie about that what else is questionable in their ad?
I have a similar antenna as a View TV DA290 it does 65 miles without an amplifier. Look at the lengths on the VHF elements. It isn't the same model number and mine came without the amplifier. Construction looks very similar, $30.59 how much of a gamble is that?
