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Over the air antenna

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    jedi

    jedi

    Da PinkFather
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    Oct 27, 2008
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    NWI, North of US-30
    Trigger Outdoors ad
    Well I'm been comcast free now for 3 months! :rockwoot:
    https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/break_room/202749-c_ya_comcast_dont_let_the_door.html

    & life with basic TV has been great (show wise) expect if the wind blows or there is a slight breeze or it rains hard I sometimes get major pixelation on channels. 2, 5 and 7 are the worse with the image being still for 30+ seconds. :rolleyes:

    So I'm now thinking it's time to upgrade the over the air antenna as the one I have came with the house and is inside the attic.

    So any recommendations?

    Clearstream 5 is what someone on INGO told me they have and it works for them. Is anyone else using anything else?
     
    PeaShooter

    PeaShooter

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    Saving the country 1 Rifleman at a time...
    TV Fool

    http://www.antennaweb.org/

    Use these two sites to see what stations are available and what frequencies they broadcast on. if there are VHF signals in your area that you want to watch then you need an antenna capable of VHF (most hd is UHF). Also there are two flavors of VHF, 2-7 and 8-13 channel spectrums. Very few stations broadcast in the 2-7 range. This requires a much larger antenna to receive. Attic mount is acceptable, but there will be some loss going through the housing materials.

    Depending on your distance and direction from the transmitters, you might need an amplifier or rotator
     
    Bill B

    Bill B

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    Sep 2, 2009
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    You can forget channel 2. It has always sucked for reception. Even when I was working in the city and we could see the transmission tower for channel 2, it sucked.
     
    C

    CountryBoy19

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    11   1   0
    Nov 10, 2008
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    Bedford, IN
    Does anybody have recommendations on antennas?

    A simple search for vhf/uhf antennas brings up all sorts of wacky, whiz-bang looking antennas with remote controls and rotation motors etc. But you can clearly tell the ads were written by the class scholar from Shang-Hai and he is now sitting in Hong-Kong doing crappy translations for crappy products they're hawking to the silly buyers in USA.

    Can anybody recommend actual antennas, and lets just assume that we're trying to reach out there and grab a signal from a far off place so I want high quality, high gain stuff that doesn't necessarily cost an arm and a leg.
     
    Lost Californian

    Lost Californian

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    Dec 5, 2008
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    Terre Haute
    I got a Channel Master antenna from Lowes 8 years ago, I have no clue as to what model it is, or even if they make it any more. I got an amplifier and an antenna rotator the following year. Got the amp from Radio Shack, and don't recall where I got the rotator, probably online somewhere.

    I used the antennaweb.org site a lot, like Peashooter said already. Don't have any more useful info for you, other than I live in Terre Haute and get channels from Indy and Champaign, IL, unless the weather is real bad. The 'new' digital signals don't carry like the old analog ones did.
     
    Icemancometh

    Icemancometh

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    Jul 29, 2011
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    SUNNY SIDE OF THE RIVER
    I have been using an attic mounted Winegard FV-HD30 for about a year now. I have it ran into a 4 way splitter. I am using 3 of the outlets and have a termination cap on the 4th. After getting it oriented correctly my reception improved dramatcally. I am not getting any more channels but my signal is better. I have thought about adding an in-line amp to help with the windy and rainy days. The antenna combined with Netflix ran through the Xbox made it a no brainer for me to cut the cable.
     
    C

    CountryBoy19

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    Nov 10, 2008
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    Bedford, IN
    What if I want to run 2 antennas, one to pick up signals from the north (Indy) and one from the SE (Louiseville)? Do I need one of those antenna switching boxes? Or can I just combine the 2 antennas into the same co-ax line? The problem is I have whole-house coax already in place, and multiple tvs, so an antenna switching box adds complications that make the TV viewing not so user friendly if I need a switching box.
     
    jedi

    jedi

    Da PinkFather
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    PeaShooter

    PeaShooter

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    jedi said:
    fyi...
    AntennaWeb - Home is no more... :dunno:
    Click to expand...


    Just clicked the link and it worked??!?!:dunno: One thing about antenna web. At least for my set of variables, the maps don't work correctly. It shows all of the transmitter west of indy, when I know that they are concentrated on the north side. I think that there is a scaling problem with the overlay of the antenna info over the google maps.

    I purchased one of these
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003H2G5K2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00 and one of these Amazon.com: WINEGARD HD-9032 UHF High-Gain 35-Element HDTV Antenna: Electronics and stacked them due to space constraints in my attic. Also used a preamp http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DFVJ4W/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i02

    This one is also good, if you have the space for it, it is nearly 9' long Amazon.com: Winegard HD7698P HDTV High Band VHF-UHF Antenna: Electronics

    It is an all in one unit, so should be easier to install, without the splitters and stuff i had to use.

    All in all, for about $200, i am feeding OTA signals to both of my HDTV's and with my roku, kicked Uverse to the curb. Money ahead....
    http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-HD76...a/dp/B001DFTGRY/ref=pd_ys_sf_s_172282_a1_61_phttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DFVJ4W/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i02
     
    bigretic

    bigretic

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    Jan 14, 2011
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    FRYS.com | WINEGARD
    This is or is simlar to the one I got from ABT.com I paid about $135-$150 if I recall and then paid another $35 for a tripod mount. Used a leftover piece of chain link top rail for a 10 foot mast and mounted it on the roof of my back porch. It's big... that's for sure. All networks, even CBS are crystal clear. I calibrated it very scientifically, by looking up and saying "yeah, Chicago is over there somewhere" and tightened the bolts.
     
    ATOMonkey

    ATOMonkey

    Grandmaster
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    0   0   0
    Jun 15, 2010
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    Plainfield
    CountryBoy19 said:
    What if I want to run 2 antennas, one to pick up signals from the north (Indy) and one from the SE (Louiseville)? Do I need one of those antenna switching boxes? Or can I just combine the 2 antennas into the same co-ax line? The problem is I have whole-house coax already in place, and multiple tvs, so an antenna switching box adds complications that make the TV viewing not so user friendly if I need a switching box.
    Click to expand...

    I ran 2 antennaes on a splitter wired up backwards. It worked...ish. I added amplified rabbit ears to my roof mounted antenna, and didn't really notice an improvement.

    I didn't do it with 2 good antennaes though, so I have no idea how effective it really is.

    I suppose there's probably an issue with decibel levels and the ability of the splitter to carry 2 full signals.

    You would likely need to amplify after you combine.
     
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