Question: Need help with reception of a signal from Roanoke, VA.

[GreenRabbit1984]

I am trying to see if I missed something that could be done to receive a signal, I believe I should be receiving. However let me explain my setup first.

My setup is an AntennaCraft Colorstar C490 (Ant 1) pointed towards Poor Mountain, VA (Roanoke Market) and the Winegard HD-7082P (Ant 2) pointed towards Alderson, WV (Beckley/Bluefield Market). Both antennas have Channel Master 7777 Preamps installed. Currently we are receiving on Ant 1, WVVA (Overloads once or twice a month), WLFB, WBRA (With dropout between 9am-5pm), WDBJ, and WPXR. On Ant 2 we receive, WVVA, WLFB, and WVNS. Currently both antennas sit above our building, stacked, Ant 1 at 38 feet, Ant 2 at 34 feet, located in downtown Princeton. Additionally, The antennas are setup for use only on one television currently. Both antennas have been fed new RG6 leading down to the family room, 77 feet runs of cable, leading into an A/B switcher, then fed into a Channel Master DVR+ receiver.

My question now is with that setup would there be anyway possible to pull in WFXR at all from the Roanoke area? Also would there be an improvement I could make to receive WBRA consistently as it is a VHF-Lo signal? I have tried already putting the antennas on their own mast separated over 20 feet to no change in signal. They both seem content on staying at the edge of our roof, as it seems to funnel in the signals. Any help would be great. Thanks

By the way the TV Fool listing for my location is located at the link below.
TV Fool

 

[RF Steve]

You really are doing a lot of things right which makes it more difficult to point out things that might help.
You have no shortage of aluminum up there. Household electrical noise can be a real problem with low VHF signals. You might consider doing some noise snooping a portable AM radio tuned to a blank spot in the band during the day time, or an AM aircraft band radio can be useful for tracking down household noise. Some fluorescent lights, LED lights, switched mode power supplies which are everywhere can be real noisy. Some of them aren't noisy at all. While I don't really have a problem with household electrical noise here I have done a lot of noise snooping. I do know that the junk Gateway laptop I'm running is a real noise maker, but the other 2 computers in use here are not. I have a MFJ line noise meter, but sometimes I think a cheap AM radio is almost as useful.

If those are the newer single input CM 7777 amplifiers I'm sure you've seen the warnings about overload.
From the Channel Master web site under FAQ's & Support Doc's.

An ideal scenario for the Titan 2 High Gain Preamplifier is an application where ALL broadcast towers are 80+ miles from the antenna location and a splitter is used to distribute to multiple televisions. A single high-power signal from closer proximity may cause over-amplification resulting in signal loss.

Amplifier overload from strong local signals can cause loss of reception of weaker signals.
While I have no personal experience with it I have read of placing attenuators between the amplifier and antenna in areas with strong local signals to receive weaker distant signals.

Steve

 

[Fringe Reception]

... Household electrical noise can be a real problem with low VHF signals. You might consider doing some noise snooping a portable AM radio tuned to a blank spot in the band during the day time, or an AM aircraft band radio can be useful for tracking down household noise. Some fluorescent lights, LED lights, switched mode power supplies which are everywhere can be real noisy. Some of them aren't noisy at all.

Like Steve, I use a pocket AM radio tuned off-station to find noise and I'd like to add to his list. Doorbell transformers -- usually is steel boxes and mounted on a stud or rafter inside a wall or ceiling and hard to find, wall-wart units that run or recharge many devices around the home, aquarium pumps and the latest two discoveries for me are my Enercell Battery charger for AAA, AA, C, D and 9 volt rechargeable batteries that wipes out AM radio at 3' feet and can be heard at fifteen feet, and the LED clock on my coffee pot that broadcasts strong one second pulses.

A pocket radio can't tell you if a noise source is the reason you have a reception problem, but you can disable them (turn off/unplug them/trip a circuit breaker) and if the problem goes away, you found the reason.

Jim

 

[RF Steve]

The MFJ noise meter is a tool left over from a small electronic manufacturing business that I have some close family ties to. When they were looking for a low cost efficient way to test their product for RFI and work to suppress it. I suggested the MFJ meter. It was a great low cost problem solver for the company. At that time I know the meter was well below the current price tag. Now it's a great little tool for my uses.
As Jim stated wall-warts. Some of them aren't too bad. All of the newer ones are switched mode power supplies. The Chromecast dongle is now a known source of interference as are some plasma TV's.
I've ventured far enough into this side of the channel 3 story.
With the antennas being used WFXR may not be possible. If the amplifiers are the newer CM 7777s that about eliminates any possibility of reception without experimentation with attenuation ahead of the amplifier. It is my understanding that it is not a bad amplifier, but the knowledge to use it correctly is way beyond that of average installer.
Steve

 

[Fringe Reception]

@ Steve: do you think a simple 'cut-to-3' copper wire dipole could be combined? I'd try it.

Jim

 

[RF Steve]

The antennas currently in use should have sufficient gain at 60-66 megahertz. In today's marketplace it would be hard to beat the antennas in use for channel 3 capability.

 

[GreenRabbit1984]

Yep fluorescent lights weren't helping and currently looking at a perfect picture on WBRA. Also had to move the wifi router to the next room. Just to much noise there. It has been a project just trying to receive it solid however I still am getting no luck receiving WFXR even with 65% signal. Quality is always at 0% and I believe that their transmitter is not high enough for me to be receiving. I've noticed it seems in the mountains at least that the way VHF signals scatter make them a better choice then UHF for some of the stations located near me due to them broadcasting a lower elevations.