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It's almost football season and I'm sick of not being able to get these blasted HD over-the-air local channel signals from 50 miles away. So I ordered a 160" dual boom 57 element antenna, new rotator, remote control for the rotator, new rotator cable and new coax.I'm trashing my equally big rusty 1982 antenna and froze-up rotator.
Arr arr arr. (Tim Allen pig voice).
Follow Ups:
Remember when people had those far-fringe Single Channel VHF Yagi's stacked up one on top of the other, each aimed in a slightly different direction depending on the side of town the specific station is located. With enough Yagis, you didnt need a rotator, but then wiring in the house got messy as you had to switch from one antenna to another. The antennas were of various lengths, with the longest one for Channel 13.
I also use a Channel Master 4228 since all my local digital stations are UHF. And since they are all between the 264-267 degree range, I don't need a rotator, in fact it's working great mounted inside my attic. Getting 8 stations with subchannels totaling 16.Go to your area chapter of the "Local HDTV Info and Reception" at AVS, this is the best way to find out what others are doing in your area.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=45
Also check out this site to find out what you need and where to point it.
In my area all over-the-air HDTV broadcasts are on UHF channels so the antenna doesn't have to be a big monster VHF/UHF combo yagi.... a smaller UHF-only antenna is all I use. I guess I'm lucky too because the low-power HD broadcast towers are only 15-miles from me on the high rise buildings in Denver. The broadcast towers will relocate to a permanent mountain top location in a couple years and run full-power. I've been told that a set of rabbit ears indoors will pull in crystal clear signals when that happens.Outdoor Cheapo Radio Shack UHF Yagi for HD / DTV
Crystal Clear NFL in HDTV 16:9 (last year's pic)
5 FM tuners/receivers throughout the house etc.I'm in west Georgia getting my HD signals from Atlanta and I am sorta behind a small hill or rise.
I use the rotator to occasionally pick up stations in three states - especially some college football broadcasts.
Even though I'm on cable and Dish satellite and XM radio, I should have replaced my antenna before now. HDTV just gave me reason to bitch and get on with it. : * )
Hey, gotta have that FM DX capability too! I'm not able to put up a large antenna 'cuz the neighbors will problably complain to the HOA. I have a vertical whip on the back yard deck for my FM but again the broadcasters are only a few miles away and line-of-sight. Good luck with the monster yagi setup! HDTV is incredible and worth it... whatever it takes, do it!
Some general comments:
1) Height is your friend, put the tower up as high as you can
2) Use high quality RG6
3) The best antennas tend to come from Winegard & Blonder-Tongue, in terms of overall build quality.
4) The rule of thumb is the bigger the antenna, the better BUT the big antennas tend to present a bigger target for wind & freezing rain, etc. (also make a bigger boom when they fall down).
5) Make sure you pick a spot for the antenna that has a clear shot at the transmitters.
*
Isn't that a little overkill for 50 miles? For example a nice simple Channel Master 4228 has 60 mile range, and you could have added an amp if that wasn't enough..I have 4228 on my roof, and it doesn't look too prominent (good)
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