Getting rid of cable, going ot an antenna
dia...@gmail.com
If this is the wrong place please point me in the correct direction.
We live in Lockport, NY. I've been to antennaweb.org, Winegard's
website and ChannelMaster's website. Still confused.
I think Winegard do not have rotors and ChannelMasters do.
From ChannelMaster and Wiedgard, I get the following:
I want to receive local channels, the compass heading is 130 degrees
to 270 degrees. Canadian stations are a direct line of sight at about
305 degrees.
I want to receive them after Feb 09.
Do I need a rotary antenna?
ChannelMaster refers to a "large directional" . . does that mean
rotary antenna?
We have a clear line of sight to Toronto (about 60 miles away). All
the American stations are over a hill about 1/2 mile away and after
that it's clear. The hill is about 30 feet higher than an antenna I
put on top of the house. They are generally 16 to about 40 miles
away. I don't need Rochester, NY stations.
Any suggestions? I've called Wineard and ChannelMaster and have yet
to hear from them.
Below is what came off ChannelMasters website and Winegard's.
Sorry if I'm asking too much but everyone has a different opinion at
RadioShack and I think they are confused.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City, State Live
Date Compass
Heading Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow
uhf
WNED-DT 43.1 PBS BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 43
yellow
uhf
WNED 17 PBS BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 17
* yellow
uhf
WNLO-DT 23.1 CW BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 32
yellow
uhf
WNLO 23 CW BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 23
* yellow
uhf
WUTV-DT 29.1 FOX BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 14
yellow
uhf
WUTV 29 FOX BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 29
* blue
uhf
WIVB-DT 4.1 CBS BUFFALO, NY 188° 34.7 39
blue
vhf
WIVB 4 CBS BUFFALO, NY 188° 34.7 4
blue
vhf
WGRZ 2 NBC BUFFALO, NY 182° 30.9 2
blue
uhf
WPXJ 51 ION BATAVIA, NY 130° 37.3 51
blue
uhf
WBNF-CA 15 IND JAMESTOWN, NY 247° 16.6 15
blue
uhf
WNYO 49 MNT BUFFALO, NY 170° 28.0 49
* blue
uhf
WNYO-DT 49.1 MNT BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 34
violet
vhf
WHEC 10 NBC ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 10
violet
vhf
WHAM 13 ABC ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 13
violet
uhf
WUHF 31 FOX ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 31
violet
vhf
WROC 8 CBS ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 8
violet
uhf
WXXI 21 PBS ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 21
violet
vhf
WKBW 7 ABC BUFFALO, NY 188° 36.2 7
Note:
The above listing is a conservative prediction of stations received.
Depending on the specifics of your installation, you may be able to
receive stations that do not appear in this list.
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City, State Live
Date Compass
Heading Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
yellow
uhf
WNED 17 PBS BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 17
yellow
uhf
WNLO 23 CW BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 23
yellow
uhf
WUTV 29 FOX BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 29
blue
vhf
WIVB 4 CBS BUFFALO, NY 188° 34.7 4
blue
vhf
WGRZ 2 NBC BUFFALO, NY 182° 30.9 2
blue
uhf
WPXJ 51 ION BATAVIA, NY 130° 37.3 51
blue
uhf
WBNF-CA 15 IND JAMESTOWN, NY 247° 16.6 15
blue
uhf
WNYO 49 MNT BUFFALO, NY 170° 28.0 49
violet
vhf
WHEC 10 NBC ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 10
violet
vhf
WHAM 13 ABC ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 13
violet
uhf
WUHF 31 FOX ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 31
violet
vhf
WROC 8 CBS ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 8
violet
uhf
WXXI 21 PBS ROCHESTER, NY 102° 54.1 21
violet
vhf
WKBW 7 ABC BUFFALO, NY 188° 36.2 7
Note:
The above listing is a conservative prediction of stations received.
Depending on the specifics of your installation, you may be able to
receive stations that do not appear in this list.
