Trip

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KJ4IEA

Comments are my own and not that of my employer or anyone else.

Piggie

He is more in the class of needing a 7696p with an amp to lower the noise into the CECB. But on a budget skip the amp, maybe buy it later. Small amp like a Winegard 8700.

In a pinch, he might get away with a 7694p, but it will be marginal on some channels.

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The more I understand, the less I know.

Don_M

An HBU22 would be marginal in a location that far out, IMHO. If spending another $20 is possible, have him visit Solid Signal, Stark Electronic or the like online and order a Winegard HD-7694P. Its gain and build quality are both significantly better.

Even this choice is minimal, but with these TVFool numbers it should do OK in a pinch as long as A) it's mounted higher than the CM3010 is now (10 feet is way too low that far away; ideally it needs to be up above the roof peak), B) the cable run is kept short as possible and C) it's only needed for one TV. Throw in either long cables (> 50 ft.) or multiple TVs, and they'll definitely need to spring for a pre-amp.

By all means, go to RS for the RG-6 downlead, masts and mount. Steep as their prices are, they'll still be cheaper than the shipping fees on this gear. It's fairly good stuff, too.

Good thing Richmond isn't a factor: That's definitely "deep fringe prescription" territory with those numbers.

Trip

I successfully got WDBJ, WSET (UHF), and WFXR when I went and tested for him pre-transition. That was with the Silver Sensor indoors. Now that WWCW boosted power and WRAY analog is gone, I imagine I'd get WWCW and WSLS on the Silver Sensor as well. That's why I'm hopeful the cheaper, smaller antenna might work.

- Trip

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KJ4IEA

Comments are my own and not that of my employer or anyone else.

EscapeVelocity

I would ditch VHF 3 PBS and go all in on a UHF only model that will pick up the VHF HI 13 well (and its one of the stronger signals).

The classic American made CM 4228 or the Newly offered Tune-A-Tenna.

And amplifier would help, like the Winegard 269 if you are trying to save money.

You should be able to pick up everthing at 281 degrees and 306ish except channel 3....including ION 38.1 (RC 36).

And get higher if you can.

My 2 cents.

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Trip

I'm seriously doubtful about WPXR. WUNP is stronger than the plot would have you think. When I was there testing pre-transition, WUNP analog and WPXR digital were wiping each other out. Couldn't see either one. WUNP digital, then on 39, decoded cleanly.

- Trip

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KJ4IEA

Comments are my own and not that of my employer or anyone else.

Piggie

Well if you think he has enough signal for that, it doesn't show well on the TVFool plot but not the first time I have seen this in hilly terrain.

But based on what you said a Silver Sensor still I would buy a 7694p as a minimum.

What I see on TVFool and what you say you have received on a Sliver Sensor don't add up. So either you where there at a good time, or TVFool is wrong. He might be getting good knife edge off a hill or hills nearby.

If that is true then different antenna heights might be best, you never know in the hills on UHF if 10 ft will be better than 30.

Still with ice and weather, gain, the 7694p is the minimum antenna I am going to recommend.

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The more I understand, the less I know.

EscapeVelocity

I see they are both on 36.

The Tune-a-tenna will be about 3db down compared to the Winegard 7694p at Channel 13 and aobut 3db up at 17,18, 20 and about 6db up at 30 and 36.

If that helps.

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Trip

Poor Mountain stations are interesting in that either you get them really well, or you get nothing at all from them. (Not counting WBRA on 3, obviously.) I don't even mean the whole digital thing; even in analog they were like that. As long as you were on top of a hill (as my friend is) you got blasted with signal, but be on the wrong side and you'll see nothing. Before the analogs went away, I was coming home from a friend's house on the other side of the county (94-ish miles from Poor Mountain) and it was amusing leaving the audio from WFXR on and hearing it come in completely clean as the top of the hill was reached and then it suddenly vanished at some point coming down until the top of the next hill.

You know that crappy antenna that came with the AverMedia tuner? I tested it when I got it and even at 79 miles, indoors, once I got it away from my desktop computer and held it horizontal, I got acceptable signal levels from some of the Roanoke UHFs.

I'll direct him to the antenna you suggested. I doubt he'll be very interested in buying something online he cannot return easily. That's the primary reason I was directing him toward something from Radio Shack. Otherwise, I'd have directed him to something from Solid Signal in the first place.

I can't find any information on this "Tune-A-Tenna" in my brief search, outside of a thread on here. Neither the picture nor eBay auction worked. Any thoughts on where to look for more information?

Oh, and let me just mention that he's in a trailer or trailer-sized home up on a hill top that looks over US-360 toward Roanoke. (That's why I put in 10 feet, I might have been generous on that too. He's not quite sure how he's going to get the thing on the roof, but given how unreliable his signal is now, he's going to do something about it.)

- Trip

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KJ4IEA

Comments are my own and not that of my employer or anyone else.

Piggie

I put a lot of push poles and masts on the side of trailers. Along the top edge near the roof there is normally a board behind the siding. It's easy to find by pushing on the aluminum or vinyl siding and you can feel the board behind the siding. At Radio shack or Lowes you can buy a eve type clamp like this 4" Antenna Mast Wall Mount - RadioShack.com

Since the board behind the siding is not super strong, have him use mast to run it all the way to the ground. Mast Antennacraft® 10-Ft. 16-Gauge Mast - RadioShack.com

Have him put it on the side of the trailer facing Poor Mountain, because then it doesn't look over the trailer.

It's best on highband to get 4 wavelengths above a trailer if it has a metal roof (any metal roof) but that is 20 ft above the roof, which gets expensive with guy wires.

So settle for 1 wavelength above the trailer, or 5 feet. 10 is better, 5 is probably enough. So he need a 10 ft and 5 ft piece and the mount.

More than 10 ft above the trailer he needs guy wires on that style of mast. Pushup poles can go 20 ft above the mast clamp, if they are 50 ft ones that you leave the top four pieces only half extended, ending up with a double walled mast above the clamp. 50 ft pushup poles are not only hard to find anymore but probably in the $100 range, maybe a lot more.


Tell him to check Lowes, as they normally have the masts and mast clamps much less expensive than "The Shack".

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The more I understand, the less I know.