OK, the big ice event took the TV antenna and turned it into an inverted "V" so it's now time for a new one. Fortunately, other than limbs, that's my only real problem unlike the poor folks north and west who are still w/o power and will be for two weeks or more. Plus, have water for the livestock and feed and didn't lose 450 head to freezing/suffocation as fella' one county north...
Anyway, not had a rotator before but considering it as is a new repeater that could probably pick up in other direction of traditionals so looking for some info --
Is there a way to control a rotator from inside w/o running hard cable from the set location all the way? Problem is antenna entry is from under eaves at attic level of two-story and the TV location is on first floor and there's no way easy enough to get a cable pulled that I'm going to the effort for something as superfluous as a TV signal. Dad used the old flat cable instead of coax, unfortunately, so that's all I've got to work with.
Anybody have any input? I DA(very quick)GS and didn't find much of help, but don't have any experience on this subject....
You may be out of luck. While it's easy to mentally envision a wireless roator control, searches yield no fruit, and technically, you would be trading the fun of running the control wire against the new need then to have some sort of power source available to the receiver of any wireless control signal we might envision.
The last house I had with a roof antenna anda rotator had the rotator cable run up the side of the house. It wasn't hard to get that routed since the control location was in a room with an exterior wall.
I wonder if we'll see a return to external antennae in the wake of hdtv and people realizing how much per year they might save by ditching cable.
Thanks, Todd. Actually, there is power in the attic and a 110V outlet right at the location where the antenna lead comes in. Dad had planned on and tried one of the amplifiers at one time and had run the power for it when doing the remodel. Too bad he didn't think about additional updates like coax for network access and/or running an extra conduit between floors to allow something else to be pulled easily. :) It's not being used now, but is live as I used it for a drop cord when doing some work up there a while back.
I suppose I could do the outside, up the house thingy, but I have a pretty strong aversion to hanging stuff on the house if it's at all avoidable, and TV isn't enough of a priority to likely cause a retraction on that score.
If you were to have an idea given that there is power up there, I'd certainly be interested in it. As you say, certainly a quick search didn't find anything. The other respondent suggesting the ham folks ain't a bad idea, either. Haven't done so yet, but will try it.
have you considered satellite TV? most local citys are up, guide data for future and best of allm DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER, record what you want watch when YOU want!
run new coax and power wire for the rotator on the outside of the house, maybe behind a downspout. may be able to get white wire if house is white. make sure you ground both to your unified power, phone, etc ground. you'll be glad you did.
Have I considered it? Well, yes, in brief passing...the clauses of "outs" for the provider and possible "gotcha's" for the user in any of the contracts I've seen I wouldn't even consider signing is Strike 1.
Where it would have to be to have the southern exposure required would either require mounting on house or far enough away to require amplifiers, etc. Dad got a dish tossed in to the last TV he bought and we considered how to hook it up some years ago when I was home. Decided wasn't worth the trouble. Srike 2.
100's of channels and still basically nothing to watch! :( While Mom was in the assisted living in town and on cable, saw it again and again. While there are a few stations that would be nice (I got used to watching the Braves while in TN and kinda' miss them altho unless they do better than last year, not so much :( ) and a few other odds 'n ends, but in general just don't miss it. Also, last time the guy called at supper time and I tried to find out the deal on the locals, turns out they only have the main Wichita stations and not the satellite repeaters/localized stations. So, to get the actual "local" weather and news channels would still have to have the antenna. Srike
But, it's an idea others who are more interested in programming and less interested in the one item of near local weather and storm weather that is my primary interest would probably find the way to go.
I think the voltage for most light duty rotators is low. It comes from the control unit. Only place you need 110 is at the control unit. I have one that uses a light duty 4 wire ribbon cable from the control unit to the rotator.
I know. I was hoping for a way to put the controller there and just run the cable from that point where there already is access.
If I can't find or gin up something, in all likelihood I'll forget the rotator...it's not that important to me, but seems like it would possibly be benificial. While I'm putting up a new antenna I'll try the manual rotating thing and see if it really does anything great. If it does at that point I might get more motivated to look into the alternative wiring routes/choices.
