I bought a used rooftop tv antenna at a garage sale so there are no instructions. I know how to mount it and connect the coax, but I do not recall which end points toward the tv station transmitter.
I know the UHF elements are the smaller ones and the VHF are the larger ones. But which end goes toward the station? Here is a crude drawing (below).
\\\\\\\\\\\\
->>>>>>>>>- //////
You'd think there would be a diagram on the web, but I sure can not find one. They should mark it right on the antenna but they dont. Jimw
Hi, Basically, there are multi element on a boom. Shorter element side should point to the station. Short element is called director, longer one is called reflector. The more elements, the more gain.
The more elements it has the more 'pointy' or directional the antenna will be! In other words, using a multi element antenna, if the antenna is pointed directly at one station, another station, off say 30 degrees to one side in direction, may not be received at all If signals are weak an antenna with more elements generally has more 'gain' (From the ONE desired direction!).
But you may get someone who has no technical background putting up an antenna which does not work for the several stations (in different directions from their particular location) that they wish to receive.
And then gets into a song and dance about how it is the same antenna that works OK for his brother in law (who lives in a different location of course!).
OR "The salesman 'said' this was the best one for this area ................." and so on ....... ! All without reference to any understanding about basic technical facts.
Also there will always be the people who achieve perfectly satisfactory TV reception with a broken off coat hanger jammed in top of the set in place of the uni-pole antenna that broke off ten years off when they were moving house. Provided that is the cat does not perch on top of the sofa; just 'there'.
"Hon: Shoo the cat off the sofa will you? I want to watch this guy pitch .....! "
We ran into a situation once, long before the advent of cable TV here, whereby the owner used to pour hot water over his antenna connections to wash off the sea salt spray. It worked!
Another guy in same community got best signal if he pointed his antenna off line, it is still my opinion that by doing so with his particular antenna he was avoiding a strong second signal (in favour of the direct signal) reflected from the metal cladding of the local fish processing plant!
Ah yes; but reflected FM and TV signals was how the British discovered radar before WWII! Ever notice how a TV picture sometimes goes 'all- wavery' if/when a plane flies over?
As previous posters have said indicated it IS a combination of technology and local conditions. But starting with 'pointy' end towards the TV station is best way to start.
LOL! Ya beat me to it! Until I saw folks taking this seriously I was kinda thinking it was a joke post. Must be a 'man thing' there ;-)
Real method, put up antenna but don't bolt tight yet. Turn antenna bit bit by bit until the best location is determined. Tighten bolts so it stays there.
Huh? Height gain is real and exist for all frequencies. The only time excess height will work against you is when your feed line losses outweigh you height gain. You'll have to go very high for this to happen on TV frequencies. There is no sweet spot unless you are somehow physically obstructed.
Around here, I'd need about 3 different antennas, or a rotator. Several of the neighbors have those 'flying saucer' omni antennas, with built-in amps, but I'm not sure how well they work, and I'd have to rewire the coax a tad (move the splitters inside) so as to not put any DC into the satt receiver, which they do not like. I suppose I should try to catch one of said neighbors out working in their yard, and ask what stations they get. The web sites say I'm too far away from the xmitters for an omni, but they always are conservative in their estimates. To put up a real fringe antenna with a rotator, I'd either have to kill a tree, or move the pole to other end of house.
Hmm, From the days when I was active in telecommunications engineering, I was trying to capture long distance TV relay signal, guess what? I could only get a decent stable signal at certain height on the tower. Lower or higher the signal disappeared. Had numerous instances like this on VHF, UHF, troposcatter, microwave repeater installations. Retired in '96 after spending my whole life in the field and been a ham since my boyhood as well. Class of '60, EE. VE6CGX
not necessarily true. radio waves (tv waves) are like waves on a pond, in places they add to make larger waves......... in other places they cancel one another.
I tried that once. I put up an antenna and took the tv up on the roof to see where I got the best reception. For a moment I lost my footing, and my $3800 sixty inch plasma tv went crashing to the ground, never to work again. I tried to grab it as it slid down the shingles, and I too went off the edge of the roof, falling some 30 feet to the concrete pavement below. Besides losing my $3800 tv, I spent 9 weeks in the hospital, which cost me over $220,000 in medical bills, and I have been in a wheelchair ever since, watching a $29 portable black and white Walmart closeout tv set, in the basement of a rented apartment, paid for by uncle Sam, because I had to sell my home to pay the medical bills.
Real method? Hardly. Get an antenna rotator, a small motor that mounts on the mast. The control is near the TV so you can move the antenna from inside.
It's called a Yagi antenna, very common in ham radio. The narrow end points toward the TV station's antenna; the wide end is the "back" of the antenna, the reflector.
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