Anthony GT

Have I picked the right antenna?

I'm ready to try and get my OTA STB hooked up. I've read through many of the antenna posts and this is what I think I need. Am I right or wrong?

My STB is a Samsung SIR-T351.
My projector is a Toshiba TLP-X10, 720p native.
Here is my antennaweb info:

* yellow - uhf WJZ-DT 13.1 CBS BALTIMORE MD 228° 21.9 38
* yellow - uhf WNUV-DT 54.1 CW BALTIMORE MD 228° 21.7 40
* yellow - uhf WMAR-DT 2.1 ABC BALTIMORE MD 228° 21.9 52
* yellow - uhf WBFF-DT 45.1 FOX BALTIMORE MD 228° 21.7 46
* yellow - uhf WBAL-DT 11.1 NBC BALTIMORE MD 228° 21.9 59
* lt green - uhf WMPB-DT 67.1 PBS BALTIMORE MD 256° 22.3 29
* red - uhf WGCB-DT 30.1 IND RED LION PA 347° 24.1 30
* blue - uhf WPMT-DT 43.1 FOX YORK PA 352° 32.3 47
* blue - uhf WGAL-DT 8.1 NBC LANCASTER PA 351° 33.1 58
* violet - uhf WLYH-DT 15.1 CW LANCASTER PA 7° 46.9 23

I'm mainly interested in getting the Baltimore stations, but if I can get more, that's great.

Based on the above, I think this Channel Master 4221, attic or roof mounted, should work fine.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Tdh0xmy....asp?i=6594221

Also, the signal needs to run down to the basement, I'm guessing a 40' total run.

Any other comments suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Tony

Phil A

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Tony, not sure exactly where you are located and what those things mean in terms of distance. I am in Northern, VA up on a small hill and probably around 60 miles on a straight line to the Baltimore area stations. I have a 10 ft. Radio Shack antenna (in the attic) with a good antenna pre-amp (I think it is Channel Master) and an in-line attenuator to prevent any overload (I mainly noticed on analog TV) from closer DC stations and I have no trouble getting them. Before digital TV and the US Supreme Court case that threw out the ability of homeowner assns. to limit roof mounted stuff, I put the antenna in the attic and played around with positioning and actual saw feint ghosts of Channel 6 in Philadpelphia which is probably 150 miles away. Digital receptions tends to be either there or not there much more so than analog.

Anthony GT

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Phil, thanks for your response.

I'm about 20 miles NE from the Baltimore stations. From your description it sounds like I might be able to get both DC and Philly channels as well. I'll need a rotator though.

I will most likely attic mount as I have no desire to go up on my roof (fear of heights!)

Phil A

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Tony, in the old days before digital TV I lived in So. Jersey (east of Philly and perhaps slightly south) and had a big roof antenna installed (not fond of heights either - roofers don't even like my current house doing repairs up on a small hill and you probable feel like you're 125 ft. up - I put the outdoor speakers up on a 10 ft. ladder and was not all that fond of looking down) with a rotator and I was barely able to see NY depending on weather conditions, Baltimore UHF come in half decent and VHF wasn't that bad either. WETA (Public TV in DC) is in a slightly different direction than most of the stations and I put up a Channel Master 4-Bay Bow-Tie antenna going down to the main room on a different lead (the way I have my antenna oriented - 10 ft. one - too big for a rotator in my attic - it gets both markets - WETA digital at times will cut in and out - I'm not a big TV watcher - no cable or satelliye but I figured for about $21-22 the extra antenna was worth it) and an A/B remote controlled selector. Much depends on your height, location in relation to the broadcast towers and what is in between you and them. So you may want to look at the antenna web map vs. where you are (and what may be in-between) and decide whether a rotator would be better for you vs. another antenna (spaced far enough apart) and an A/B. I used a manual A/B switch at first and they are really cheap - like $8-10. I got the RF remote A/B switch from a friend used but they are probably $25-40 I'm guessing. I could be wrong but I'd make a guess (not knowing the terrain) that you might have an easier time getting Philly vs. DC. From memory, I think many of the DC towers may be in the Bethesda, MD area which may mean pointing it at downtown Baltimore for you.

Anthony GT

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Here's something strange. Just for fun, I hooked up an old set of rabbit ears to the STB and had it search for signals. To my surprise, it picked up 13.1 (Baltimore) and 30.1 (Red Lion!), but nothing else.

All of the Baltimore stations are in the same direction and distance. If I got that one why didn't I get the others? And how the hell did I pick up Red Lion?

Tony

Phil A

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Tony, I stopped driving myself nuts over that stuff yrs. ago. Many moons ago I had a house in central, NJ and got NY VHF from my attic antenna and off the back end of it I got Philly VHF, not quite as good, but quite watchable. I had a big separate FM antenna (in the old days when FM was a bit different) to get mostly NY stations and Philly had a few good UHF stations so I bought a UHF antenna and pointed it towards Philly and it came it great. I learned a lot from playing with postioning. That was also long before the internet and after a bit I got frustrated going into antenna/electronics supply stores as it was obvious the people working there did not know as much as I did. I'd have to show them what was in their own product catalogs to order it as they didn't even know stuff like that existed. Sometimes stations broadcast at different levels of power, sometimes weather/atmosphere conditions, terrain, buildings, broadcast frequency or foliage or the way the antenna is constructed have more of an impact on some more than others. As I noted in the original post I was amazed I could pick up ghosts of channel 6 in Philly from where I am. You may wish to look at where Baltimore and DC towers are in relation to where you are. A rotator may not help much with DC stations if one is behind the other but farther and you have downtown Baltimore in the way. The A/B switch solution might be best if you're trying to get sets of city broadcasts which are each in the same general location (assuming you can have room for more than one antenna - you can always experiment when you buy one antenna first before a rotator or another antenna and point it in different directions to see what might be the best solution for you) and you don't have a motor to wear out if you go the A/B switch.

Philip Hamm

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Radio reception is a funny thing. There are holes in places, elevation can often mean much more than distance from the signal. I'm near Phil A and I have the same antenna that you are considering, the Channel Master 4221A, installed in my attic. I also have a VHF antenna as well for both VHF analog and FM radio reception. The 4221A is an outstanding antenna, I can get both the Baltimore and Washington market major channels well most days. Great for football - I'm an Eagles fan and got to see them from channel 45 yesterday.

So yeah, the 4221A is recommended - one great thing about it is that you may not need a rotator - it has above average off-axis reception. Mine needs to be aimed squarely at Baltimore to get that market's stations, but in the process that means it's off-axis to Washington stations. No worries, they come in 100% or close to that.

Philip Hamm
Moderator Emeritus

Anthony GT

Re: Have I picked the right antenna?

Elevation is my biggest concern. My house is below road level, on a road that has a pretty good downward slope as it is. I brought the antenna and receiver to the second floor and I got all of the Baltimore stations.

Next I'm going to get a long run of RG6 cable from Blue Jeans cable and stick the antenna in the attic. If I can still a good signal then I just need to figure out the best way to run the cable from the attic down to the basement.