Very Distant TV stations and Antennas

I was wondering if it would be possible to get an antenna that would pick up a network station in a town about 140 miles from the transmitter. This is also in a mountainous area of Virginia. The rest of the channels would be arriving from a town about 50 miles to the north. I am trying to set up an antenna to get the networks and not have to get cable. Would it even be remotely possible to recieve such a signal? Thanks in advnace.

-at

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Reply to
a.t.
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140 miles is a long way, but if the local conditions are correct and if the station is powerful enough and if the frequency is right (UHF tends not to carry so far) then it might. Ask around locally and see if anyone else can get that station. I might add that an antenna tuned to just that station and designed for weak signals would be your best chance.
Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Throw enough money at it, you can do almost anything. A tall, tall tower, with a very directional antenna and a rotator, you MAY be able to bring it in, at least part of the time. As a kid, I used to DX distant city TV stations when it got cloudy, and the signal would bounce on the cloud layers. (one night I got several Tennesee stations clear as a bell in Bloominton, IN.) But unless you happen to be on a tall ridgetop, a tower tall enough may be more expensive than several years of satellite service.

Suggest asking your question over on the rec.radio.amateur.antenna group. They may not like a non-HAM question, but they actually know what they are talking about over there, unlike me. Alternative- are there any (non-radio-shack) antenna companies in your area? Cable TV has made most of the yellow page ads for them go away, but whatever company in your area that sells antenna towers (look under 2-way radios) may still have an old-timer around that remembers when tall TV antennas on rural homes were dirt-common.

aem sends....

Reply to
ameijers

yes

one of these inline with a good 75 ohm antenna system and an electric antenna rotator might do it

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Reply to
effi

In addition try this site for information on the type of antenna needed.

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Reply to
Joseph Meehan

"ameijers" wrote in news:vpePc.163309$ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

Back in the 1950s in NE Misissippi, folks routinely received broadcasts from stations in Memphis, TN, 109 miles away. The quality of the reception varied from almost perfect to almost non-existent, depending on the height of the tower and quality of parts. My aunt and uncle had a 35 ft. tower and excellent antenna with rotator. Their reception was almost always very good.

Reply to
Wayne

The old "radar range" approximation is that the horizon in nautical miles is the square root of 2 times the antenna height in feet.

140 sm is about 122 nm. So you need an antenna height of 7391 feet to see the horizon.
Reply to
William W. Plummer

I'm confused

122 =1.414x x=86 feet?
Reply to
Greg

Bottom line after all the previous "stuff": At 60 miles from the transmitter, you're over the horizon...unless of course you're way higher...like on a mountain top. Sure, you might get signal bounce and reflection depending on atomospheric conditions, but nothing dependable. Just like it "might" snow tomorrow.

Reply to
Curmudgeon

I guess that is why those TV stations put up those big towers huh? I used to watch Richmond TV from DC when the Redskins were blacked out and that is over 100 miles. I had a 20' mast on the roof of a 2 story house (45' or so).

Reply to
Greg

As stated in a prior reply, you have to have the height, if you are more than about 50 miles from the desired station. That height can come from a TALL tower (not likely) or from a high location.

I am in a mountain location in North Carolina, at 4200 feet above sea level. Every day and night, I get signals in the 150 mile range. On occasion, I have received tv stations from the coast of NC, nearly 400 miles away. But under routine and normal conditions, I get clear signals from

150 miles and more.

I have a large antenna, on a 40 foot tower ( just to get out of the trees and well off the ground), and I also use an antenna pre-amp.

Good Luck !!

--James--

Reply to
James Nipper

140 Miles over flat terrain is pretty much beyond your reach, even with a very tall tower, what with curvature of the earth, and all. Adding mountains and foliage to the mix I'd say it's pretty much impossible, barring springtime/autumn temperature inversions or rare E or F skip. Time to call DirectTV.
Reply to
Chuck Reti

I see this as a question without enough information. Particularly the UHF/VHF information. I used to live near Harrodsburg, KY, and set up an antenna to recieve "Doctor Who" from the PBS station in Cincinnatti, Ohio. It was a UHF station. We were over three times the fringe area distance. In fact, during a pledge drive, they knew the number we were calling from, and tested us by asking how many fingers they were holding up. I did it by removing the LNA from a 10 foot satellite dish, putting a UHF bow tie antenna in its place, with its own coax, and aimed it at the horizon. I did similar stuff for VHF with (true)screen doors serving as the reflector for a multielement antenna pointed at the doors, which I had mounted at a right angle to each other, 45 degrees from grade.

Reply to
Michael Baugh

LOL! Does my heart good to see that the backyard tinkerer McGyver gene has not died out in this country.

Wish I had a place in the boonies where I could do stuff like that without the neighbors having kittens.

Keep on tinkering, sir!

aem sends....

Reply to
ameijers

I'm not an expert on digital TV but aren't the TV stations supposed to end analog broadcasting in 2006? You might consider this before you invest alot of money in towers, amplifiers, and antennas. I live in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago and if the stations ever dropped analog broadcasting I'd be up a creek. I cannot receive the digital signals reliably even though the analog signals come in snow free.

I would post this question at the AVS forum:

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Ask in the HDTV reception area (even though it's not HDTV). They are very good at getting reception from weak signals

Reply to
JMagerl

I bet they still have NTSC in 2106 or at least 10 years after the last NTSC TV is sold.

Reply to
Greg

Ask your local dealer.

Depends on signal quality, antenna hiegth, etc., etc...

Buy a quality antenna like Winegard, and add the recommend pre-amp kit that the local dealer suggest. The two part pre-amps work the best. They come in all sorts of amplification ranges. (some will amp both U/V, some will do one and not the other, Winegard AP series)

~kjpro~

Reply to
~KJPRO~

Personally, I thing you need to either go ahead and connect to cable, or start learning about antennas, particularly rhombics if you have plenty of space.

Reply to
Michael Baugh

Well, the old radar range calculation isn't very accurate at VHF/UHF frequencies, but it is close enough to give you a rough idea of the heights involved in line of sight distances. However, don't forget that both the TV transmitter and the OP's receiver are going to be elevated, not 'at the horizon'. You also need to worry about the height of the obstacles that may be in the path between the transmitter and receiver (the Fresnel zone), the path loss associated with the frequency used, tramitter power, receiver sensitivity, antenna gain, and a whole host of other factors.

Here is a rough approximation that may be useful and/or informative. IF the TV transmitter's antenna was on one of the Virginia mountain tops at

4200 feet ASL (re:
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- the OP can check with the station or the FCC records for exact height) and there were no intervening obstacles in the path then it would take a receiving antenna at 1200 feet ASL in order to be able to "see" (LOS) the transmitter. Then you have to take into account all the other factors mentioned. So, if the OP is also on a mountain ridge then it might be entirely practical to receive the desired TV station.

More information on long distance TV reception:

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Reply to
Travis Jordan
040801 2134 - James Nipper posted:

Yes, I had this in mind, and with a rotor, and the right terrain, what the OP wanted could be quite obtainable, and maybe even more.

Reply to
indago

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