I want to install an outdoor antenna for HDTV reception. I live in a one story home and I am in Santa Clara, CA. Most of the stations are in SF which is about 40 miles away.
In general, how tall should outdoor antenna be? Can it be just as high as the peek of the roof? Or does it need to be 5 feet or more above the roof? Does home depot sells pole/masts that long?
Since you probably have (almost) line of sight to Twin Peaks, you only need to be high enough to clear local obstructions, such as neighbor's houses.
Experiment. That's what I did. I found the best attic location for my HDTV power antenna--no poles, ladders, and completely out-of-sight. I had to install a convenient electrical outlet for the DC transformer. Picks up several stations, but PBS is all I watch.
It's not an analog vs. digital issue. It's more accurately VHF vs. UHF but that's not even totally true as some broadcasters apparently will still be assigned slots in the VHF band after the 2009 analog shutdown.
The "masses" get their channels over cable or satellite so you are certainly correct. IIRC the cable/satellite crowd is well over 80%.
That said, I have DISH network but still get my locals over a relatively small directional antenna as DISH doesn't yet offer locals digitally. That small antenna pulls all my local from 44 miles south of the Tucson xmitters -- and I get all my sub-channels which I doubt Dish (or Cox) will carry anytime soon.
When visitors see that what I'm pulling over the air is far better than the Cox cable feeds, their interest in antennas peaks -- and it's FREE!
For example, our local "cable company" picks up the big city stations with antenna arrays that look to be about 40' above street level. That part of the county is about 50' above sea level.
I have a neighbor who at one time put a 40' tower next to her house. That's definitely not DIY work so I'm sure the cost was in the $thousands.
For myself, I put up a "tripod" base on my roof ridge with a 6' mast and rotator on top with another 6' mast. Because of overlap,etc. the antanna (a middle of the road Radio Shack) is about 10' above my roof.
It's a good idea (even if not the law where you live) to run a ground wire from the antanna mast to you house ground where the power comes in. For myself, I did that and also drove in extra rods. I ran grounding cable to both ends of the house.
Get good antanna cable. "Quad Shield" RG-6 is pretty good.
It just doesn't cost that much to install an antenna like I have. (Less than $500.) It will surely get more stations than you get now and you can then decide for yourself whether it's worth the cost to go higher.
At 40 miles, I don't think a "high gain" antenna will buy you much.
You might get lucky and find you can get marginal signals because of special circumstances with your location. In our case, the Potomac river seems give us better than expected reception: I have picked up Philadelphia and Harrisburg (PA) early the the mornings. If I really,really wanted to "get" these stations I might try getting a larger antenna.
other than news and some local shows most stations are network, and offer the exact same programming much of the day, heck even syndicated shows aree all the same, since they are distribuited by satellite to your local station.
might look nice to get 50 stations but most programs will be the same: (
Higher the better, and if you're going to the trouble of mounting one on the roof, you may as well place it at least 5-8' above the peak.. You want an antenna with a fairly big UHF section (thing at the front with the short horizontal rods), meaing it should have a reflector (short horizontal rods that extend above and below the boom). Outdoor mounting can help a lot, especially for UHF.. Also be sure to electrically ground the antenna, mast, and antenna cable shield to your home's ground rod (near the circuit breaker box),. Also install a spark arrester inline with the cable, and let the cable droop about a foot where it enters the building so that rain will drip off rather than run inside. About every TV and video recorder includes basic instructions about this in the first few pages of the manual, for safety reasons.
I'd use RG-6QS (QS = quad shield) cable because it doesn't cost that much more but blocks interference the best. You need special RG-6QS connectors for it, but you don't need bother with gold plated or weatherproof stuff. You can make connections watertight with black vinyl electrical tape (the last few wraps must not be stretched). Also clamp the cable to the mast so it doesn't tug at its connector.
Buy a reputable brand, like Radio Shack, AntennaCraft, Winegard, Jerrold, and don't bother with that overpriced Terk junk. Fry's and radio-tv supply houses have antennas, and some Radio Shack stores may still have in stock (I bought their second-largest outdoor antenna for just $5 on close-out). If you have to order by mail, try MCM Electronics, Dalbani, Premium Parts. I think that San Fransisco uses a central antenna for almost all the TV stations, so get a directional antenna, not a unidirectional one. Also a big antenna can alleviate the need for a distribution amplifier.
The higher it is, the better your tv reception, but the greater chance of getting hit by lightening. It MUST be at least 4 feet above the roof. More if the roof is metal. Put a tripod on the roof with at least a 5 ft. pole.
My "grand plan" is to put up a strong pole from the ground right next to the house (so the pole leans against the house). This way, I can put up the Antenna, plus any potential future dish that I may want to get. I can dug a hole and pour concrete to secure the pole in place.
But do they sell Pole that long? I am in a one-story house, ceiling is
8', so I imagine the peek of the roof is probably 20'? Can I get a pole this long? (even if I do, how the hell do I get it home?)
Perhaps I can interconnect shorter ones to make a long one, if so, is it still stable enough for a dish?
there is NO advatage to putting a satellite dish higher, it has no effect on reception unless you dont have line of site at a lower elevation.
my dish lives lag bolted to my deck, which makes service and snow removal very easy.
you willn find it near impossible to aim a satellite dish on a pole and the wind turns the dish into a wing causing movement which will effect reception.
satellite tv dishes look at a fixed satellite at about 22,300 miles, a few feet means nothing.
if your looking at satellite tv get a DVR digital video recorder it will change how you look at tv forever
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