(Part 3) Top products from r/ota

I am lucky to have comcast for broadband and I know that.. they are the only solution here except Dialup 56k or maybe if I got a Hotspot from Verizon or something .. but that would be expensive... my neighbor had hughesnet for a while and then they changed to Comcast. I think they were shopping for a deal from comcast but they got the dish taken down so they have submitted like everyone else around here

This is the antenna i have.. I have 2 of them

https://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT3036WZ-Outdoor-Element-113/dp/B0027VST0I/

It is a popular model and you can see it is selling for $75 .. however I was lucky to buy my antennas for $35 each with free shipping .. AmazonWarehouse had returns and they were in perfect condition as far as I could tell.

It took me about 3 months to find the first one.. then it took me another 6 months or longer to find the second one.

I just kept watching until it went on sale
there are a few used ones now but they are not from Amazon Warehouse so I would not buy them.

$35 each was a pretty extreme find and it was only because i took forever to find that price but normally they are less than $75..

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0027VST0I

My amplifiers were also cheap .. about $35-40


I hope you have good luck with your antenna

I most definitely believe they got my money and ran with the Jeje model. It was simply too good to be true to have both a "high gain" antenna PLUS be able to be remotely controlled .. ALL for just $28 bucks. I figured I was willing to try all types so why not try that one and see. I've actually had it installed at my house for 18 months now.. More because I got a little down with failure there for awhile and stopped throwing away money into the hobby but I feel rejuvenated again to try.

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I have used an Antenna's Direct before but it was when I was just trying to pick up the locals from Quincy. It was this model.. 4 Element Bowtie Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna - 60 Mile Range. There was honestly nothing wrong with it other than the fact that I was starting to get interested in attempting to gain the Tropo channels and I started buying other antennas. This antenna is actually still installed and working fine at my fathers house now 6 years later.

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By ganging them in parallel, do you mean having 4 or more of these on the same mounting structure and pointing them in different directions? Or if its something else, do you care to explain and describe the benefits?

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I appreciate your comments. I really do not mind throwing a little cash at something IF it would actually work. Of course, my fear is not wasting 25-30 bucks.. But wasting 70-100 bucks on something and it not working. Surprisingly I have never seen this particular antenna.. But it intrigues me. Definitely looks like a monster.

Compared to me, you have a lot of stations with a pretty strong signal. It might be worth trying out a simple flat indoor antenna that is easy to put up discreetly indoors. Channel 2 WESH is a VHF high station so you may have trouble getting that without a VHF antenna.

If that does not pull in enough stations, You could try what I use on one of my TVs that I have had great luck with. I use a DB2e with a VHF retrofit kit Mounted on a Paper towel holder that is placed on a shelf above my TV. Those antenna's would also work as outdoor antennas someday if you ever move somewhere else. Also, I know the paper towel holder thing sounds crazy, but it looks pretty good and has worked great for me for years.

If you just want one for basic antenna orientation and giving you a general signal strength, (not channel specific), you can get the $39.99 one from Antennas Direct. Combined with your TV Fool report preinted out, (or brought up on a laptop, whatever), you can get a pretty good idea of what channels are stronger than the others. (usually good enough).

If you want specific dBm readings, and channel selection, you're going to be paying some decent money, but you'll have a top notch tool. If you want to go this route, I reccomend the DigiairPro ATSC tuner for $359. Unless you're going to be installing antennas regularly or servicing them, it's probably not a nessecary purchase.

ABC is a VHF-low channel so a small antenna isn't likely to work all that well. The easiest thing to try would be good old rabbit ears (you might want to get the type that can adjust all the way flat). The other thing to try would be a separate FM antenna and depend on the fact that real ch 6 is right next to the FM band. Something like this:

• https://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-FM-Dipole-Antenna/dp/B000M9EREE/
  
  ... and one of these ...
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/RCA-VH58-Matching-Transformer/dp/B00005T3EZ/

There is no way that antenna has an 80-mile range. It looks very similar to the Winegard HD7000R rated at 30 miles. Which is more realistic. I would try pointing it South-West or East if possible and compare the two. Receiving WPVI/ABC from the East will require a VHF-Lo antenna which the long element at the rear provides.

I would say it's worth a shot if it's easy to return, but you'll probably also need a preamp so include that in your costs. Preamps: Winegard LNA-200, RCATVPRAMP1R, or Channel Master Titan2 CM7777.