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City, State Live
Date Compass
Heading Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow
uhf
WNED-DT 43.1 PBS BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 43
* yellow
uhf
WNLO-DT 23.1 CW BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.1 32
* yellow
uhf
WUTV-DT 29.1 FOX BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 14
* blue
uhf
WIVB-DT 4.1 CBS BUFFALO, NY 188° 34.7 39
* blue
uhf
WNYO-DT 49.1 MNT BUFFALO, NY 247° 16.6 34
winegard
WNED-TV - Channel 17
PBS
16.1 miles SW
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 67.4 dBu
Required antenna gain: -16.9 dB
Digital channel: 43
Analog channel: 17
WNLO - Channel 23
CW
16.1 miles SW
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 75 dBu
Required antenna gain: -24.5 dB
Digital channel: 32
Analog channel: 23
WUTV - Channel 29
FOX
16.6 miles SW
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 60.6 dBu
Required antenna gain: -10.1 dB
Digital channel: 14
Analog channel: 29
WNYO-TV - Channel 49
MNT
16.6 miles SW
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 51.2 dBu
Required antenna gain: -0.7 dB
Digital channel: 34
Analog channel: 49
↑ You can receive all of the above stations with the following
antenna: SS-1000.
WGRZ-TV - Channel 2
NBC
30.9 miles S
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 61.6 dBu
Required antenna gain: -11.1 dB
Digital channel: 33
Analog channel: 2
WIVB-TV - Channel 4
CBS
34.7 miles S
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 65.2 dBu
Required antenna gain: -14.7 dB
Digital channel: 39
Analog channel: 4
WKBW-TV - Channel 7
ABC
36.2 miles S
Buffalo, NY
Signal strength: 58.9 dBu
Required antenna gain: -8.4 dB
Digital channel: 38
Analog channel: 7
WNGS - Channel 67
RTN
36.2 miles S
Springville, NY
Signal strength: 62.3 dBu
Required antenna gain: -11.8 dB
Digital channel: 46
Analog channel: 67
WPXJ-TV - Channel 51
i
37.3 miles ESE
Batavia, NY
Signal strength: 44.1 dBu
Required antenna gain: 6.4 dB
Digital channel: 53
Analog channel: 51
↑ You can receive all of the above stations with the following
antenna: GS-2200.
WNYB - Channel 26
TBN
60.4 miles SSW
Jamestown, NY
Signal strength: 34.4 dBu
Required antenna gain: 16.1 dB
Digital channel: 27
Analog channel: 26
↑ You can receive all of the above stations with the following
antenna: HD7084P.
HDTV reception at these distances can be affected by surrounding
terrain, foliage, or buildings. It is also important to point the
antenna directly toward the transmitter. You may have trouble
receiving two stations from widely different directions.
Alan F
> Hello,
> If this is the wrong place please point me in the correct direction.
> We live in Lockport, NY. I've been to antennaweb.org, Winegard's
> website and ChannelMaster's website. Still confused.
> I think Winegard do not have rotors and ChannelMasters do.
>
> From ChannelMaster and Wiedgard, I get the following:
> I want to receive local channels, the compass heading is 130 degrees
> to 270 degrees. Canadian stations are a direct line of sight at about
> 305 degrees.
>
> I want to receive them after Feb 09.
>
> Do I need a rotary antenna?
> ChannelMaster refers to a "large directional" . . does that mean
> rotary antenna?
>
> We have a clear line of sight to Toronto (about 60 miles away). All
> the American stations are over a hill about 1/2 mile away and after
> that it's clear. The hill is about 30 feet higher than an antenna I
> put on top of the house. They are generally 16 to about 40 miles
> away. I don't need Rochester, NY stations.
>
> Any suggestions? I've called Wineard and ChannelMaster and have yet
> to hear from them.
What is your zip code? It is a lot easier to look up the local stations
with a zip code. You are not going to get much help from Channel master
or Winegard. They are in the business of selling antennas, not
installation nor helping people figure exactly what is best for their
exact location. Even with the results from antennaweb.org or
www.tvfool.com, there will be some uncertainty in which longer range
stations you might get because of local terrain issues or a building
blocking the line of sight.
A large directional antenna is a directional antenna with a narrow
reception pattern optimized for long range reception. if you have
stations in different directions or don't have easy access to the
antenna so you can tweak the aim from time to time, a rotator which is a
slow turning motor is a good idea.
Useful web sites for antenna and OTA reception info:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=25 - check the OTA
Digital Television Reception FAQ sticky for starters.
