tigerbangs prescription for deep fringe reception

hoopitup2000

I would also check TV FOOL to see how signal strength you can expect from channel 21. It will also show any adjacent or co-channel issues you may have. If the signal is much less than -100dbm; it may not even be worth the trouble.

KyLake

I have a 40 foot tower now and can go up one more secton. I am up on a hill, some tree line to the back of me and about 50 feet fom the antenna. One set of power lines north of me about a 100 yards away. North, east and west pretty open. I was thinking of getting a 91xg for uhf but i am not sure for vhf. I just think the vip-306 would be alot of weight trying to turn. I have some low vhf stations or i would just concentrate on high vhf and uhf. I have a fm radio station about two miles from me, 94.1. I am not sure but i am guessing it would come in on my vhf antenna and with a preamp. Most stations are pretty far out for me as you can see. What rotor should i get and i haven't had a rotor since the days of cb radio and a beam antenna. I hope rotors these days have a remote control. It seems most like the cm 7777 preamp. I have a new roll of rg-6 but should i use rg-11? My Pioneer plasma tv(Fhd1)(on charter cable now) doesn't have a tuner so i thought i would get a Samsung dtb-h260f and anything else i need, please mention.

I have been looking at some of these for vhf. hd-5030, hd-7084p, vip-306 but again heavy and would really add weight to the mast and turning, Y10 7-13 just for high vhf and or ya 6260 for low vhf. How much weight and length is the 5030 and 7084 comparred to the vip-306? Runs of coax, if i go up 55 feet, i would need probably 85 feet(for each antenna) of coax to get where i am going. Goinging with the 7084 with the 91xg, would the 7084 interfere with the 91xg in anyway with it also being uhf as well?

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MNBrad

Thanks for the reply all.

There is probably more information than anyone wanted in post 661.

ZIP is 56101. The VHF channels do not show on antenna web, but they are there - sometimes. When they are there they are strong - I assume they are coming off the nearby tower. Regardless the nearby UHF channels are there as well.

Did not mention on this most recent post that I get CH21 about 1/3 - 1/2 the time with an old Yagi, and old cable, and no preamp which I put up as a trial. Maybe I would be fine just upgrading my antenna. I really would like to get this channel (KTIN).

Maybe I try going without a preamp first? I have already tried to find the optimal location with that Yagi.

KyLake

I would even add this to my list, Funke PDP-1922. Does anyone in here have a 91xg and Funke PDP-1922 up together? I would like to see how these look together, up on a tower. How far in frequency is channel 7 on vhf high comparred to vhf low channel 5? Anyone running a Funke PDP-1922 notice if you can pick up a low vhf channel? I know i need a vip-306 for complete coverage of the vhf band but if i could save some money, maybe save on the fm radio band comming in on me, help on the weight being lighter with the Funke and even a lil higher db gain up on high vhf would all be a plus. If anyone in here knows where a pic of the Funke PDP-1922 with a 91xg running together, give me a link where i can see this and thanks.

ziggy29

It looks like all the channels that are really close to you at the zip code level (56, 58, 60, 62, 64) are low power and analog. I'm not sure these will prevent use of a preamp to get 21.

If you could save and attach a printout of your exact address into TVFool, maybe we could tell more. (At the zip code level it says the low power transmitter is 6.7 miles away.)

MNBrad

I will give it a try. FYI I used my address for TVFool. I plugged my address into a on-line converter to get these coordinates 43.862377 -95.12625 which I used for a Broadcast Television Search (I would post the URL, but do not have the rights to post URLs). These two do not match, but should be enough - 170 vs 175 degrees to the near tower.

TV Fool only shows Channel 21 (KTIN) in the graphic (estimated at -115 db), but I can get it in HD approximately 1/3 the time with a yagi. The close analog stations are shown as -50db.

The Broadcast TV search shows the near tower to be .6 miles distant (which is probably accurate). It shows a 20 degree difference between the near channels and the channel 21. The near channels are relatively low power (a rebroadcast tower) and the distant (CH 21) tower is 1580 kW at 81 miles. I have no idea what channels will be coming from the near tower after the transition, but suspect that they may be moving to VHF since there have been some strong digital and HD VHF signals coming from that direction lately.

I guess I was going to try a 4228, with a 9521a rotator and the 7777 preamp - I was going to follow the prescription - unless I was advised to do otherwise.

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hoopitup2000

You'll need a highly directonal antenna to reject those local LP stations. The 91-XG would be a better choice given your circumstances.

The 7777 pre-amp will probably decrease your chances of picking up channel 21. I would see what happens with no amp unless you really need something for distribution needs. -115dbm should work without an amp; but is weak enough that you may encounter dropouts during rainy or windy weather.

MNBrad

Thanks.

I will change my tentative plan to the 91-XG with a rotator and no preamp. If I have reception trouble (or the nearby UHF stations disappear in Feb) I can look at a preamp.