If you have reception issues from the South-West direction (which I suspect you will) then consider an Antennas Direct Element or Winegard HD7694P/HD7698P (best). If you decide to point an antenna East then you'll need a larger VHF-Lo capable antenna like the Channel Master Advantage 60 or 100.

FYI, to keep the cost down, I ordered one of these to hold the antenna in place. Will try it with his antenna next weekend. It'll be hilariously stupid, but if it works, great!

Thanks for the detailed reply. I indeed have a RCA rabbit ears + loop antenna with gain control. Placed in a north facing window. I'll try changing the directions though.

Btw, how much does the metal windows frames (around the glass), and metal blinds affect the signal quality?

Edit: This is the model I have.

> Those are for urban areas with strong signals.

Yea I just moved out here from the Denver area and got around 40 channels with that antenna, I feel like I got my money out of it so no big loss there.

My dad said he tried this one out and it didn't work so he returned it, to me it looked like a pile of plastic.

We would prefer to have an outdoor antenna if possible. Should I be looking at getting a separate amplifier or are antennas with the amp bundled okay? I'm not even sure where to start looking other than here.

As others point out you need a balun:

https://www.amazon.com/300-Ohm-UHF-Matching-Transformer/dp/B0002ZPIOG

You connect at the antenna.

Next, 300 ohm twin lead has a benefit, that it can go quite a long distance with lower loss, but in 2017, using it for distribution or even down the tower is pretty much not done. Most of the equipment today, splitters, amps, filters, etc. are all geared to coax with the F connector.

Today its is mostly RG-6 cable, even the DBS guys are using it even with the use of LNB which are in the 900-2100MHz range.

A lot of this depends on your setup, ie:

How high is the antenna mounted?

Number of TV's? Number of splitters? Any preamps? Being as you have the old twin lead, while possible, very few new preamps take 300ohm twin lead. In the past many only came that way, on the input and the output was an F coax connection.

How is this connected to TV's??? At some point it has to turn to coax, as no modern TV has had 300 ohm twin lead inputs since the late 90's. The last one I had was a little Panasonic which had both, and a switch to change between the two.

But to start off with a quick answer.. Balun and then get some RG-6 cable.

Circling back around to this. Work work work.... Anyway. I'm looking at the following:

Channel Master CM-3020 Long Range VHF, UHF, FM and HDTV Antenna

CMSTCM7777 - CHANNEL MASTER CM-7777 Titan 2 Preamp (High Gain)

Channel Master CM3414 4-Port Distribution Amplifier for Cable and Antenna Signal

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Should i get the below LTE Filter? Any other thoughts or suggestions?

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Channel Master LTE Filter Improves TV Antenna Signals

Thank you. I think that I will probably go with the Channel Master from Amazon here and see if it makes much of a difference.

thanks, in the comments is another bracket 7.5" hole to hole;
https://www.amazon.com//dp/B001RCMEEA
what they have in common is that 3" offset clearance,
so i guess that's what i need to look for in a typical W bracket.

https://smile.amazon.com/F-Connector-Installation-Removal-Tool/dp/B000G7ZGNI?sa-no-redirect=1

https://smile.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-VDV312-012-SEN-Cushion-Grip-F-Connector/dp/B002MSJMWK/ref=pd_sim_469_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NF1RKQ8N4CG31CGMG73E

Be careful not to over tighten.

Can this attenuator will do the job?

https://www.amazon.ca/Konig-Variable-attenuator-20-SAT-ATT20-KN/dp/B002KD7OPE

If you have a RCA (yellow/red/white) output on the cable box, you can get a converter. I did it with Dish network. Had a sd output but only had a HD tv with zero rca inputs. So had to convert that signal to get it in the tv via HDMI. This is the box I got to do it with. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NS0UUQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For what you need, I would think any $10 orienteering compass would work.

From Amazon

Or, find a boy scout.

I did try all 4 sides with multiple spots on all walls. Not once did I pick up ABC or CBS. I was thinking maybe if I get a coupler
http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-CC-7870-Antenna-Coupler/dp/B001TK3C82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458256535&sr=8-1&keywords=winegard+coupler
and another Winegard FlatWave Amped FL5500A, I might be able to pick up those stations.

Currently, my antenna is mounted vertically on the wall facing East. NBC/Fox/KUSI come out crystal clear. I am very unsure I would be able to pick up the other stations even if I got another antenna because I did try all sides of the closet and I actually tried downstairs directly hooked up to the TV, I actually got less channels downstairs.

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to have a antenna on my roof due to my HOA. And I don't own a ladder, and I am probably too heavy to get up into my attic! I live in a townhome.