Question: Looking for recoomendation ofr an outdoor VHF/UHF antenna

S

SN2016

DTVUSA Rookie
#1
#1
My TV Signal Analysis Results from TV Fool can be found at
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I am using a Winegard FL5500A and it works for the UHF channel. For the VHF ones like KABC (7), KTTV (11), KCOP (13), I have to move the antenna around or forget them. I am looking for a small outdoor antenna to improve my reception. Are there some antenna I should check out?
Thanks in advance.
 
S

SN2016

DTVUSA Rookie
#4
#4
Thank you, will give the RCA antenna a try since I have Amazon Prime.
I drove around my neighborhood to see how others are mounting their antennas and noticed not all of them are pointed to the transmitter. Are they picking up bounced signals or soemthing?
 
R

RF Steve

Contributor
#5
#5
It's very unlikely they are using bounced signal. Most likely is they are just clueless, and don't realize how much things could be improved with the addition of some knowledge. In an area with strong signals about any wire will work for an antenna.
While this is not the case in your area. In my area most of the major network signals originate from over 100 miles to the east. There are nearby transmitters to the north, and south. Many will buy an antenna point it east, and still receive the strongest signals from the north, and south, and think that's all there is. When if they correctly aimed the antenna they would receive all major network signals and a few extras.
I can think of other scenarios where poor coax connectors are creating random wire antennas, that might work best when aimed a strange direction.
Steve
 
S

SN2016

DTVUSA Rookie
#7
#7
Installed the RCA antenna this afternoon. So far, the picture quality is great. I guess I need to ground it even thought it is not on the highest point of the house.
 
R

RF Steve

Contributor
#8
#8
It's good to hear that the antenna is working for you. I can't offer much in the way of grounding advice. Just a simple drawing I keep on file. 2rdi5j4.gif
I should probably look around to see if I can find a better one than that.
 
Last edited:
dkreichen1968

dkreichen1968

Moderator
Staff member
#9
#9
The easiest way to ground the antenna is to run a 10 gauge copper wire from the antenna mast through a grounding block installed near where the cable goes into the house and then to the General Electric Ground (GEG). The GEG for your house will either be a 8 foot ground rod installed near where the electricity enters your house, or a clamp connected to a water pipe near where your main water pipe enters the house. You can also run separate wires from the mast and ground block to the GEG per the diagram.
 
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