I may also have to look for some sort of a VHF antenna with the 91-XG , as opposed to the 4228. It would not have to be long-range, so I may just find something small and relatively inexpensive (I have not looked at VHF antennas at all - although not deep-fringe suggestions would be welcome)

Don_M

Take a look at AntennaCraft Y5-7-13. It's a decent performer in the short to medium range: 5 elements, 60" boom, 6.9 dB VHF-high, or sufficient for that channel 12. ACs aren't considered as tough as Winegards, though. Price is roughly $30 shipped.

Want durability? Winegard YA-1713, 10 elements, 100" boom, twice the gain of the Y5 at 10 dB or better, about $50 shipped. hoopitup's avatar shows what looks like a 1713 below his 91-XG.

MNBrad

Thanks much Don M and all

One last question. How much distance do I need between these two antennas? I will probably go with the more durable model recommended. Looks like hoopitup has them ~3 feet apart.

Don_M

Three feet should be enough. I've read that combined band-specific antennas should be separated at least half the wavelength of the signal from the lowest available channel. In this case, that's channel 12, centered at 207 MHz. Its wavelength is 300 divided by 207, or 1.45 meters; half of that works out to be just shy of 2.4 feet.

Rickfla

I use the combo of the 91-XG and the HD5030 with a 7777 preamp. The 5030 does fine here for the Orlando channels that are 80 or so miles NE of here and that is with a tree interfering somewhat. I'm on a 30 ft. telescoping mast and will soon add some height and a rotor. Right now all the antennas are in storage until after hurricane season because I had not guyed down the mast or gotten the rotor yet. So just stored it all away for now. But from what I could tell its a fine combo. The only low V we have is a channel 3; channel 2 in Daytona beach/Orlando does rather well from here at times but not always. But without the rotor and a little more height I can't honestly say how the 5030 does on low VHF; I'm pleased with what I saw so far though.

KyLake

I made the decision to go ahead and get a vip-306 or vip-307. I'm going to find out the difference between the two, weight, length and db gain and then order one of them. If i did not go this way i was going to have to have 3 antennas and one always in a fixed postion. So far i wasn't able to get any Funke dc.4591(ch 21-48). So i'll get one or two 91xg's.

This should be a lot of weight and torque on a rotor. I can keep the vip down towards the bottom, right out of the tower. What would be the best rotor for me to get to handle the job and i haven't made up my mind on stack 91's or not. I need for the rotor to have a remote control in the house also where i do not have to leave my chair. Thanks again on any info.

MNBrad

OK, I did purchse a 91-XG. That is the only antenna on my roof - I have no VHF antenna or amplifier. My rotator is on the way, so I just pointed the 91-XG to about 150 degrees SSE. I have yet to get the station I really wanted to get (KTIN - IPTV), but I am amazed by some of the other stations I am getting at least occasionally.

I always get KSTP and KARE in digitial from the south. These are VHF (at least that is where they appear on (Ch 5 and 11)). There must be a rebroadcast tower carrying them - I was assuming it was the the tower right near me, but that is probably not the case. I also picked up KAAL (CH6) in analog. Now I am picking up three Des Moines Stations in digitial they are all appearing on their Des Moines Channels - I do not think they are being rebroadcast. Des Moines is about 175 miles away!! Even more surprising (maybe) most of these channels are VHF. I am now receiving (although I wasn't yesterday) KCCI (CH8), KDIN (CH11), WHO (CH 13), and KDSM (CH 17). Things must be bouncing just right at the moment - but I expected the 91-XG to be very weak in VHF.

Just thought someone might want to know.

I also picked up a Channel 9 which I suspect is being re-broadcast from the same nearby tower as 5 and 11, but I only got it when I elevated my antenna another 5 ft - so I am certainly not getting every VHF channel around, but I am surprised I am getting anything in VHF from Iowa.

I will have to play around more when I get the rotator.

kaylee

We need help with our antenna. We are just interested in the basic 2,4,5,9,11,30,46,24 out of St. Louis, MO. All are digital now. My mom live down a hill from us and can only get digital stations 2-1 and 24-1 and vhf channel 2,4,5,11,9. She has a old antenna and we need to know what to put up.The antenna is mounted beside of her basement home about 30 ft. up and she has a metal roof. I think I read somewhere that metal affect the channels.
We are on top of the hill and get digital stations 2-1,5-2, 5-1,24-1,30-1 and 4-1,9-1 -2 -3 -4,11-1, 46-1 fade out during the day,but come in alittle after 10 p.m. We just bought our antenna last year, but don't know the name of it. We receive 2,4,5,9,11,24,30 and 46 (but snowy). Can we just add something to our's?
I am new to all of this and any help would be greatly appreciated since locate tv dealer say my mom will not get anything down in her valley. Do we need pre-amp?

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