Have I considered it? Well, yes, in brief passing...the clauses of
well in the last few years BIG changes have occured to satellite TV.
long cable runs use new technology elminating amplifiers. if antenna and rotor is ok on your home then whats the big problem with a 2 foot diamneter dish?
many more local stations are up
new lease deals basically mirroring cable, try it if you dont like it just call and cancel and return the box, which now can output 2 different feeds to seperate tvs without a extra fee.
the receivers when plugged into a phone line provide 100% local weather and forecasts all the time at no extra cost. just clkick and its there.
mysel;f I just look out the window, snow storms are of interest beyond that little matters
Dish installs the equiptement either free or 50 bucks depending on what package you choose with no long term commitments.
for rural subs the PI public interest channels our of interest to many and come with the most basic packages
You have NO IDEA what a DVR does it changes how you watch TV FOREVER!
I put my antenna on a rotor about 10 years ago. Once I found the best position for a decent reception on all 6 channels, I rarely use the rotor anymore. When you move off that "ideal" spot, it's hard to find it again.
The antenna is _NOT_ on the house, it's on its own tower. Where that is, however, is not open to the southern exposure a dish needs. (As for the not wanting it on the house, think of it as my pecadillo akin to your penchant for changing out fuse panels... :) )
I believe you're used to an area of pretty high population density. The "local" stations here aren't local in the sense of being here at all, they're repeaters of Wichita stations that "only" are 45 - 80 miles away as opposed to 250. As noted previously, these are _not_ available on dish, only the main ones and the localized weather is the prime difference. Their network programming is the same, but they run localized news and weather instead of the city stories for those portions of the broadcasts. Missing those makes them almost totally useless.
You're not farming for a living such that weather and your livelihood are intimately and directly related. Nor (I think) are you in an area of frequent severe weather such as here, so your interest in the weather and mine are totally different. I'd imagine your interest is more in whether the weekend is to be nice, mine is basic data as one input for decision-making. So, it combined w/ the ability to get radar and other direct-access info from the NWS online are two important pieces of information. Unfortunately, the network connection isn't always as reliable as the TV, particularly in really threatening weather.
I don't expect I would ever watch much routine TV programming whatever the technology -- it's just not something I find of any interest; I'd rather read when not otherwise occupied (and a farmer's life is never lacking in something to do). As also previously noted, we had about everything available on local cable at Mom's apartment and there was very little other than some additional sports that was even watchable at all most of the time. (I did kinda' miss the Monday Night Football for the first few weeks, though, but now find even that isn't _really_ much of a miss after only the one season. So, it basically is a case of you can't miss what you don't have and it's easy enough to find other things to do.)
Anyway, again, it's a thought, just probably not one I'll followup on any time soon...
Oooh, that's twice our three! :) (Well, there's really four on the rare nights PBS has enough power to have a watchable signal, but that's still three on most nights!)
The thing I was thinking about re: the rotor is that there is a newer repeater almost 180-degrees from the other three that we have had "since forever". It is coming up out of the TX panhandle from Amarillo and often, particularly in warm weather, the weather approaches from that direction rather than the NW. W/ the antenna pointing to the NE, we have no sign of any signal. Whether I can pick it up if get the new antenna and point it the right direction I don't yet know so suppose ought to do that experiment first before even worrying about it at all further...
Anyway, I was figuring if that were the case of getting it, I'd have to essentially rotate a half-turn pretty regularly as it's not going to get both simultaneously, they're all in deep fringe range so need highly directional antenna. The only saving grace is the three at present are all roughly in the same direction so one can aim mostly towards the weakest/farthest away one and still get passable reception for the most part on the other two.
| Thanks, Todd. Actually, there is power in the attic and a 110V outlet | right at the location where the antenna lead comes in. Dad had planned | on and tried one of the amplifiers at one time and had run the power | for it when doing the remodel. Too bad he didn't think about | additional updates like coax for network access and/or running an extra | conduit between floors to allow something else to be pulled easily. :) | It's not being used now, but is live as I used it for a drop cord when | doing some work up there a while back. | | I suppose I could do the outside, up the house thingy, but I have a | pretty strong aversion to hanging stuff on the house if it's at all | avoidable, and TV isn't enough of a priority to likely cause a | retraction on that score. | | If you were to have an idea given that there is power up there, I'd | certainly be interested in it. As you say, certainly a quick search | didn't find anything. The other respondent suggesting the ham folks | ain't a bad idea, either. Haven't done so yet, but will try it.
