Video Asylum

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on February 22, 2009 at 11:02:46

In Reply to: RE: Outside antenna not pulling in stations that have gone digital posted by Road Warrior on February 22, 2009 at 08:43:29

Most OTA HDTV is broadcast on UHF so a new larger UHF antenna might do the trick. I would replace the feedline too as they degrade over time being in the weather. Use quality RG6.

What is the length of the feedline from the antenna to the TV? If it's not too long, I would try it first w/o a preamp ("booster"). Oh, and these are not rated in Watts but by dB gain and noise figure. A good one can be costly, and best mounted on the mast near the antenna. Which means power for the unit is "injected" through the coax through a special adapter that comes with the preamp. Sometimes the cheap ones do more harm than good. Try only the coax first and cut it to the needed length plus a couple extra feet or so, but don't coil up a huge excess. Short is better.

Some UHF antenna brands to consider might include Winegard, Channel Master, Antenna Craft, etc. I have a cheapie outdoor UHF antenna from Radio Shack but my broadcasters are only 20 miles away at most.


These are all directional Yagi style antennas. Longer with more elements makes them more directional with more forward gain which also means you need to be more precise in pointing them in the right direction.

Here's my smaller cheapie from RS: