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Need Help Finding a Long Range Digital TV Antenna - What Works?

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  • Viking1204

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    I've been online researching and every review out there recommends a different antenna. I live in the FWB area so need something that can reach Mobile. If you have an antenna and it works good, post make and model here please!
     

    p95ccw

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    I have had really good performance out of this antenna. I have tried more than 6.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Pro-Outdoor-Yagi-Antenna-70-Mile-Range-VHF-UHF-Channels-33685/52162885

    What has the most impact though is how obstructed the path is from the signal antenna to your antenna. Trees and other obstructions(houses,hills,etc) really have the biggest impact. If you have obstructions then you are not going to have really good reception with any antenna unless you pole mount and get above the obstructions.

    If you have good line of sight you really dont need much of a receiving antenna. Most of the digital signals in this area are very powerful and with good line of sight are pretty simple to receive with a digital antenna.

    I have the above antenna pole mounted to my roof with the top of the antenna equal to the height of my ridgeline of my roof. I have a lot of trees surrounding my house. If I drop the antenna 5 feet in height I get no signal at all. I am still slightly obstructed to the mobile stations by about 1-2 deg. If I went about 3-4 feet higher I would clear them, But the wife did not want to have the view of the antenna from the front of the house so I was not allowed to exceed the height of the roof.:nono:

    With that said I really only loose the mobile stations when the wind is really heavy and blowing the trees around which obstructs the signal more.

    I cut the cable a last year and have a really nice home media setup(I run the digital tv to a network tuner, I also run a plex server for most of my media and run roku's as front ends to all my TV's), its another hobby besides guns. If you have any questions I would be glad to help.
     

    Viking1204

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    If you don't mind me asking where are you located? Also, what does the network tuner do and why the Roku's for the front ends on the TV's? I have Fire TV, Netflix and newer HD Flat Screens right for my setup currently.
     
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    p95ccw

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    I live in Cantonment close to ERGC.

    The network tuner allows my plex server to intake the TV signal and serve that up across my local network.

    This is the tuner I have:
    https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-...F8&qid=1543266239&sr=8-7&keywords=silicondust
    They also make a 4 tuner version.

    The reason I went with Roku was that is has the most support for media apps, (Netflix,Plex,Amazon Prime,etc) and it has the best handling of 4k content since I have several 4k movies on my plex server. I have a roku ultra on my 4k tv and Roku streaming sticks on my other tv's.

    To be honest I don't watch much OTA broadcast at all. But there are times when I am really glad I have it, ie natural disasters,bad weather etc.. mostly for the local news.

    IMG_20181126_151352.jpg
     

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    Viking1204

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    Well I just used Google Earth to measure direct line to Mobile from my house and it's right at 80 miles. Panama City is closer at about 67 miles but they don't have Fox. I wish they'd get all the networks in Pensacola, from my house to anywhere in Pensacola in a straight line is no more than 35 miles!
     

    p95ccw

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    Below is the antenna I'm considering, seen good reviews for it on more than one website and it has a 4.5 rating on Amazon. Thanks for the information! I actually watch Plex through my brother's server in Utah using the Fire TV and it works awesome!

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=5VT48CG842WDZ5YCHH1B

    I have used that one as well. It had pretty much the same performance as the one I linked in my post. It works pretty well and if you get a good line of sight you should be pretty happy with it.
     

    p95ccw

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    Well I just used Google Earth to measure direct line to Mobile from my house and it's right at 80 miles. Panama City is closer at about 67 miles but they don't have Fox. I wish they'd get all the networks in Pensacola, from my house to anywhere in Pensacola in a straight line is no more than 35 miles!

    You probably can still get mobile if you go up high enough.

    If you dont mind putting in a weekend of work, you can get a pretty good setup.The way I did my set up was this:

    Get 3 ten foot 2x4's some coaxial cable and TV that you can reach from your ideal mounting point. I temporarily mounted my antenna on the 2x4's and then checked my reception, then I added another 2x4 etc..(going higher) I also tried different directions and with that I was able to get the ideal mounting height,direction and location for my antenna. I had 50ft of coax a folding table and a 19" lcd tv with a tuner. I ran an extension cord out to the table and set up a test bench with a folding ladder holding up my antenna mast. Once I had determined my ideal data(And if I would be happy with the service) I then bought and put up my final mounting hardware.
     

    Viking1204

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    I was actually looking at using Electrical Conduit for the mast, it's available in 10' sections and a lot cheaper than buying an "antenna mast". The way my house roofline is I can probably mount a mast and get up high enough where my antenna would be up about 30' in the air. I'm going to do some more research and try and find an antenna that can reach out about 100 miles, then I should have no problem reaching Mobile. I wish there were more sites online to helping people find the right antenna that weren't partial to the antenna's they make and sell. I need to find a reliable 3rd party that has reviewed them or a good Cutting the Cord forum to join.
     

    p95ccw

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    If you want to receive HDTV at more than 60 miles you have to go big.

    The Channel master 2020 gets really good reviews. I have not used it personally but I have used the RCA "clone" similar to it.

    https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-2020-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/B002ITPQOG#customerReviews

    But the bigger antenna will not make up for poor line of sight. Especially at the farthest ranges. But if your willing to mount it high enough and don't mind the sight of it. Then its a good option.

    Some links I used while researching my project:


    https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

    https://antennaweb.org/

    http://dennysantennaservice.com/1496626.html

    https://www.groundedreason.com/watch-tv-free-antenna-guide/
     

    FelixH

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    Below is the antenna I'm considering, seen good reviews for it on more than one website and it has a 4.5 rating on Amazon. Thanks for the information! I actually watch Plex through my brother's server in Utah using the Fire TV and it works awesome!

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=5VT48CG842WDZ5YCHH1B

    That's the same one I'm using and it works great for me. Fox was the hardest of the major broadcast stations for me to catch, so I installed this antenna in my attic and pointed it directly toward the Fox station. I get all the major broadcast networks, and several other stations. I'm in NW Pensacola, so I don't know that you'd get everything I'm getting with the same antenna.
     

    Viking1204

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    If you want to receive HDTV at more than 60 miles you have to go big.

    The Channel master 2020 gets really good reviews. I have not used it personally but I have used the RCA "clone" similar to it.

    https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-2020-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/B002ITPQOG#customerReviews

    But the bigger antenna will not make up for poor line of sight. Especially at the farthest ranges. But if your willing to mount it high enough and don't mind the sight of it. Then its a good option.

    Some links I used while researching my project:


    https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

    https://antennaweb.org/

    http://dennysantennaservice.com/1496626.html

    https://www.groundedreason.com/watch-tv-free-antenna-guide/

    Thanks for those links. As far away as I am, I'm going to have to get it up high outdoors. My question is how sturdy the antenna is vs the high winds we get around here with thunderstorms and tropical systems, it looks pretty flimsy. I think mounted outdoors it might be better to go with the CM-5020. It's more expensive but looks quite a bit more sturdy. Channel Master even describes as designed to withstand extreme outdoor conditions. I'll definitely research some more before making a final decision.

    https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Mast...284811&sr=1-2&keywords=channel+master+cm-5020
     

    Viking1204

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    Well I stepped off the porch today to take my first steps towards cutting the cord! Ordered the Channel Master CM-5020, a preamplifier and J-Mount. The place I plan to mount my antenna on the roof is 13' off the ground, I'm going to mount the antenna on top of a 10' piece of 1.5" electrical conduit and see what kind of channels I can pick up with it 23' in the air. If that's not high enough I can add a 10' piece of 1.25" electrical conduit that fits perfectly inside the 1.5" conduit, this will get me up to at least 30', maybe a little more but I want to keep the antenna mast strong. What I find funny is the electrical conduit is a lot stronger than the cheap 5' antenna mast poles they sell at Lowes.

    LOL, just canceled J-Mount, forgot I had one mounted on my back deck holding up the old DirecTV dish!
     
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    kendive

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    Hate to bring up an old topic...

    Already checked with www.rabbitears.info and tv fool. Matter of fact I have been a member of TV fool for a while also hold a Ham Radio Lic. Mainly for the RC Aircraft and freqs I been using for long range.

    I just wanted some feedback what you all are using in are area for antennas.

    Plan on doing away with cable tv in the near future.

    Already decided on the Tablo Dual LITE OTA DVR since it's a true OTA DVR. Checked out the SiliconDust HomeRun but feel the Tablo is a better option for us.

    I know there is a long cut the cord thread here somewhere too but don't think there has been much posted there lately.






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    TK5o

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    I bought a $50 rca outdoor antenna from walmart. Mounted it at the peak of the roof. I get 40 channels including local news and a weather channel that has a local radar going 24/7
     

    Fanner50

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    I have a RCA indoor antenna with amplifier in the garage hooked to the small tv that I have in there. It brings in quite a few channels, including 3,5,10, & 15 and PBS. I've done a lot of research and one limiting factor that I'm dealing with is that we live in NE Pensacola just off Spanish Trail on the other side of the airport. All of the interference from the airport really messes with reception. If I lived on the West side of town, on the other side of the airport, it would be much easier. We have Cox for the house. I would recommend buying and trying several different antennas and returning the ones that don't work well. Try them and return them. With you living so far from the broadcast antenna's, and probably having to deal with a lot of interference from airports, etc, your reception will probably never be perfect.
    Just try as many antennas as you can to find the one that works best. Consumers Report did a test on them awhile back, you might want to check them out. I consider my indoor antenna a part of my hurricane preps. I can hook the tv in the garage up to my generator and with the indoor antenna I can watch the news once the stations are back on the air. We were without cable for over a month after Ivan and I really missed not knowing what was going on locally. The indoor antenna solves that problem.
     
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    kendive

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    Thanks for the answers... I already have a Clearview 2V that was given to me I was saving to install for the cabin in the woods and may just play around with that at first. I could take the deflector off and try to use it as a multi path or bi-directional antenna.

    I was thinking on installing two yagis most of the channels we are interested are coming from the west towards mobile. There are a few from the other direction that I might add a dual antenna setup for testing and playing around. As long as you keep good separation and keep the RG6 cable length the same from the combiner there is no issues in most cases.

    One channel I would like to get is CW Call sign WFNA 44 miles away and depending on antenna height it can be at 1 or 2edge (1Edge means some blockages but an amplifier may help OR getting the antenna higher like in a 2nd story window or a roof mounted amp may help. 2Edge means massive blockage and usually means no reception will occur)

    Are you all getting this channel with the antenna you have up now?

    As for you interference you are having I think Channel Master makes inline filters that may help? You would just have to give it a try.

    Here is my scenario...

    ApFs8Im.jpg












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    kendive

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    Here is the tv fool report. I think rabbitears is a little more accurate. There are a few Hi VHF Channels but most are UHF. I know height and location of the antenna plays a big part of this game.

    I put in height at 15 feet just to be more realistic, but if I put in the antenna is at 35 feet agl most of them become los.

    9GG9Suk.jpg
     
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