Dachshund

Hello pro's. Just wondering what antenna you would recommend for my situation. I decided to replace a very tired setup. Hoping for the best I bought a Winegard MS-2002. I figured it would be nice to have an omnidirectional but I basically get 3 channels(10.1, 15.1 and 21.1)and then really only at night. I have it set up on only one TV right now. I figured if i could get CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX I would keep it but I knew I was asking too much from the little bugger.

I have all new RG6 and will have about 60' total cable length. I have the antenna at 35'. I will be feeding 2 tv's and possibly 3 in the future. I have a rotor but it would be nice not to have to use it.

I was leaning towards a Winegard HD7084P with the WINEGARD AP-8780.

TV Fool


What say you? Thank you for your much respected advice, Stephen.

Piggie

I think the Winegard AP8700 Chromstar 2000 Series VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier (AP-8700) - Winegard - AP-8700 - 615798100186 - antenna booster AP-8700 8700 pre-amp pre amplifier pre-amplifier AP 8700 ap8700 is a better preamp unless you have a very long (over 100 ft with splitters) run into the house. It has a slightly lower noise figure and a LOT more dynamic range (doesn't overload as easy).

One thing is certain, you will need some kind of a rotor, be it Armstrong (means turning by hand) or an electrical one. Your stations are scattered all around the compass.

I think you antenna choice is perfect. You need a LOT of gain at the antenna, so bigger is better. It will be a tough situation regardless for DTV at your house. I am pretty sure you will WINM, but that is an independent shown on my records.

I can say with that antenna at 35 ft you are probably doing all you can, but it's going to be iffy. You can give it a try, and see what return policies are like. Not to be negative but your signals on TVFool plot are very low on the network channels.

Another thing, are you in town where addresses are very well laid out? If not you might want to use TV Fool and with the satellite or map view make sure you are centered right on your property.

Dachshund

Thanks Piggie, here is a more precise GPS location: TV Fool

Yes I have a rotor and live in the boonies.

Eureka

If using a rotor, make sure your TV tuner(s) have an "add channel" option, for adding additional channels to the channel list as you re-aim the antenna in different directions. Tuners without this feature make it impossible to add all the channels from different directions to the channel list.

Piggie

This plot GREATLY improves your chances.

Question: Do you really care about WLMB and WGVK.

You "should" be able to watch WLMB with the HD7084P pointed at it, as it will have about 40 db of advantage over WGVK on the same channel (5). But there is a good chance with two Ch5 that close together it won't work well, but it might. You will never see WGVK even pointed at it, or that is my best guess.

However that said.

WINM should come in fine

WILX, WLAJ, WBGU should come on ok, if you don't have trees in the way

Stations farther down the list get iffy. Still this plot is a LOT more hopeful than the one based on address. And more accurate.

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So if you don't care about WLMB you could go with a Winegard 7698p, and not have as big of antenna to turn. And have a lot more gain on the other channels, by as much as 1 to 3 db across channels 7-51

Links to the specs on the two antennas.

HD7084P Specs

HD7698P Specs

Remember that the 7698P is NOT designed to work on channels 2-6, nor FM radio band. But other than WLMB it's a much better antenna for you needs.

Dachshund

Good point Eureka on the "add channel", thanks.

I can live without WLMB if it means more gain on the others.

So it looks like the 7698P coupled with the AP8700 then. When I get it all up and running I'll report back with my results. Thanks again, Stephen.

Piggie

It's a big antenna, buy the good guy wire if you are on a pole.

I have not idea if it's affordable to you, but ever done a TVFool plot at 50 to 70 ft? (that would take a tower $$$)

There is chance WLMB would not come in with the 7084, it would not be reliable. Low band VHF (2-6) is not suited well at all for digital TV and behaves rather badly. It will be interesting with the 7698P if it does come in though, more for edification than anything else.

Mainah

Hello All,

A new member here in somewhat rural Maine (lol - most of this state is rural) with the same question that Dachshund (that was the breed of my childhood dog, "Twiggy") had... I would be very glad to post the results of what I learn as I venture down this road... to help other future readers with their situation who may find this thread as I did...

Here is my address-based TV Fool Report as well as a map-based TV Fool Report as suggested by Piggie.

I currently have one TV on the first floor with a Tivax STB-T8 Converter and Tivax DT-01 rabbit ears. That setup brings in channels 38 and 43 fairly clearly, but that's all folks... On the second floor I have the same converter with an older set of Zenith rabbit ears - the model number might be ATS 310 or ETA 343. The second floor set up also only gets channels 38 and 43 clearly... it also sporadically gets channels 35, 44 and 8 - with heavy pixelation / frequent signal lose.

I am really only interested in some of the green and yellow channels that show up on the TV Fool reports and would really like to bring these in with an attic-mounted antenna set up. I would guesstimate that I would need about 40' and 20' feet of cable to get to the 1st and 2nd floor sets (respectively) from an attic-mounted antenna. The house is a colonial style, so the attic is fairly spacious (as attics go, I guess).

I am not sure if you folks would need any other information from me before providing advice, but if you do, just let me know!

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Mainah