Channel Master 4228HD

dhebard

Got a "good" deal (maybe??) on a Channel Master 4228HD antenna. Came home & put it up on the end of the house (about 20 feet above ground), hooked up the coax to the TV and received the same channels I was getting with a set of $5 rabbit ears, although the signal strength is now stronger.
The tech at the satellite shop where I bought it said I should be able to receive all of the major networks with no problems. All I get is NBC & CBS.
My house is on top of a hill (another hill slightly higher about a mile away is between me and the transmitters) and only about 6 miles from the transmitters. I have 100 feet of shielded coax hooked up right now just to try it out, but will only need about 65 ft when I run the line in the proper place.
Do I need a preamp or what?
I can't figure out how to attach my info from TVFool or AntennaWeb.
Any help will be appreciated.

aka.Hooper

Do your TV Fool with your exact address and antenna height. (The exact add doesn't show, just city & zip.)

To the right of the radio button for selecting the report (All Channels/Digital Only, Current/Post Transition) click on "save image" and save to your computer as a png file.

Then when you post here hit "manage attachments" and browse & upload it in the pop-up. (I think there may be a thing about adding attachments on your first post; I tried and it didn't go up, but on a second attempt it worked.)

As to needing a pre-amp, I'm new to all this but have been doing a bit of research, so I'll have at it. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. ) I would say yes if you're dealing with a distant, weak signal and 100' of coax. (Even more so if it's RG59 and not RG6) And be sure to put it before the cable run, near the antenna, not down by the TV; you want to amplify the signal before it's lost to noise.

And most likely even in the final install w/65' run, if you're not picking up any close transmissions that might overload your tuner. (But I'll leave that bigger minds than mine, and to see the TV Fool )

P.S. Wanna share where you got that good deal??? (I'm still searching for the right antenna too!)

jim5506

Look at www.hdtvprimer.com. There is an in depth discussion there of the new 4228HD and how to "fix" it so the yoke between the two 4 bays does not destroy most of the gain you get from the extra 4 bays.

Basically, the way CM has tied the two 4 bays together is unbalanced and needs to be redone.

__________________
Programming: Dish HD Absolute with 0.01 Cinemax
Displays: Sony VPH-D50Q - 7 ft on the wall; Hitachi 57R59
Receivers: DishNetwork ViP722k; DishNetwork ViP211K; DishNetwork ViP211; DishNetwork 301; 2 - TiVo Series 2's; Accurian 6000; Samsung SIR-T351; Panasonic ShowStopper 2000; ATI HDTV Wonder
Dish 1000 on 110,119,129; Dish 500 on 61.5; DPP44
Sony 80GB PS3; Toshiba HD-DVD

dhebard

I saved the image (TVFool), but when I do a search for the png file to attach the computer doesn't find it!
I'll go out on a limb here and post my address: 228 Brentridge Drive 97471 @ 19 feet (maybe someone can figure this out!)
I first tried hooking the coax (100 ft of RG6) to the OTA connection of my DirecTV receiver and then tried directly to the TV. It made no difference either way!
I receive channel 4.1 @ 95-100 signal strength (70 with rabbit ears), channel 36.1 @ 67 and 46.1 @ 70 (couldn't receive either with rabbit ears).
I want to be able to receive channel 31 (Fox) and channel 12.1 (ABC).
I even stood up on the roof with a compass to aim the antenna!!

jim5506

Went up to 500 ft - did not see any FOX stations anywhere.

You have channels 5, 8 and 12 at 164 degrees and nearly all the 10-30 degree stations are UHF.

I'd aim the 4228HD about 20 degrees west of north and a VHF 2-13 like a Winegard HD8200U or a ChannelMaster 3679 or a Winegard 7084P aimed about 165 degrees and join them with a CM 7777 pre-amp.

You might get by with a slightly smaller VHF antenna than those two enormous UHF/VHF antennas but you only need the VHF part.

Hopefully the low power translators in the area will not overload the tuner with these high powered antennas and the high power pre-amp. If they do, you can back off to a UVSJ (UHF VHF signal joiner) and a Winegard HDP269 pre-amp.

Attached Images

Radar-Digital2.png (34.7 KB, 18 views)

__________________
Programming: Dish HD Absolute with 0.01 Cinemax
Displays: Sony VPH-D50Q - 7 ft on the wall; Hitachi 57R59
Receivers: DishNetwork ViP722k; DishNetwork ViP211K; DishNetwork ViP211; DishNetwork 301; 2 - TiVo Series 2's; Accurian 6000; Samsung SIR-T351; Panasonic ShowStopper 2000; ATI HDTV Wonder
Dish 1000 on 110,119,129; Dish 500 on 61.5; DPP44
Sony 80GB PS3; Toshiba HD-DVD

smdp1

a vip 306 would serve the vhf needs well....and would actually likely do better than the combo's mentioned above, price wise though might be an issue as you would have to have it shipped in likely....here are two contacts
Lafayette Electronic Supply Lafayette, IN (765) 447-9660

Wiltronics Supply Tyler, TX (903) 597-6315

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my antenna is bigger than yours...lol couldn't resist

texasbrit

I don't think any of this problem has to do with your antenna.
I suspect your ideas on what stations you might receive are confused by the low-power channel designations in your area. Channel 31 (Fox) is much too far away for you to receive a signal, but it is re-transmitted by a repeater station K33FE which is close to you.
Unfortunately K33FE currently transmits only in analog and so can't be received by a digital tuner like the one in your DirecTV box. And according to tvfool, K33FE is staying in analog even after the digital transition in June (as a low-power repeater it is allowed to do this).
As far as ABC is concerned, I don't know if you have a local repeater but if you do it's probably the same problem. The primary transmitter for ABC might be just about possible with a CM4228 and CM7777 preamp but it's in the opposite direction to the local repeaters so you would need a rotor (or a second antenna as jim5506 suggests).