Updated TV Antenna Thoughts

[buickanddeere]

I looked at things with that zipcode and it does favor Birmingham. The only advantage with the Winegard HD8400P is that it would be better for FM radio and WVUA channel 6 if you want to receive that. Otherwise, I would still stick with the HD769xP models. The HD8400P is also a much wider antenna.

The Stacker is simply a VHF-High antenna and a UHF antenna mounted together. It will have the same channel 6 problem as above. If size is an issue, the HD7694P is nearly the same size and offers almost the same gains as the Stacker, and far less mounting and weather problems.

The biggest issue is going to be what kind of terrain do you have to deal with and how high can you get the antenna. Also, the longer the antenna boom and the higher the gain, the more directional the antenna will become.

The channel 7-51 antenna have the advantage of not receiving as much of the FM radio broadcast band. The FM radio signal causes tuner overload and intermode interference . The absence of the channel 2-6 elements makes the antenna much smaller and less susceptible to wind and ice damage.
As previously stated, a good antenna mounted amplifier is vital.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I bought a $50 RCA antenna that is supposed to pick up VHF too, but I still can't get Fox7 Austin from about 50 miles away. I get all the other channels easily, even with the cheapie UHF $24 dollar antenna. But just can't get the Fox7...

 

[lakngulf]

I bought a $50 RCA antenna that is supposed to pick up VHF too, but I still can't get Fox7 Austin from about 50 miles away. I get all the other channels easily, even with the cheapie UHF $24 dollar antenna. But just can't get the Fox7...

Interesting that Fox is your most difficult to pick up. When I tested the first time I did not get my Fox6 Birmingham, and no Fox20 Montgomery. I had to aim the antenna just right to get it. Still have issues with PBS, which is ok.
Now I have my antenna in its final location, aim it just right and I have Fox6 Bham, NBC Bham, CBS from Bham and Montgomery, and three ABCs. Plus the other channels that go along with them, and PBS seems ok in new location.
Why did I use this location? Because this is where there was a splice in the Direct TV cable run into the house. I checked and they ran RG6 all the way so this saved my having to purchase cable and make the crazy run into the house. I am a happy camper now

 

[TractorGuy]

I have an Antennas Direct 8 bay bowtie antenna on a rotator that is no longer made. The power and direction signals are sent through the coax so I didn't have to run any additional wires. Our PBS station is almost 180* from the other stations but I have the antenna somewhere in between and it picks them all up without moving it unless the wind blows hard or we get heavy rain. None of our station towers are over 30 miles away with the primary stations about 15. Our direct TV dish was mounted on a mast on the peak eave of the house so I took the dish off and used the mast and coax left behind for the antenna.

 

[bunyip]

We run VHF and UHF on digital TV and now operate on bands 3-4-5, prior to digital there was band 2 with a few band 1.
We are fringe and run a Log Periodic band 3-4-5 (it varies depending upon location, repeaters etc) and I find they are physically compact yet offer high gain, not as directional as a yagi and nowhere near as bulky as a phased array.
Without amplification and running an eight way splitter we have an output of 55dbuv average across all channels.
The TV's vary but most of the better models will operate at a low level like quoted, some of the cheaper units give in at below 65dbuv and will need an amp.
Typically a Log Periodic (Fracarro LP 345 in our case) offers 9db gain which is not bad for something that is only 1 metre long, as a bonus they are a 75 ohm antenna so do not need a balun and come with a waterproof 'F' connector.
Apart from that we run Netflix on NBN fibre optic through the broadband network.

 

[lakngulf]

We run VHF and UHF on digital TV and now operate on bands 3-4-5, prior to digital there was band 2 with a few band 1.
We are fringe and run a Log Periodic band 3-4-5 (it varies depending upon location, repeaters etc) and I find they are physically compact yet offer high gain, not as directional as a yagi and nowhere near as bulky as a phased array.
Without amplification and running an eight way splitter we have an output of 55dbuv average across all channels.
The TV's vary but most of the better models will operate at a low level like quoted, some of the cheaper units give in at below 65dbuv and will need an amp.
Typically a Log Periodic (Fracarro LP 345 in our case) offers 9db gain which is not bad for something that is only 1 metre long, as a bonus they are a 75 ohm antenna so do not need a balun and come with a waterproof 'F' connector.
Apart from that we run Netflix on NBN fibre optic through the broadband network.

Huh? You lost me

 

[grsthegreat]

We live way in the boondocks...far from any antenna and in the trees. I bought this Winegard FlatWave Amped Digital HD Indoor Amplified TV Antenna-FL55S - The Home Depot
From home depot, and it works great. We now get 15 over the air stations, very goid quality picture. I hooked it up thru my tv hub box and get reception on 5 tvs with 1 antenna.

 

[bunyip]

Huh? You lost me

Frequencies are allocated into bands so band 3 is the upper range of VHF from channel 5a to 13 (could be 12).
The remainder are the UHF frequencies but I cannot recall the cut off but I think it is about channel 32 for band 4.
It is an international standard with some minor variants such as we use PAL and 625 lines whereas you use NTSC and I think 525 lines but frequencies are essentially the same.
There are a multitude of antennas on the market some of which are extremely directional and others offer very high gain.
dbuv is decibels microvolts which is the measure of the signal strength as it enters the TV from the wallplate/outlet.
My apologies but I used to be an electronics tech before I entered the medical profession back in the early 70's and I still dabble in it.
NBN is our high speed internet system owned and mismanaged by the government to give us all a better deal, it is proving to be a dismal failure but we are stuck with it and being government owned could we expect anything else?

 

[MossRoad]

Huh? You lost me

He's down under...

 

[bunyip]

No I'm not