Don_M

Dimensions
Boom length: 60 inches
Maximum width: 36 inches
Maximum depth: 4 inches
Turning radius: 42 inches

Technical specifications
Channels: 7 - 13
Number of elements: 5
Impedance: 300 ohm (coax matching transformer required)
Gain: 6.9 dBd
Beamwidth at half-power points: 56 degrees
Front-to-back ratio: 13.3 dB

Other
AntennaWeb color code: Red Zone
Claimed range: 60 miles
Shipping weight: 4.7 pounds
Cost: $22.00 - $28.00

Comments
The Y5-7-13 is a cost-effective solution for urban, suburban and near-fringe viewers who already have a UHF antenna and need to add a high-band VHF antenna for the post-transition. It's a good alternative for those who don't require the high gain and deep-fringe capability of the Winegard YA-1713 high-band Log-Yagi. When combined with a medium-range UHF antenna using a UVSJ or other band combiner, performance is comparable to that of some all-channel antennas approaching the $100 range.

Compact in size and weighing about 3 pounds, the Y5 won't contribute a serious amount of wind load on a mast, is fairly unobtrusive above the roof and small enough to be aimed correctly within most attics.

AntennaCraft, located in Burlington, Iowa, claims a range of 60 miles and rates the Y5 for the AntennaWeb Red Zone. The zone claim is fair, but this distance will be obtainable only with line of sight to the transmitters and a very tall mount -- in other words, optimum circumstances. In most applications, a Y5 should provide reliable reception up to 35-45 miles when mounted outdoors.

1inxs

Don, A good thread for an often asked question. Thanks for the post.

Jay

Great review Don, that just reminded me that I need to add UVSJ to our Acronym Expansion Database. What do you recommend for a quality UVSJ? The Pico Macom is pretty cheap at $4.00 on the web.

Don_M

Jay, I was thinking of suggesting the addition of UVSJ as an brief entry in the Reviews threads, as well as to the acronym list...

Anyway, UVSJs are similar to splitters in that they're both commodity products. Pico Macom is the gold standard, of course, but the company halted production some time ago, so "real" P-Ms have been hard to come by for quite a while now. I've seen some chatter recently about a production re-start and that they'll soon become more widely available, though.

Pico Macom claims insertion loss of 0.5 dB on its UVSJ. Tru Spec, Holland and other brands run about 0.7 dB. The difference is, basically, nothing. Compare either to the 3.5-dB hit from the Winegard CC-7870 VHF-UHF separator/combiner; that's no better than how a splitter in reverse would perform! Channel Master claims an 0.5 dB loss on its 0549 combiner, but it costs $9 instead of $4.

Piggie

Either Solid Signal has a huge stock or this is not the one you are talking about Don.

That said, many folks in Gainesville, FL are running this one with great results, since it is a 2 antenna town due to not having a central tower farm. So everyone has separate UHF and VHF antennas for best performance, using this model to combine.

Pico Macom UVSJ UHF VHF Band Separator/Combiner for Antenna (UVSJ) | UVSJ [Pico Macom]

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Aaron62

I have a dumb question here so please forgive my ignorance in advance. Is there a difference in mounting heights for combining UHF and VHF antennas? Or can you mount a VHF in one location like the roof, combine it with a VHF in the attic?

1inxs

Not really a dumb question. I would imagine this thought has crossed the minds of many. You can combine the signal of UHF and VHF antennas from different locations. For successful results you want to make sure there is separation. You don't want the signal diffraction from one antenna to interfere with the signal of the other antenna.

Don_M

Looks like the P-Ms may be back in stock over there. I bought one from them last year when they had the same description and illustration shown in your link target, but what I got was a Holland instead. It works fine.

Solid Signal caught a bit of flak from the OTA/DTV boards at the time over the bait & switch, so they changed the photo not too long afterward. As I said earlier, Picos and Hollands are so similar that virtually no one will notice the difference. 0.2 dB is your basic margin of error.

Piggie

1inxs has it right. Maybe another way to understand this is if you combine antennas with a diplexers, you don't need to have the same coax length to each antenna. A UVSJ is a diplexer not a simple combiner.
http://www.dtvusaforum.com/dtv-recep...html#post19228
A UVSJ blocks reception from the other antenna on the other band by about 20db. So even if a UHF signal coming from the VHF antenna reaches the UVSJ out of phase, it's so far down in level it doesn't matter too much. A real purist would probably make them the same length, but in reality it makes little difference.

Now if you decided to combine them with a simple combiner, you need to have the coax the same length to each antenna. This is because each antenna UHF vs VHF will pick up some of the other bands signal. If the coax is different lengths, then the signal will reach the combiner a different times causing mulitpath.

Do you mind if I move the posts related to this in the thread to a new thread? It's an excellent question and would be good to find linked in it's own thread.

EscapeVelocity

I didnt know that AntennaCraft was US made until last week. Smacks head.

Great review DonM! Although, I thought you and Piggie were of the bigger is better school and go straight for the 10 element (or greater) VHF High antennas.

Id thank you but I seem to give more thanks than recieve (I guess that is how it works)