Antenna Selection Question

[balt03]

Hello,

I currently live in Baltimore and am about 5 to 8 miles from the local broadcast stations in my city. I also live about 35 miles from the majority of the broadcast stations coming out of Washington D.C. Is there an antenna set up that I could use in order to pick up both sets of stations?

Both Baltimore and DC have a mix of UHF and VHF stations (Baltimore, Channels 2 - 54, DC Channels, 4 to 66. If the mileage difference wasn't enough of a hassle, the Baltimore stations have headings mostly at 338 degrees, while the DC stations have headings all towards the southeast at approximately 240 degrees.

I was looking at the MS-2000 which would allow me to pick up signals from both directions, but I know that I should avoid amplifying a signal for stations under 10 miles. I will also be running the line from the antenna to my TV about 70 feet from the antenna to the TV. Would the MS-2000 make an acceptable choice for this situation (mounted on a 3rd story deck rail with no immediate obstructions, and relatively clear LOS) in order to maximize the number of stations I can pick up? Are there other suggestions?

[winegard]

You are correct in that the Winegard MS-2000 or MS-2002 antenna is not a good choice for you. The built in amplifier in MS-2000/2002 antenna will over amplify the Baltimore stations and make them too strong for your TV set tuner to handle. It is also possible to have too strong of a total input signal from the Baltimore channels for the built in antenna amplifier to handle and it will distort your signal and you will not receive any channels at all. I suggest if you wish to pursue an omni directional antenna that you start with the Winegard MS-1000 non amplified antenna and use a separate Winegard HDP-269 high input preamplifier. The HDP-269 preamplifier has a higher total maximum input level than the built in amplifier in the MS-2000/2002 antenna. Also the HDP-269 has 12dB of gain so it will not send as strong of a signal to your TV and hopefully we will not overload the TV set.



You reception may be marginal at 35 miles to the Washington DC stations with the antenna on a 3rd story deck rail since good antenna reception is based on the TV antenna being installed at least 30 feet high. If possible mount the antenna on a 10-15 foot mast to get it higher and attach the mast to your deck railing.