Show Us Your Antennas!

MrPogi

MrPogi

Moderator, , Webmaster of Cache Free TV
Staff member
#1
#1
I'll show you mine if you show me yours!
antenna_RS_u75r.jpg
Current antenna: the much beloved - and discontinued - Radio Shack u75r.
It gets channels from translators to the North @ 30 miles, and off the back South @ 10 miles, and one LP 18 miles NE. Mounted on the old J-pipe from the DirecTV dish that I used to pay $70 a month for.
Total of 35 unique FREE channels, but 60 if you count duplicates (what a waste!)

It will be replaced this spring with an 8-bay home-brew setup, and an FM antenna.
 
Fringe Reception

Fringe Reception

Super Moderator, Chief Content Editor
Staff member
#3
#3
Here's a photo that shows three of my home-brew antennas. From left to right:

Cut-to-channel 38 Yagi for KOMO-38 and KIRO-39, with Wireless Weather Station.
Cut-to-channel 35 Yagi for KVOS (75 miles distant) and KBTC-27 (off the back side).
Cut-to-channel 48 Yagi for KING-48 and KUNS-50.

 
dkreichen1968

dkreichen1968

Moderator
Staff member
#5
#5
This is my current set of home brewed antennas.
Gray-Hoverman 02.jpg
The antennas are pointed north toward Denver.
Most of the Denver stations are 48 miles away located on Lookout Mountain.
There are also Colorado Springs stations 25 miles away on Cheyenne Moutain (where Stargate SG1 is stationed;)) My problem channel is KDVR which has a lower HAAT than the other Denver stations. I really need more height for my antenna. Of course if I wasn't insisting on driving 3 TVs and a two tuner DVR I problably wouldn't have any problem.
 
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Fringe Reception

Fringe Reception

Super Moderator, Chief Content Editor
Staff member
#7
#7
Here are photos of my 'work horse' antenna that collects another dozen+ free channels beyond the channel-specific Yagis shown above. It's an old-type Channel Master 4221.

Winter and Summer photos are below. In my situation, the trees don't interfere at all with my reception to the west but the garage was a problem when my antenna was looking at stations to my east. A six inch antenna height change can make a world of difference on this mast.

Since I took these photos, I changed the fixed 20 foot mast to a 40 foot telescopic mast for testing other antennas at a variety of heights. Last summer I tested an old-style DB-2 antenna and it captured a Translator 86 miles away. Using a 'better' (the right) antenna, it would be another rock-solid capture.

Works for me. Jim



 
D

dave73

DTVUSA Member
#8
#8
I haven't had the chance to make adjustments to my newly installed antenna array (I've been working almost everyday, including weekends lately), but this is my setup. The UHF antenna pointed east toward South Bend will eventually swung around, pointing NW to be joined with the UHF antenna pointed NW, to add some gain to it, & try to get additional low power stations. I only have the Antennacraft CS600 because I need it for WOCK-CD (For America One on 13.4), or I would have bought the Antennacraft Y5-7-13 for WBBM-TV & WLS-TV on RF 7. South Bend, IN is still in the works, but I plan to find a different location to install a new set of antennas. I haven't decided if I'll get yagis like I did with this setup, or get 8 bay antennas for South Bend. I found I can't join my Winegard outside in its current form, after I lost most of my Chicago UHF stations (especially WWME-LD on RF 39, which is already difficult to get). The small Winegard HD-1080 will have to stay in the configuration, because WYIN's signal goes in & out on me if I don't have an antenna pointed south of me, with a slight tilt toward the west (that antenna does not affect my Chicago stations when joined wth my Winegard CC7870 coupler, like it does when I join both of my Winegard HD9032's with 1 pointed NW toward Chicago, & 1 pointed east toward South Bend)

Now if I lived in Valparaiso or even Michigan City, IN, I could join my antennas outdoors, because both market signals are about the same signal strength (many outdoor antennas in Porter & LaPorte Counties of Indiana are joined outside), unlike in Lake County, IN, where Chicago stations are strong, but South Bend stations are weak. I just wished I didn't need an antenna for WYIN, but as I stated, since it's an important station, it does not lock in steady when picked up off the back side at an angle (it goes in & out on me)


As for the antenna sticking up in the picture, that's the old antenna, & later found out I made a wise choice to replace it. The U-bolts broke rather easily on me when I removed the antenna from the pole (only antenna that it ever happened to me out of all antennas I've owned).

