hd roof top installation

I'm considering ditching cable TV and going streaming and broadcast. I assume I can run the antenna feed to the same place where the cable connects into the attic. This will be good enough for all the outlets throughout the house, correct? My current cable connection requires a powered amplifier though.

My biggest hesitation deals with the fact that I have some big maple trees in my back yard that I believe would be in the direct path of the direction I must aim the antenna. Is there a way to determine if this is a problem before going through the entire installation process?

Reply to
badgolferman
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Old coax was often designed for lower frequencies only, so losses increase at the higher UHF frequencies. However, a good amplifier can permit you to use the old cable outlets in various rooms. By "good", I mean an amplifier that is not easily overloaded by nearby high power transmitters, not an amp that is advertised as having the highest gain. Regarding your second question, try setting the antenna on a ladder before going to all the trouble of securely mounting it. Depending on your situation, that could be easy or hard. Unfortuneately, I can't think of any way to test it before buying the antenna.

Another thing to keep in mind is what frequency range you need. Older antennas from the 50's & 60's were optimized for VHF which means they were very large. Since many (but not all) of the stations are now on UHF, you might get away with a very small UHF only antenna. It all depends on what channels you want to watch and what channels are in use in your area.

Regarding trees, they do affect reception, but not nearly as much as they do with satellite dishes. If you have strong signals in your area, you might get good reception in spite of the trees.

Good luck!

Reply to
Pat

Get a TV and an antenna, hook them up and see what your reception is like.

It would help to know how many broadcast towers are in your area.

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Reply to
terrable

Why not try it out in the attic first? The reception is not likely to be that much better on the roof. I used to have about 100 feet of coax going to the cheapest Radio Shack antenna on the roof and it worked great. I'm now near transmission towers and get something like 45 stations (about 20 of which I want) with a cheap antenna on the floor next to the TV. (1st floor) I have a brother in NH who used to have a gigantic antenna with a motor and got

3 stations in good weather. It all depends so much on distance and on obstacles.
Reply to
Mayayana

Many modern TVs and digital tuners come with indicators that show the signal strength of each station tuned. I'd first see if any TV/tuner devices I had incorporated such a "meter" and take one up to the attic and use rabbit ears to see what kind of signal strength I got.

I just bought a $40 amplified antenna with rotor from Amazon that I am very happy with. Mounted to the attic ceiling I pull in over 45 stations now. I also have some big tree around the house but they don't seem to interfere with the signal, although I won't be chopping them down to prove that contention! (-:

One big problem with the $40 rotor unit is that there's no way to tell which way the antenna is pointed. The remote supplied with the unit rotates left and right, and I am assuming if I go to one "lock" position and time how long I press the rotate button, I can generally figure out where it's pointing. We'll see. It's an enormous leap over the little paddle antenna and/or rabbit ears I was using before.

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Reply to
Robert Green

It obvious some locations require different directions for different stations. I dont see a problem with current amplifier, but does your selected antenna have a preamplifier, and likely will work anyway with cable line amp. Cable should be higher frequency range than tv, and usually has a block for uplink frequencies.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

There are nine towers in my area. Their distances average 23 miles away with the directions all similar -- 195-202 degrees.

Reply to
badgolferman

Hi, That is not even great distance. Also same with difference in degrees in direction. If attic is easy to access try attic space for mid size antenna first. If you want to install amp. install it at the antenna boom(or top of the mast).

Reply to
Tony Hwang

inside a attic comes with some issues. poor performance rainey days, even worse if snow accumulates on roof, any sort of metal roof makes antenna a failure...

and in all cases it wouldnt be as good as outdoors, and the higher elevation outdoors will likely help get better signal

Reply to
bob haller

Is it nine towers or nine transmitters?

Philadelphia has one tower cluster with 11 transmitters.

New York has one tower with 8 transmitters.

Reply to
terrable

Pittsburgh has at least three antenna locations. Some people have to rotate

180 degrees. Then there are outlining towns 50-75 miles away. I get about 50 stations with indoor rabbit ears in living room. I'm about 100-200 feet lower than some distant hills, which is much better than bein down in one of our rolling hillsides. I was going to try a better outside antenna. Perhaps one day.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

Well I said 50, but I'm getting 28 stations. Some of the distant stations use VHF high band, more than I thought. I would need better antenna for some distant stations. Half the stations I have no idea source. Channel numbers show up example 11.1 .

Greg

Reply to
gregz

I live near pittsburgh too. The problem with OTA channels? You could get a 100 but most are just duplicates:(

I have a big antenna, and a rotor. But decided to leave the antenna pointed south, since while I can get channels from wheeling, youngstown and others those channels are nearly all the same content....

Reply to
bob haller

We recently ditched DirecTV and hardly miss it.

Check tvfool.com and antennaweb.org. Both will tell you the distance and bearing of the transmitters from your area -- or even from your address

-- and suggest the kind of antenna you need.

An amplified system may overload on strong signals from nearby transmitters.

The transmitters for the stations in which I am interested range between

30+ miles at 12 degrees and 30+ miles at 125 degrees, with closer towers in intermediate directions, so the only practical solution is to combine the signals from two antenna pointing in different directions. Using a rotator with a single antenna would require resetting the direction all the time and could well prevent watching one program while recording another.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

+1

Following has guidance on antenna sizing based on your location:

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Reply to
trader_4

Putting an antenna on the roof also comes with some issues. At only 23 miles from the Xmitter, I'd sure try the attic first. It's easy to just prop one up there.

Reply to
trader_4

Antenna siting is a science and a black art. I've read of reports where an antenna did better 4 feet off the ground than on top of a 2 story home. It is all particular to your unique situation.

Best to look at it as a receiving system, the combination of antenna, rotor, preamp (if needed) coax, splitters, TV, DVR, antenna mounting hardware, and whatever else is hooked up to the system.

I would first drive around your area and see what the older homes in the area used for antennas. Were they small? huge? rotors?

Then consider checking out the following websites:

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Good luck, Steve

Reply to
Steve Stone

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