TV Antenna in remote area

[GT2]

Jim - It is an older but fairly large VHF/UHF antenna I took there years ago. I have a second large older VHF/UHF antenna in the attic that we don't use that I may try to pair up with the other. I tried the second one with a spare TV here at home (Probably not much closer than you to the transmitters) and it picked up quite a few channels.

John - I will give that a try. I probably do need to upgrade the cables and connections also.

Robert - One of the guys brought his travel trailer this year with its antenna and built in amp. But he did not have much success either. We also have a 5th wheel with an antenna and amp but have not tried using it since the digital conversion except once on top of Raton Pass. Did not get anything up there even with the amp on. Have not tried it otherwise as there is often cable available. I don't need the TV but the wife wants it.

There is a add on antenna for the travel trailer/ amp combos. It clips on to the existing antenna and helps with digital reception.
I added one and picked up a few extra channels.

 

[BB_TX]

There is a add on antenna for the travel trailer/ amp combos. It clips on to the existing antenna and helps with digital reception.
I added one and picked up a few extra channels.

Thanks, Tim. I had been looking at those and wondering if they would help that much.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Make sure you ahve apre-amp of the ant. You can check to see if it is working by watchign the carrier and then unplug the power supply. You will a drop in PIX quality.

Also higher is not always better. Youw ant to get into the signal path for distant off-airs. Built afew sites int he sieera moutnains for Cabel TV headends. We usually mounted the antennas inside buidling ont he ground and poitned them downards to start searchign for signal. One site we ahd to move to alower elevation. Broadcasters will usualy transmitt in a down tilt to target their Boradcast areas. So a lower array out 150 miles may help.

It alwasy a crap shoot. Typcialy we will moutn an array to a bucket truck $50,000 rotor and drive to selcet locations and perform a survey.

The new digitals are fun Power levels are changing as coverage maps are beign developed. I have an off-air 70 miles away we can pick up with Rabit ears. They will be increasing power Janaury 2. One with a Quad of Quads 16 Antennas phased together looses carrier.
Here is way more inforamtion than the average guy wants.

SITCO ANTENNAS

 

[tommu56]

Now you're talkin'. A couple of good movies on DVD, good books. Forget the world for a while, it's healthy.
Dave.

or a deck of cards and teach the grand kids to play harts or rummy

don't forget domino's

any one play ROOK?

tom

 

[sawdust_maker]

John - I will give that a try. I probably do need to upgrade the cables and connections also.

A clue that I found was when I touched a piece of coax coming in from the garage, and my wife told me she thought I had done something to the antenna. The old analog system was very forgiving. Yes, you would get snow, bad pictures, bad sound, but you still saw a signal. With HD, you get a perfect picture, or essentially nothing.

So I started replacing the coax at the same time as I added the replicate antennae. This improved things, but I still could never figure out why the tv in one room was so much worse than a tv in another room. Then I noticed that the splitter in our basement was a cheap one. So I replaced that with a higher quality one from Amazon. I also put in a higher quality amplifier for a better signal. No problems now.

All totaled, in the last year, I've spent roughly $250 on antennas, $160 on hardware & electronics, $75 on cable. Compared to what Time Warner charges for cable access, this seems a great deal as a one time cost.

John