Over the air antenna

[jedi]

Just receivedmy clearstream 5 from Amazon today. :-) only took two days with free shipping so pretty happy with that. Hopefully I can hook it up roughly tonight and get some good quality free tv .

Let us know how it works out. Since u r in da region i'm more interested.

 

[the only Qualk]

Well it is far from an ideal setup. But i quickly setup the clearstream 5 in my basement. I was only able to get 7 channels but they were all crystal clear and included cbs 2 in hd. So wife and i watched the mentalist while we ate.
Also the clearstream was super easy to put together. 1 phillips head screw driver and 8 screws had it together minus a mounting setup.
Luckily the house was kinda setup for antenna. I will take some pictures of the coax setup. I hope to put the clearstream in the attic soon to see if i can get more. I checked on tv fool and looked like i should have no issue receiving around 30 channels? So that is my goal.

 

[jedi]

Channel 5 is the worst once for me to get with the old TV antenna in the attic + digital convert box where I am at. It freezes and lots of pixelation. 2, 7, 9, 11 no issues.

 

[the only Qualk]

With the clearstream 5 I should still be able to receive uhf signals right? If i was reading tvfool correctly uhf signals are mainly in the area? this is my tv fool report. any info appreciated thanks. TV Fool

 

[IndyBeerman]

Well it is far from an ideal setup. But i quickly setup the clearstream 5 in my basement. I was only able to get 7 channels but they were all crystal clear and included cbs 2 in hd. So wife and i watched the mentalist while we ate.
Also the clearstream was super easy to put together. 1 phillips head screw driver and 8 screws had it together minus a mounting setup.
Luckily the house was kinda setup for antenna. I will take some pictures of the coax setup. I hope to put the clearstream in the attic soon to see if i can get more. I checked on tv fool and looked like i should have no issue receiving around 30 channels? So that is my goal.

With the clearstream 5 I should still be able to receive uhf signals right? If i was reading tvfool correctly uhf signals are mainly in the area? this is my tv fool report. any info appreciated thanks. TV Fool

The ClearStream 5 is great for both VHF and UHF and excels in pulling in the VHF low freq that a lot of antennas have trouble doing.

It looks like the majority of your channels are towards the 310-312 degree range, with some towards the 75 degree area.

To be really honest, probably the worst placement would be the basement, if you can get it upstairs and you should see your channel availability jump up. With you being in the Valpo area, most stations are going to be in the 310-312 degree area with another band of stations available around the 75 degree area.

When you get that upstairs, point it due north and do another channel scan and see what you get. For the best results, mount it outside at least 10 feet up. You'll also see vastly better reception upstairs or outside.

Let us know what you pull in, if you can move it up the main floor.

 

[the only Qualk]

Well with the clearstream sitting on a chair in one of our bedrooms the other night i was able to find 31 channels and am now consistently receiving over 20 channels. And Jedi i will have to see about channel 5 later tonight but i want to say i receive it fine but at times fox is sketchy for me.
I was able to pull in it said Milwaukee fox news the other night some how haha. Anything else want to find out jedi?

 

[jedi]

Is the bedroom on the second floor?
If i buy one will you install it for me?
He,he,he...

 

[the only Qualk]

Nah it is ranch style home.
Haha and maybe .. for low low price of picture with you holding a glock

 

[jedi]

Nah it is ranch style home.
Haha and maybe .. for low low price of picture with you holding a glock

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.
I think i'm going to have to kick you off the nwi ingo island.
Them are some foul words

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Higher is always better, though you'll reach a point of diminishing returns. Outside is better than inside, but not as much at UHF as at VHF. The channel numbers no longer correspond to the frequencies; the FCC has allowed broadcasters to retain their old channel numbers for familiarity.

The FCC is "encouraging" broadcasters to UHF; I'd be surprised to see anyone on VHF at all in the near future, particularly low band. That's why most of the antenna designs cover it so poorly. For 70 years or so, TV had an ungodly frequency allocation; the higher frequencies were not of much use in the old days, but technology has overtaken that. They're also carving into the UHF spectrum for other services, but the digital signals allow a lot more programming in smaller bandwidth.

