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Thanks folks. I'll check out the Antenna Man on YouTube. I figure I'll just have to bite the bullet and go rooftop. I'll also look at the other options on Amazon and BestBuy webpages.
i built an antenna off you tube, just some wire, nothing special. I can get about 70 channels and then turn the antenna a little and get 70 more channles. the problem is, only about ten worth watching. all the others are pbs religion type channels, like educational info channels and then there alot of copies pbs in seven different languages
Like I said, I have no doubt that the higher the antenna the better the reception. I could see in some rare cases it might be necessary to go higher, but I doubt it would make much difference in most cases.
A while ago I found a picture online that showed the building my family had owned. It appeared to have been taken in the mid to late 1950s just before I was born. What got my attention in the photo was that the TV antennas on the rooftop and on the rooftop of the building across the street were way up in the air, probably 20 feet above the second story rooftops. When I was growing up, those antennas were all dropped down to rooftop level. Because I remember going up on the roof with my dad when he adjusted them. They were right at the top of the chimneys on each side of the building. My guess it was because the reception was just as good from there, and they didn't have to worry about the antennas blowing over.
When we finally got a TV in our basement apartment I remember my dad was debating running a wire from there to one of the rooftop antennas. But my parents ended up just putting the TV in the dining room which had a window facing the TV transmission tower which was 50 miles away, and using a rabbit ears antenna. The picture was snowy as hell, but so was it from the rooftop antennas. The only thing the rooftop antennas seemed good for was getting reception in parts of the building that otherwise wouldn't have had it.
If you ever walk around with a portable TV or a directional tv antenna, attempting to find the best spot for a fixed antenna, your opinion will change quickly.
I was dubious that I would be able to get a solid signal from the antenna farm in the Huntsville area, but I noted on the geodesic maps that I had a slot in the terrain that might make it possible. My tivo has a signal strength meter, so I walked the property around the house and on the roof with a large directional antenna, while my wife called out the signal strength readings. There were areas with almost no signal at all, but there was one area of the roof, only about fifteen feet in diameter, where the signal was great.
Anything near ground level was nowhere near as good. Further, certain tree species are infamous for blocking signal. Cedar in particular can be a problem. During some seasons, and when trees are wet, signal degrades.
If you are line-of-sight or close in to towers, brute force will give you signal. When you are out over fifty miles away, you have to play nice with the electron gods.
If you ever walk around with a portable TV or a directional tv antenna, attempting to find the best spot for a fixed antenna, your opinion will change quickly.
I was dubious that I would be able to get a solid signal from the antenna farm in the Huntsville area, but I noted on the geodesic maps that I had a slot in the terrain that might make it possible. My tivo has a signal strength meter, so I walked the property around the house and on the roof with a large directional antenna, while my wife called out the signal strength readings. There were areas with almost no signal at all, but there was one area of the roof, only about fifteen feet in diameter, where the signal was great.
Anything near ground level was nowhere near as good. Further, certain tree species are infamous for blocking signal. Cedar in particular can be a problem. During some seasons, and when trees are wet, signal degrades.
If you are line-of-sight or close in to towers, brute force will give you signal. When you are out over fifty miles away, you have to play nice with the electron gods.
Been there done that. I have a lot of experience with portable TVs and rabbit ear antennas. Even with making aluminum foil flags to attach to get better reception. The good thing about rabbit ear antennas, it's easy to adjust them quickly as need be due to weather and other conditions. If your rooftop antenna gets blown out of whack, you have to get out your ladder and go up on the roof to adjust it. Which is no fun in bad weather.
But from my experience, if you are watching a station from 50 miles away, it's going to look like crap no matter how good an antenna you're using. I think early on cable TV systems learned that. In the 1950s they started investing in microwave communication links to get better reception for their subscribers, so they didn't have to rely on undependable low quality over the air reception from long distances away.
Been there done that. I have a lot of experience with portable TVs and rabbit ear antennas. Even with making aluminum foil flags to attach to get better reception. The good thing about rabbit ear antennas, it's easy to adjust them quickly as need be due to weather and other conditions. If your rooftop antenna gets blown out of whack, you have to get out your ladder and go up on the roof to adjust it. Which is no fun in bad weather.
But from my experience, if you are watching a station from 50 miles away, it's going to look like crap no matter how good an antenna you're using. I think early on cable TV systems learned that. In the 1950s they started investing in microwave communication links to get better reception for their subscribers, so they didn't have to rely on undependable low quality over the air reception from long distances away.
Stuff has changed a lot since the 50s. Type of antenna and location mean a lot. An antenna booster also helps a lot. The signal has got a lot better but the TVs have gotten way worse. The older TVs had signal boosters in them and the new TVs barely pickup anything because they are designed to work with cable that has all the signal strength needed.
i mean like build an antenna for the freq but use the dish to point the signal, to focaus better. there a map on the internet, well a program that will show you all the broadcast antennas and how far they are away and what direction
i mean like build an antenna for the freq but use the dish to point the signal, to focaus better. there a map on the internet, well a program that will show you all the broadcast antennas and how far they are away and what direction
A dish is not the right design for receiving over the air signals. You need the right tool for the job.
NO television antenna will have a range of more than 100 miles these days. Digital did change signals from getting some that were watchable but sometimes snowy, to - either it comes in or it doesn't, or pixilates horribly.
Antennaman on YT is good, but if you aren't a geek, your eyes can glaze over after a while.
I'm 60+ miles out, rooftop ChannelMaster AND amplifier. You might get away with an indoor antenna if you have a line-of-sight shot to the transmitting antennae. My backup system uses one of the little antennas that he hates, and it is indoors. It works on all channels when conditions are right, gets at least one or two stations in bad weather (think tornado time) but I extended the resonators with strategically placed coat hangers in the signal path.
Harry Chickpea is correct. I once installed TV antennas for a living. I am a HAM operator as well as a FTA dish enthusiast. The Channel Master HD8200 is still the longest range antenna on the market. If all of your channels you are seeking are above channel 13 you can get away with using CM's UHF version of the 8200 just as well. If it is up high enough the range on these 2 are about 80 miles for full power stations and about 45 miles for Low power licensed stations.
I have 2 antennas, an upper VHF and a lower UHF, both quite large. They are in the attic, though. I recently bought a quality amplifier, hooked it up, and re-scanned. The number of channels I could receive dropped. $70 down the drain. My problem is that I am in the middle of nowhere, low in elevation, and behind a large hill to the north, where the TV transmitters are. Based on an experiment I did by hooking up the FM receiver to the upper VHF antenna, adding an FM antenna to the attic might be worthwhile over the dipole I am using in my house with aluminum siding. Nobody makes 6 element FM antennas anymore; just 4 elements. For reference, the VHF antenna is optimized for 174-230 MHz, while FM is 88-108 MHz, so in theory a good FM antenna should be better.
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