New_Antenna_Array.jpg .
 
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CaptSteve

DTVUSA Member
#9
#9
Here is my Antenna Craft HBU33 which I am VERY happy with so far - going on almost one month... The old directTV dish was mounted just below. Removed the reflector and used one of the old DTV coax to connect to the antenna. I just eyeballed 286* and everything worked perfect. Will be adding a splitter for my other TV, but need to pick up a converter box, hopefully with an HDMI output, then plan on two ROKU boxes to complete the rubber boot to Uverse's arse!

The antenna just "peaks" above the the roof and you can not see it from the street unless you know it is there.

 
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MrPogi

MrPogi

Moderator, , Webmaster of Cache Free TV
Staff member
#10
#10
CaptSteve;

You know, that old DirecTV J-pipe would be a sweet spot to mount a 30" FTA dish... and you could add a few more free channels that way. FTA setup would cost you about ~$200 or less. Kinda adds a little bit of "Ha-ha!" smugness to giving Pay TV the boot. It's awesome when you can use their equipment to get stuff for free!
 
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CaptSteve

DTVUSA Member
#11
#11
MrPogi - I started to look into it, but in my searching didn't see a lot of stuff posted since 2009, so wasn't sure if it was still available to try out. I'll circle back around on the subject as I sure would like to get more channels! I pretty much figured out that the old DTV antenna is good for scrap metal.
 
TVTom51

TVTom51

DTVUSA Member
#13
#13
MrPogi said:
I'll show you mine if you show me yours!
View attachment 1549
Current antenna: the much beloved - and discontinued - Radio Shack u75r.
It gets channels from translators to the North @ 30 miles, and off the back South @ 10 miles, and one LP 18 miles NE. Mounted on the old J-pipe from the DirecTV dish that I used to pay $70 a month for.
Total of 35 unique FREE channels, but 60 if you count duplicates (what a waste!)

It will be replaced this spring with an 8-bay home-brew setup, and an FM antenna.
Click to expand...
How come you're replacing the Radio Shack u75r?
 
MrPogi

MrPogi

Moderator, , Webmaster of Cache Free TV
Staff member
#14
#14
TVTim51,
How come you're replacing the Radio Shack u75r?
Click to expand...
Mostly because the station layout here has changed a bit, and it's starting to become difficult to get some newer channels. I can build a custom antenna that better meets my needs.

Since I build and sell my own antennas in addition to some commercial antennas, I think it would just be good business to have my own antennas on my roof, too.
 
dkreichen1968

dkreichen1968

Moderator
Staff member
#15
#15
MrPogi said:
Thats a nice looking GH, Dan. Have you tried throwing a reflector behind it?
Click to expand...
That would be an interesting experiment, I know it would add a considerable amount of forward gain, but my experience tells me it would have the very real possiblity of screwing up my Cheyenne Mountain reception. That was one of the problems I had with the Antennacraft U-8000. When the U-8000 was mounted in the attic of the other house it got great Denver reception but Colorado Springs wasn't good. Right now I basically need more height. This spring I'm going to dig up the stand and move it closer to the house, which will give it 2-3 feet more height and change the location. I was getting better reception on my problem channel with the antenna in my familyroom than where it is in the yard. If I had the Gray-Hoverman to start out with, the stand would be in a different location now, and I wouldn't be having this problem to start out with. KDVR is at a lower HAAT than the other Denver stations, which explains why I need more height for reliable reception. It would be wonderful to have a roof mount, but I don't think that's going to happen. If I can get it positioned so I can pull in just a bit more signal on KDVR, I'll be happy. One nice thing about the ground mount is I don't have to worry about falling to my death. ;)
 
MrPogi

MrPogi

Moderator, , Webmaster of Cache Free TV
Staff member
#16
#16
You may want to experiment with a partial reflector - I'm going to try that with my homebrew antenna this spring. I've got 1 set of translators @ 10 miles (and very low power), and another @ 30. I'd like to boost the ones at 30 miles without losing the ones at 10 miles. TV Fool
 
dkreichen1968

dkreichen1968

Moderator
Staff member
#17
#17
I'm looking forward to when I get my set up adjusted so that rather than worrying about how I can improve my reception I can just sit back and watch TV. :) I had things pretty much optimized at the old house, and then I had to move.
 
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