At one time you could buy a rotor control with an IR remote. You could place this control in the attic and then use a wireless IR extender between the TV location and the attic. Better would be a hard-wired IR extender, but I don't think you can get one that rides on twinlead.
There ya' go! Thanks, Dan. I did find a couple at least of the IR rotor controls. Hadn't thought of the right buzz words for the IR extender. I'll see what I can find. It would be nice if I could use the twin-lead to pull a coax but am almost positive Dad, like his usual self, will have fastened it firmly at both box ends and the only thing I'd do would be tear it up and have nothing. At least he did use the heavy insulated exterior stuff for it all. Wasn't home during this part of the house remodel so didn't get a chance to suggest some alternatives/additional niceties to be included...
OK, that works, thanks!! -- Your catch phrase word of "extender" led to at least two or three wireless IR extenders that claim 120-ft range. Since it's frame house and far less distance than that, _should_ work. (How reliable they'll be is to be determined, of course, but it's a solution at least in theory and not terribly expensive if turns out not so good.).
I'll get the antenna first and when the weather clears up (we're waiting for the third snow/ice in three weeks today altho this one is a puppy compared to the last two, it's just not what we need just now :( ) and the ground dries out enough I can get the lift to the tower w/o making ruts 2-ft deep and see if there's any signal in the other direction to make the rotor look like it's worth doing.
The voltage is 24 volts AC. I made my own crude control some years ago. It was just a 24V transformer and some switches. It's not rocket science, just apply voltage to one wire and it turns the motor CCW and to the other wire and it turns CW. Of course I did not have the indicator inside, which is most of the circuitry in the factory made controls. I used to have to look out the window to see where it was pointed, or just turn till the best tv signal came in. Anyhow, the voltage is 24 at least on the old Alliance rotors which was probably a unit from the 1960's back then. For wire to the motor, I have used plain thermostat cable, although the insulation dont last long on that stuff in sunlight, so the flat 4 conductor stuff made for rotors is probably better.
I dont blame the OP for his refusal to sign the contracts for satellite service. I simply called a company to get a price. It was way more than I was willing to pay for tv service. They were like vultures, refused to listen when I said "Not Interested". They began calling me contantly (I am on the DNC list). The filled my mailbox with weekly junk, and harassed me to no end. I finally filed a complaint with the FTC and my phone company. The calls stopped, but 4 or 5 years later I still keep getting mail from them. I often take their mail and write "return to sender". Let them pay twice for their junk mail.
Being a farmer myself, could you explain in more detail what happened to these livestock. I can understand freezing, but why did they suffocate? I find this very disturbing, since I absolutely love my horses like family. If we ever got a bad storm like that, I sure would like to know what to or not to do. Normally when we have severe weather coming, I bring all of them into the barn. I dont have enough stalls for all of them, but they just stay in the center of the barn and irritate each other, but their little irritations, and a few chunks of fur bit off, are far better than being out in bad weather. Hopefully by the end of this year I will finally have a stall for each one of them.
If there are web links from the news, about these animals and the weather, please post the URLs.
For the same channels satellite TV is cheaper than cable.
TODAY no long term commitments are necessary, lease model cancel and just return the receivers. no buyouts or penalties
obviously no one here has a DVR or TIVO or you would be going on and on about how nice it is to skip commercials and watch whaat you want on your schedule and not the networks. sooner or later you too will be assimiliated:) my dad refused even after i gave him one for christmas. within a few months he bought one after hearing from so many friends how great it was.
he apologized for being well dad:) hardhead......
a major downside to rotors if you have more than one tv watching shows in different directions your stuck..........
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