rando01

I appreciate everyones advice. I am gonna work on my problem over the next couple days. I guess the concensus here is that my new antennas are junk for the junk man.... I will keep everone informed as to my progress good or bad.......Randy

EscapeVelocity

Have you looked for sweet spots, you might have the antenna in a sour spot. But the Quantum FX ANT-104 shoudl be doing better on UHF for you.

Also, have you tried pointing the antenna backwards at you VHF stations? You can remove the 2 frontside longish elements by first removing the rear element, you unscrew the plastic housing from the boom and slide them off the rear. Then slid the long element back on. Should improve forward gain on VHF, but no better than aiming the antenna backwards. You could also have ripped the wires out of their connections by spinning the antenna round and round, however that rotor motor and drive is so weak, I dont think it has the strength to rip the wires out.

staticMHZ

You should have someone downstairs monitoring the TV while you try different spots on the roof. Use a cell phone to communicate.

rando01

no, didnt turn it backwards, I will try that since I still have that one up on the pole still.

rando01

I am gonna spend the evening playing and messing with it before I throw the whole bunch in the trash and check into some of the other antenna ideas.

Don_M

Please consider the following:

1. The 7694P is 65 inches long and 35 inches wide, so it's not that much larger than the Quantum antennas. The 4221HD is probably similar in size.

2. If there's one satellite dish visible anywhere in the subdivision, you can have an OTA antenna on your roof. This would be true even if there were no OTARD rule. A dish is merely an antenna designed for different frequencies. Allowing one while prohibiting the other would be considered "arbitrary and capricious" under the laws of just about every state (not sure about LA because of the different legal tradition there).

3. You have already erected the Quantum antennas outdoors. If "the powers that be" didn't complain about that, they have no basis for complaint about any other OTA antenna you might put up.

4. You own the roof and structure of your home. Ownership of the land lot is irrelevant since the antenna is/will be attached to your property, not theirs.

5. You can complain to the FCC and allege an OTARD violation for free. The burden of proof is on "the powers that be" to explain why they're not being unreasonable. That means they'd need to hire Expensive Washington Lawyers to defend their actions as all such hearings take place at FCC headquarters.

6. Your antenna can stay up while the complaint is pending. They can't order you to take it down in the meantime, nor can they remove it themselves -- that is, without risking trespass and theft/burglary charges.

7. The FCC took an expansive view of the OTARD rule when considering complaints brought during the previous Republican administration. I doubt the agency is going to get stingier now that the president is a Democrat.

EscapeVelocity

If you go with Dons Advice also consider the Channel Master 3016, you may be able to point this in one nuanced direction with trial and error and use it in a set position for good reception all the way around. Its a little smaller as well.

flcs3

Which is a bit curious, since it is 4 to 10 dB below some of your other UHF stations.

Although your stations aren't super strong and are spread across the compass a bit, I think that you do not need a rotator. All of your VHF-hi digital stations are within 24 degrees, with NMs of 42 dB or better. You do have some UHF stations off that axis, however. I would have to check whether one of the Winegard 769x antennas will have enough beamwidth, though I'm skeptical. The AD C2 has a wide beamwidth, but you would have to use a UVSJ to join it with a VHF-hi antenna. Maybe the CM4221 would have enough beamwidth, especially if the stations to your west are of limited interest. I haven't heard much about the AD C5, but the Winegard YA-1713 and AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 are often recommended for VHF-hi. There are other possibilities.

The AD C2/C5 do have the advantage that they might work for you indoors, but could be moved outside if needed. However, they are expensive, and I have not seen any experience with their matching preamp.

Your highest power signals are not too much concern to me, as I have ones at 66 and 76 dB NM without apparent trouble (Tivax STB-T9). But you should check your fmfool for strong FM stations, too, and possibly use an FM trap in front of the amp. I'm quite happy with the KitzTech amp indoors or in the attic, but it wouldn't work outdoors without lots of trouble to weather protect it and feed power to it. The HDP-269 should be a good preamp for you, as EV recommended. The features that it lacks, separate UHF/VHF inputs and an FM trap, can be added separately.

Good Luck!

This link shows the C2 pattern:
Antennas Direct | C2 ClearStream HDTV Antenna for the DTV Transition

The other patterns look to be too narrow:

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7694P.pdf


http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD-4400.pdf

The Winegard HD-4400 pattern was readily available (thanks, Winegard!). AFAIR, a CM4221 isn't radically different, but I'm too lazy go hunt down anyone's online simulation results.

A fixed antenna is advantageous if you have a second set or a recorder. And there are no moving parts.

Since you can only return the Quantums for exchange, what other antennas are available from the vendor?

P.S. You may be able to get away without any preamp at all. You can add it later, if it seems warranted, once you get your antenna in place.

rando01

I sure do appreciate everyone's advise. I did in fact try the antenna backwards like EV suggested, but it received zero channels, even after re-scanning the TV 3 times.
I am taking notes here and spent some time earlier researching some of the antennas mentioned on line.
As far as the rule of antennas goes (I just put up the antennas last night and no one has seen them yet and the fact there not much higher than the roof, people haven't noticed yet., I did in fact walk around last week to see who had outside antennas. There were no satellite dishes anywhere, and as a matter of fact no outside antennas on any of the homes in the subdivision of 110 homes. Guess everyone has cable.
I am retired and got time on my hands to tinker a bit. So i am gonna mess with this and try to get it right, because I don't wanna go with my tail between my legs back to comcast .....Randy

rando01

Last week I was playing with a 30 inch piece of copper I had. I cleaned the ends and soldered connector to connect a short piece of r-6 to.
I formed it in a loop and connected the cable and attached it to the cable box. I then laid it on my dresser.
I was shocked to pick up WKRG-digital 27, and it was 133 miles from the house, this was late at night and couldn't get them back.
So I know there is hope in figuring something out..............Randy