Reception ? From Newcomer

snakefoot

Glad I found this forum,I am sure you will be able to help.Currently have outdoor antenna,about 30 feet above ground from Radio Shack,there is no item number on the box,but I have the specifications.Am able to get UHF perfectly,but VHF comes in and drops out or does not come in at all. I am thinking the antenna does not have as much strength for VHF and wonder how to correct this.Pre amp or maybe add a specific VHF antenna? I am electronically challenged, would love to get this resolved,so my wife can watch her favorite show.If you need more info, let me know. Thanks!!

Ray50

I had a large Radio Shack Antenna on my roof with the same problem. I want back to RS and got a preamp and it helped a lot. They have the Winegard® HDP-269 Preamplifier for $59 and it should help you. Also if for some reason it doesn't fix your problem they will most likely take it back. You do need to mount it up near the antenna...not so easy at 30 feet. (This is assuming the antenna is not broken or you have a bad connection)

(I replaced a cheap preamp with a winegard and saw some UHF improvement BUT saw good VHF improvement. )

jim5506

Sounds like you have a UHF antenna.

Post a picture of it and we can guess what it is.

Also post your TVFool.com replrt so we can see which channels you should be receiving.

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JB Antennaman

Radio shack will not take back a antenna without a sales receipt and if more than 15 days old. They will not take back a antenna without the box.

Pre amplifiers works best when they are mounted as close as possible to the antenna.

RG 6 wire is rated in loss per a foot at X Mhz. - frequency.

The best scenario is to use a good quality Quad Shield wire such as the Belden 1829 AC wire and crimp on connectors.

If you have a 4 way splitter in the line, that could also be causing some of your problems.

VHF digital signals are much weaker than the old analog signals and requires a large antenna for proper reception. One of the biggest problems is - people that buys the wrong antenna - due to the fact that they do not want a large antenna on their roof and believes the propaganda on the box about range and reception.

Send us your home address and stations you are trying to receive and we will try to help you choose the right set up for your location.

snakefoot

We bought this antenna as Radio Shack said it was the one that we needed(Have learned since that we should have gone elsewhere for an antenna, but pretty limited here). Looked on their website and the antenna is Model # 15-264.I do know all the info like frequency range, etc.We have only one TV hooked up. I cannot post TV Fool link...

snakefoot

Sorry,here is location and stations....347 South Tyner Road Oxford NY 13830 Stations are Binghamton NY 12(CBS) and 40(NBC)think they are 7 and 8....Each has an additional station linked to it 12.1 and 40.1

NonMcTubber

To snakefoot,

If I got it right, here is your TVfool report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...618a37d4bede4f

At best you have five gettable channels coming in at two angles before NM(dB) gets below zero.

I have a bigger radio shack antenna, it may be good at off aim coverage, but its vastly over rated for distance on weak signals.
Its virtue is lack of huge losses off aim, which works for me and my tvfool report, but is almost certainly not good for yours.

My guess is, to keep the wife happy, you are going to have to get a good low noise preamp, get an antenna rotator or a multiple antenna set up for the two angles, and maybe throw away the radio
shack antenna and replace it with something that will have better gain
for on aim reception.

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snakefoot

Can any of you explain why Channel 12.1 and 12.2 came in before the trees leaved out?Maybe it was a coincidence. 40.1 and 40.2 were more iffy,but at one time ,all the channels came in, there were these four plus four others(UHF).The antenna was in the same direction for all of them.We have tried moving the antenna, that makes the channels we get(UHF) not come in, but does not affect the ones that don't(VHF),they still don't come in.A few minutes ago, all channels came in for about 15 minutes.Would like to know what antenna and preamp you all recommend.

Don_M

Foliage usually has a much bigger impact on UHF reception than on VHF, so that's kind of a stumper. Hazarding a guess, I'd say the 15-264's gain produced signals that may have been close to the digital cliff to begin with, and the marginal interference presented by leafy trees was enough to push reception over the edge.

That antenna is no match for any of its Winegard counterparts. More on that later.

Ray50's advice above is well worth pursuing first -- check the cabling and antenna for problems. Do you have lots of trees above or near the antenna? Tree debris like wet leaves or pine needles might be lying across the phasing lines, the cris-crossing metal wires above the boom and behind the corner reflector which carry VHF signals to the downlead. Anything wet that touches both lines could be shorting them, reducing reception. Lower the antenna and brush any debris off, and while it's down, make sure the phasing lines aren't touching each other or the boom anywhere. That would be a short, too. If the cable downlead is good and the antenna is clean, try Ray's pre-amp idea. The HDP-269 is a good suggestion.

If these troubleshooting steps don't do it, that's the time to consider a new antenna. Your signals are fairly weak, even at 30 feet up. I'd recommend getting the Winegard HD-7696P at a minimum; consider the Winegard HD-7698P for an extra margin of safety.

I ran a TVFool report for the provided address. It's also attached below. (IIRC, you'll be able to do attachments beginning with your fifth post, so you're already there.)

Attached Images

13830.png (56.9 KB, 12 views)

snakefoot

We were just up on the roof Saturday adding an extension pole to see if more height would help. No debris on antenna.This was new in April, and cable looks fine.So we will try a pre amp next.A friend suggested we add a good VHF antenna to the existing one,since the UHF comes in so good, any thoughts on that? Thanks to everyone.

Don_M

The pre-amp offering the greatest flexibility in case you buy a separate VHF antenna later on is the Channel Master 7777. It has two inputs, one for each band, and its circuitry is such that you can throw an internal switch to filter out what few VHF signals the current antenna gets when you add the second antenna. It's suitable for your situation. CM can't make 'em fast enough these days, so expect to get backordered for a couple of weeks or so.

For VHF, the best choice for durability and signal-capturing ability would be Winegard's YA-1713, about $50. Might as well spring for it; the smaller, lower-gain VHF-highbanders available might work well, but they'd only save you about 20 bucks.

hoopitup2000

You probably are dealing with quite a bit of multipath. I've been up Route 12 quite a few times, and those rolling hills between you and Binghamton aren't helping. A more directional VHF-HI band will offer not only higher gain, but will provide your tuner with a more stable signal.

I had seen that one of the Binghamton stations was recommending the Winegard Ghost Killer to viewers on their website because of high multipath concerns. I wouldn't recommend the Ghost Killer, but a model with higher gain like DonM has suggested would be ideal.

snakefoot

You are all being really helpful.What I thought of last night was this...If we connect to a second TV from the same antenna, we would definitely need a pre amp,right? What if we got an excellent quality VHF antenna and hooked that to one TV and left the other as it is for the UHF,since that comes in great? Could we mount the two antennas near each other?Cosmetics is not an issue, we have no neighbors, can only see our place if you are in a low flying plane.

Don_M

Yes. For that matter, your signal situation calls for a pre-amp with just one TV.

Sure, if you like. This means individual coax cables leading to each TV. If you combine the antennas through the CM 7777 and then feed signals to both TVs from a splitter inside the house, though, all channels would be available on both TVs.

They may be placed on the same mast if you wish, with the RS antenna being used for UHF mounted on top. Separate them by at least four feet to prevent interaction between antennas. If you'd rather use two mounts, separate the antennas by at least eight feet, and make sure one antenna isn't located behind the other with respect to the TV signals.

snakefoot

OK, now this is becoming more clear. I need a pre amp no matter what. Is it possible the pre amp will help or will I still need either an additional antenna or a better antenna?