Video Asylum

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on November 29, 2005 at 15:48:09

In Reply to: Recommendations for HDTV antennas............. posted by photoguy on November 17, 2005 at 11:22:19:

There are many factors that will determine how much antenna you need to clearly receive HD stations in your area. Distance alone isn't the only factor. A few questions to consider...

1) Will your antenna have a clear line-of-site view of the transmitting towers? Aside from the fact that you plan to install it in your attic, are there other obstructions in the signal path like tall buildings, dense trees, hills, etc?

2) Are the HDTV transmitting stations in your area running full power or are they temporary low-power installations like we have in the Denver area? Our transmitters (for now) are low-power with towers on high rise buildings in downtown Denver. They will eventually move to a mountain top location and run full power. And when they do, a wet noodle will suffice for the receiving antenna. ;-)

3) Are all the HDTV stations in your area transmitting from the same general direction relative to your home? If so, then you won't need a rotor to turn your antenna - just point it in the right direction and leave it.

I'm located about 20-miles from our low-power transmitters with only a few minor obstructions in the signal path. When I was first experimenting with the antenna, I had a partially assembled RadioShack UHF yagi sitting on my kitchen table. I was able to pickup 3 HDTV stations with it. Once I fully assembled the $20 antenna and put it outside on a modest 10-ft pole, I was able to receive all available HDTV stations in my area.

I bought everything on the cheap at RadioShack including the UHF antenna, 10-ft pole, mast mount hardware, quad-shield RG6U coax. Depending on your situation, you may not need THE BEST - and since you'll be installing the antenna in the attic it won't be affected by weather.

Keep your coax cable run as short as possible too... don't coil up a bunch of excess cable. At UHF frequencies you'll lose several dB of signal just in the cable (usually spec'd as dB loss per 100-ft).