Post your zip code and I'll try to help with the digital stations and
look up what channels they will be on after February 17.
Alan F
bay...@gmail.com
(PeteCresswell)
>I think Winegard do not have rotors and ChannelMasters do.
I'm no expert, but I've just finished going over to a rooftop
antenna. (but from rabbit ears, not cable...)
Having said that...
Rotors seem to me tb a separate add-on. You guy the antenna,
you buy a mast, you buy mounting hardware, you buy cable.... and
optionally you buy a rotor. All unrelated.
I bought a rotor as a fallback position in case the guy who came
to install the antenna wasn't sufficiently skilled.
Turned out the guy they sent was very good. His recommendation
was to skip the rotor unless I wanted to receive some station
that didn't broadcast from the antenna farm that most of our area
stations broadcast from.
I've still got the rotor in the garage.
Antenna's up, and reception so far is very good (about 23 miles
west of Philadelphia PA.) "So far, bc I haven't finished
pulling all the cable and each extra run and each extra foot of
cable diminishes reception.
--
PeteCresswell
dia...@gmail.com
Thank you for your help, looking forward to your recommendations.
Thanks again,
Dermott
Alan F
Complicated, you have stations in all directions. Your location is a
case where the Signal Analysis Tool results at www.tvfool.com are much
more useful and complete than www.antennaweb.org. Antennaweb is not
showing any of the Canadian stations for one.
What makes your antenna selection easier is that all of the Buffalo
stations, except one, and all of the Canadian stations that show up in
the tvfool list are on UHF and will stay on UHF after next February 17.
The exception is a independent station, WNGS-DT 67 which will start up a
digital broadcast on VHF 7 next February. The projected estimated signal
strengths at tvfool.com for your zip code are quite good, even for the
Canadian stations at around 48 miles to the NW.
What you need is a multidirectional UHF antenna setup so you can get
as many stations as you can at 1 time. I would recommend a Channel
Master 4221 4 bay bowtie, ideally out on the roof if possible. See
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html. There is a new version
coming out from Channel Master, the CM4221HD, which may or may not be an
improvement. I get UHF stations out to 48 miles with a CM 4221 in my
attic with a CM 7777 pre-amp for example.
If getting WNGS-DT next year is important to you and I would not
expect the CM 4221 to pick it up at 37 miles, you could add a VHF dipole
or medium range VHF antenna on the mast with a VHF/UHF combiner to get
WNGS-DT on VHF 7 next year (once it starts up, WGNS has no digital
broadcast at the present time).
You will need to experiment with the aim of the CM4221 - or any
antenna you put up with stations in widely different directions. If you
put the antenna out on the roof, I would recommend you add a rotator.
This has nothing to do with a "rotary" antenna, but is remotely
controlled motor at the base of the mast. The Channel Master rotator
with remote & cable is around $60 & up from on-line vendors (such as
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MTRTR200-100).
Solidsignal and warrenelectronics are reputable on-line dealers. By
aiming the antenna at the more distant Canadian stations, you might be
able to get the Buffalo stations from the backside at the same time.
If you have a long cable run, you might need to add a pre-amp, but I
would hold off on that until you see what stations you can get without
one. The issue with pre-amps is there are close-by stations, the more
powerful pre-amps can overload the front end of the tuner. You have
station at 15 miles, so a Channel master 7777 should be ok, but I can't
guarantee that. But again hold off on a pre-amp - you can always add it
later.
The CM 4221 is not your only option. The CM 4228 8 bay is an option,
but it is more directional. Or the new lines of upper VHF and UHF
antennas from Winegard and Channel Master, but those are also more
directional. Also, use good quality RG-6 shielded co-axial cable, not
RG-59. Lowes & Home Depot are less expensive places to buy RG-6 than the
electronic stores.
Go to tvfool.com, select the Signal Analysis Tool, enter your exact
location & expected antenna height, and print out the list for digital
stations. Use that as your guide to what directions the stations are in.
Can't guarantee that you will get all the stations in the upper half of
the list down to -80 dBM or so, but the odds are good.
if you need help with the Buffalo stations or local reception issues,
check the long running Buffalo local thread at avsforum at
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=137214.
Good luck,
Alan F