Need antenna advice

Balsam Bill

I am not allowed to post my TV Fool report url so these are my Lat and lon and height for TV Fool: lat: 46.77895 Lon: -93.15937 Antenna height 32 to 34 feet above grade.

A recomendation for the above referenced tvfool location will be greatly appreciated. I am receiving all the Duluth stations with my old setup, the signal strength varies from weak for KDLH to very good for KQDS. I have a weather beaten combination antenna of unknown make and age mounted on a chimney supported mast about 32-34 feet above grade. Coax of unknown type probably 6. An amp that is in the house not on the antenna. An RCA converter box and a 4 year old Advent HD ready TV. The signal strength is not solid on the KDLH real 33 channel and is mostly unwatchable. WDIO real 10 and WDSE real 8 are fairly steady but will pixalate and freeze and loose signal strength with , I assume, different weather conditions. KBJR has been fairly steady, but not great, and KQDS rock solid. The converter box just has a bar graph from bad to good no % numbers.This Duluth markets station transmitter choices are strange. The highest rated network CBS station KDLH bought the lowest power transmitter and the highest UHF channel 33 while the Fox KQDS stepped up to the plate and bought a 1000 watter to the party. As you can see I am 49.4 miles away and all towers are on the same compass heading which is where my antenna is pointed. Although I am located in the wooded boonies my antenna faces a cleared field and the trees are 800 feet away. Strong wind potential and snow and ice issues at times. So antenna ? preamp? better conveter? I want the best possible solution for solid watchable signals the vast majority of the time and due to the 14 pitch roof I would like to do it once and have it last. Thanks for any help.

Rickfla

that might be your problem; I would at least check the coax from the antenna all the way to the house, all the connection at the antenna for corrosion, etc. That could be your problem or the antenna itself-check for bent or missing elements but first I'd deal with the coax and might even just replace it before spending a lot on an antenna.

NonMcTubber

Under the theory that an exact address TVfool report is the starting point.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...aa05be519fe44b

Here it is.

And under the OP theory of do it once and get it right, a new antenna, new coax, and a strong preamp might be the best thing to aim at.

__________________
High definition is not the definition of my life.
But knowledge is power and HD does have some potential to increase content variety and choices.

Balsam Bill

Your TV Fool was more optimistic than mine and I found I typed my Lat wrong so I fired up the GPS and its Lat was 46.77895 and Lon -93.15937. Thanks for the link.

NonMcTubber

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stuff happens , based on the new co-ordinates. Try this for a TV fool report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...aa05dbad02471b

__________________
High definition is not the definition of my life.
But knowledge is power and HD does have some potential to increase content variety and choices.

Balsam Bill

Thanks again for providing the link.

Patrick_D

Check out Winegard's beta selector as 2nd opinion of sorts. You will need your colors from antennaweb.org to use their on-line selector.
http://www.winegard.com/kbase/antenna_selector.php



You will need a combo UHF/VHF as PBS WDSE and ABC WDIO are on high VHF while the balance of the broadcasts on UHF.

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip...hp?tip_num=354

jim5506

Your signals are pretty weak.

I'd recommend a two antenna approach, a Winegard Y17-13 for VHF and a Winegard HD8800 for UHF joined by a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp.

Alternatively a Winegard HD7698 antenna with the same CM pre-amp or the Winegard AP8275 (less expensive pre-amp). I recommended the CM pre-amp with 2 antennas because it has distinct UHF and VHF inputs.

__________________
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