Hi everyone, just got a new HDTV with built in receiver. I live in a suburb of St Louis, Mo. I am currently receiving 4 of 6 regular stations in digital with a 25 year old long distance VHF/UHF antenna mounted in my attic. From the antennaweb site I learned that the stations (26 to 56 freq) are only 2.4 to 6 miles from my house, but because of trees, etc I need a "RED" antenna.
My existing antenna is aimed at a group of 3 stations very close to each other. I receive another station 24 degrees to the right, and sometimes receive a station 41 degrees to the left. The 6th station is 90 degrees to the left of where my antenna is now aimed.
My question is will buying a new antenna help bring in the stations to the far left? Can I add a second antenna aimed to the left and couple it to my existing antenna to bring in those stations? I thought about installing a rotor but I hop stations a lot and I don't think it could ever keep up. Would a preamp help?
Ken will have the ultimate recommendation, but I'll give it a shot.
The pre-amp might help but it might also overload the other stations.
A 4 bay bowtie might work - it's not as directional as a 8 bay but should work better than the combo antenna. It might also pick up some high numbered VHF stations. I know the CM 4228 will pick up channel 10 even better than some of the UHF stations. Not sure about the CM 4221 (4 bay).
The rotor may be unavoidable. Yes, you can combine antennas but you have to be sure you're not picking up the same frequency on both as that will lead to multipath. Better consult a pro if that's what you want to do.
ArubaBob wrote:
My question is will buying a new antenna help bring in the stations to the far left? Can I add a second antenna aimed to the left and couple it to my existing antenna to bring in those stations? I thought about installing a rotor but I hop stations a lot and I don't think it could ever keep up. Would a preamp help?
Bob,
I live 70 miles south of STL and right at this moment I am getting all the digital station out of STL but I have tree problems also throughout the year so I have gotten a rotor which so far has helped my situation. This forum is really good about helping you with OTA but I would also recommend going to the AVS forum and visiting the STL thread. A poster there called "drop the remote" who also does ISF calibration would probably be able to help you in regards to some of the local reception problems. Here is a link:
