What antenna for Atlanta suburbs?

[gearhead2786]

I live in the outskirts of Atlanta, I've tried a few different antennas and cant find one that will receive UHF signals. Here are the antennas I have, Antennas Direct 42XG, for UHF. and RCA ANT751R for VHF. The RCA I have mounted in the attic and receives the VHF stations very well, but no UHF. I bought a second antenna the 42GX, a UHF only antenna (so it said), mounted in the attic. I used a signal combiner (CHANNEL PLUS 2512 DC + IR Passing 2-Way Splitter/Combiner) to get one lead going in from the attic. Still only receive VHF signals in the attic. I tried moving the UHF antenna to the roof top, I thought for sure I would receive something, I live on a large hill and I can see for miles from my roof top. The only extra channels I received were from Alabama (VHF by the way), the opposite direction my antenna was pointed, even with just the UHF antenna hooked up. I've decided to not mess around any more and get a real antenna, a Winegard. I would like to have one antenna that does it all, and would love to keep it in the attic, but from what I've read its hard due to the poor reception in the attic. I plan to hook 3 tvs to the antenna, one digital HDTV and two other older tvs that i will use converter boxes for (if you have suggestions for a converter box that would be great). I've read good things about the GS-2200, but is it right for me?

Here is my TVfool report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 58414aa270

Please let me know what to do.
Thank you, Evan.

[gearhead2786]

Well i purchaced the Wineguard GS-2200, no luck. I get the same results as before, only VHF signals. I only tried GS-2200 on the roof. I'm starting to get irritated, please help.

[willa0911]

1. Being that you are 30+ miles from the towers and all of your channels are 1Edge or 2Edge, that is, you do not have any LOS, I think you are going to need a more powerful antenna than GS-2200. And, for whatever it's worth, more powerful than ones typically rated for 30-40 miles.
   
   
2. Being that all your stations are hi-band VHF and UHF, you can buy an antenna that only provides RF Channels 7-69. This is good because powerful antennas for lo-band VHF are notoriously large.
   
   
3. If you must have a Winegard, I would go with: Winegard HD7694P But, if I were you, I would probably buy AntennaCraft HBU33 and put it on the roof.
   
   
4. Make sure to use a good pre-amp since you are splitting signal to three TV.
   
   

[gearhead2786]

Well, according to my tvfool report all the channels i want are just under 30 miles away. The GS-2200 is rated at 35 miles. Also on my roof i pick up station WCIQ in Alabama, 66 miles away in the other direction. I was hesitant to purchase a massive antenna and over shoot the stations I want to receive.

How can I tell what type of amplifier and how strong I need for my TV's?

I don't have to use a Winegard antenna, I've just heard good things about them.

[willa0911]

1. Well, if your TV Fool report looked like this, then you could likely go with a 40 mile antenna and be ok since the path is LOS. When the path to a lot of your towers is 2Edge diffraction, you're going to want more antenna gain and/or more height, probably both.
   
   I wouldn't expect a smaller antenna to work.
   
   I think you should get one of these 3 and put it on the roof! [you could go bigger than these if you wanted to]
   
   1. Winegard HD7694P channel 7-69
   2. AntennaCraft HBU33 channel 7-69
   3. Winegard 9032 UHF only Channel 14-69
2. Before you do anything, though, get a pre-amp! You may not need another antenna just yet! The Channel Master 7777 or the Winegard AP series would probably work for you.
   
   The very best pre-amps are made by Research Communications http://www.researchcomms.com/ They aren’t cheap and they come from England.
   
   
   
3. For whatever it's worth, WCIQ is VHF [which travels farther and diffracts less... bigger wavelength] and it's broadcast from the top of Cheaha Mt., which is the highest point in Alabama [2402 ft in the Appalachian foothills and the tower is another 570m on top of that mountain.]
   
   1. WCIQ is 1Edge diffraction for you… most of the channels you're hoping to receive are 2Edge diffraction.
      
   2. Picking up a VHF channel that has an easier path to your location than the UHF channels you do want to receive isn't exactly relevant.

[gearhead2786]

I see...

Which pre amplifier should I get? The Winegards are cheaper, I've been looking at the ANWI8700, it has the best reviews on Amazon.

I'm afraid of using the amp and destroying my TV, the amp that came with the GS-2200 shot 18VDC into my TV. Is there a tool or a way with a voltmeter to make sure that this is safe for my TV before if connect it?

Also, I planned to mount it on the side of my chimney. this is the new style chimney, a plywood shaft covered with siding running the height of my house with a double walled galvanised steel pipe in it. Is this a good location or is the steel pipe going to interfere with my reception?

[willa0911]

1. Re: amplifier. It depends on your total cable length, what type of cable you are using and how many times you are splitting the signal. The rule of thumb is that the preamplifier should have a gain equal to the loss in the cable (for your highest channel) plus another 10 dB. You can exceed this by 10db and still be ok.
   
   If you use a 3-to-1 splitter, you will probably lose about 6db. Plus, you'll need to add another 1db for approx. 20 ft of RG6 coax at channel 50 [I used channel 50 because it is your highest channel].
   
   So, with a 3-to-1 splitter and 80 feet of total cable, in your case you would want the gain on your pre-amp to be at least roughly 20db. [10db + 6db for the receiver + 4db for the 80 feet of cable]. So, you could get a pre-amp with a gain as high as 30db.
   
   Noise margin for your channels is anywhere from 3 to 36. So, you have some wiggle room depending upon any natural obstructions that TV Fool doesn't account for, trees, power lines, weather, any new manmade construction, etc.
   
   
   
2. Re: whether steel pipe will affect signal... probably not as long as long as its perfectly vertical and the antenna is in front of the pipe and pointed toward the skyline. The easiest way to check, however, is trial and error. Simply, wire the antenna to your tv and then move it around all over the roof in different positions having a buddy [or your wife] check the corresponding signal strength on your tv as you do this.
   
   
   
3. As far as I know, preamps do not inject voltage into your tv.

[gearhead2786]

Driving to work this morning I was thinking, do I need an amp that does VHF and UHF? I receive all the VHF channels in my area with no problem, should i just get a UHF amp? I don't want to exceed that 10dB going to my TV. My logic behind this is, I need to achieve the enough gain on both frequencies to have about the same signal strength going in to my house, I'll determine later how much I need to amplify that signal to distribute to all my TV's

[willa0911]

Being that you're in the fringe area and that you plan to split the signal three times and run over 100 feet of cable, you don't have to worry about having too strong of a pre-amp. Also, pre-amps will not hurt your TV. The worst case is that you would get signal overload from having too strong of a signal. That isn't an issue in your case. Pre-amps help your signal:noise ratio.... they don't inject power into your television.

If you want to get a cheap pre-amp, then I suggest you use RG-11 cable for any long runs so that you have less loss carrying the signal, and use good quality splitters.

You can't afford to make mistakes and give away any of your precious antenna gain with a poorly wired system.

[willa0911]

Being that you're in the fringe area and that you plan to split the signal three times and run over 100 feet of cable, you don't have to worry about having too strong of a pre-amp. Also, pre-amps will not hurt your TV. The worst case is that you would get signal overload from having too strong of a signal. That isn't an issue in your case. Pre-amps help your signal:noise ratio.... they don't inject power into your television.

If you want to get a cheap pre-amp, then I suggest you use RG-11 cable for any long runs so that you have less loss carrying the signal, and use good quality splitters.

Because of your location, you can't afford to make mistakes and give away any of your precious antenna gain with a poorly wired system.