Make sure you run everything with good RG6 cable and nice connectors, and monitor any that's exposed to weather for replacement every few years. If an amplifier is necessary, put it as close (electrically) to the antenna as possible. There's little margin with the digital signal. It goes from perfect through legos to blank very quickly. No snow. I never minded a little snow that much. Damn I feel old.

 

[the only Qualk]

I still need to take a picture of my current setup as the house appears to have been setup for an antenna with an amplifier and 8 way splitter . But I am pretty happy with it I just really want to get it up on the roof.
What mounts would be recommended .
And my setup is far from ideal I know. It was however the fastest setup I could do lol.

Need any more info Jedi to help sway you to purchase the clearstream jedi ?

 

[the only Qualk]

Double post.
Jedi you consider getting a roku setup ? I know several here have that setup and love it

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

How many of the "ways" are you actually using on the splitter? You may do better to reduce the number of splits, as the higher the number of splits, the more loss per, even if the unused ones are terminated. Splitters are cheap; terminated splits are just a loss.

 

[the only Qualk]

How many of the "ways" are you actually using on the splitter? You may do better to reduce the number of splits, as the higher the number of splits, the more loss per, even if the unused ones are terminated. Splitters are cheap; terminated splits are just a loss.

Currently i am only using one. However I need to move some cables around and hope to have ~3-4 tvs hooked up.
I know my setup at the moment is not truly ideal but i dont have much free time with full time work and school.

 

[jedi]

Need any more info Jedi to help sway you to purchase the clearstream jedi ?

Not really other than having someone do all the work for me.
Not sure if I stated it in this thread or some other but I'm not dying to have TV back. We got rid of COMCAST earlier this year due to there mistake and while we did suffer a lot the first 2 weeks at this point our TVs just sit collecting dust. Every now and then we do turn on the smallest one in the kitchen while cooking more for "noise" than anything else. Program wise we are not watching anything regularly.

Yes it would be nice to have TV again but each of us (in the family) have found other means to keep us entertained. YouTube, playing video games, reading, coloring, LEGO time.

So I'm on the fence more in terms of do we want to be like everyone else and "watch TV" or say ***** it there is no need for it anymore for us. Not to mention the cost of antenna, setting it up, my time, etc. can be better used to buy reloading components or a new weapon or just plain save it.

Frankly I've not started a TV budget for the antenna and really don't see me starting one any time soon unless I find something that I pay and someone else setsup for me.

 

[the only Qualk]

Hey jedi sorry took so long but nbc channel 5 comes in crystal clear with the clear stream 5.
And i did have better reception cutting our the open ended cables from my splitter.

 

[jedi]

Good to know. Looks like the clear stream 5 is the way to go.
But I figure if I continue with the bad antenna I have now the family will just conitnue to decrease their tube time and do other stuff. he,he,he...

 

[IndyBeerman]

Great to hear that the CS5 is doing the job for you.

 

[the only Qualk]

back from the dead... can you use two amplifiers? looking at having one after around 20 ft or so from the antenna and then another amplifier splitter around 20 or so ft further down? Once it is warmer out i intend to place my clearstream 5 on my roof to hopefully have better reception. I think i need shieled coax though as the furnace seems to affect my channels

 

[IndyBeerman]

back from the dead... can you use two amplifiers? looking at having one after around 20 ft or so from the antenna and then another amplifier splitter around 20 or so ft further down? Once it is warmer out i intend to place my clearstream 5 on my roof to hopefully have better reception. I think i need shieled coax though as the furnace seems to affect my channels

RG6 Quad shielded cable is what I have running throughout my house, very good stuff. Bought a 500 foot roll after taking out 950 feet of crap when I bought the house.

Previous owner had every room in the house wired except the bathrooms, I think he would have wired those if wall mounts and LCD's would have been available then.

The ClearStream 5 has a very high gain to it, double amping it would more than likely be to much amplification.

If it's a long run (over 100 feet), I imagine there would only be the need for one.

When I redo my setup, there will be a 35 foot run from the CS5 to right inside the crawl, then I'm dropping one of these in..
Amazon.com: Channel Master CM3418 8-Port Distribution Amplifier for Cable and Antenna Signals: Electronics

Then branching off to my other points, I need the amp to power the farthest parts of the house for my LG HD receiver for my projector upstairs, bedroom tv and my media PC I'm building that's going to use a Silicon Dust HD Home Run Prime triple tuner.