Anonymous wrote:
My low channels and high channels are coming in week (I especially would
like to improve channel 49). I like in a small city of 130,000
population. We have Toronto aprox 40 miles north and Buffalo 40 miles
south of us. I would to find a way to improve my TV signal. One of
the
things I would like to try is put a preamp on the antenna, but not sure
what
dB rating to use so I don't over amplify my signal (I don't want to
improve
some channels at the expense of other good channels). Any ideas?

TV preamps are mainly intended to overcome feedline losses. They typically
have rather high noise figure (6 dB or more). I doubt that a preamp alone
will improve your reception significantly.

What type of antenna are you using now and how high is it? Is your house on
a hill or in a valley? What is the terrain between you and the stations? TV
signals are basically line-of-sight. Antenna height is a huge factor in good
reception.

The Radio Shack antennas that have a log-periodic VHF section and a
corner-reflector UHF section are pretty good. The bigger the antenna, the
better it will work. Don't trust the "range" figures in their catalog. Get
the antenna up at least 25-30 feet (a chimney mount works well). Use RG-6
coaxial cable to feed the antenna.

You can probably get a good idea of what you need by looking at your
neighbors' roofs!

Since you're trying to receive signals from two different directions, you
will need a rotator. There's no way around that (unless you want to install
two separate antennas).

Then, there's always cable TV. ;-

Art Harris N2AH

"Steve Stone" wrote:
A good ground might help signal reception.

Not a chance! A ground may be good idea for lightning protection, but it's
not going to improve TV reception.

Art Harris N2AH

So you've pretty much answered your own question. Run some new coax,
weatherproof the connections, and put an amplifier in line. Short of a new
antenna, that's all you can really do. Most TV amps are broadbanded enough
that you won't lose anything, and should see improvement on all your
channels.

Finally, if you don't know for sure how old your antenna is, and it MIGHT be
35 years old, replace it anyway. They're not exactly expensive...

KI6PR

"lbbs" wrote
My low channels and high channels are coming in week (I especially would
like to improve channel 49). I like in a small city of 130,000
population. We have Toronto aprox 40 miles north and Buffalo 40 miles
south of us. I would to find a way to improve my TV signal. One of
the
things I would like to try is put a preamp on the antenna, but not sure
what
dB rating to use so I don't over amplify my signal (I don't want to
improve
some channels at the expense of other good channels). Any ideas?



Also, what about cleaning up the connection at the antenna, by cutting off
the end
that is corroded and reconnecting it to the antenna? Or just cleaning
the
connection with sand paper?




Other pertinent info:

Basically I looking for ways to improve my signal. I am satisfied with
the

12 channel or so

that we are presently getting and I don't what to pay for more channel
with

cable or dish.

All I want is to get a 15% improvement or so in my TV signal. I get a
fair

TV signal now, but I have a couple of channel like 49 that my parents
better

then us. I received a few suggestions like replace my coax with RG6
wire

and get an preamplifier at my old tower antenna. The antenna is 35
years

old at most (that is the age of our house), 15 years at best).
Anything

else I can do to improve signal. I don't mind putting some money into
it

since it is a long term investment. Thanks.



p.s. I am not interested in buying a new antenna.

"lbbs" wrote in message ...
My low channels and high channels are coming in week (I especially would
like to improve channel 49).

Get a Channel Master 8-bay bowtie UHF antenna, model 4228A. Don't
waste your money on an amplifier. The 4228A is very directional, so
you either have to aim the antenna in one direction, or get a rotor to
turn the antenna towards the different stations you want to receive.

The ONLY thing better than the 4228A is a large UHF parabolic antenna
which I don't recommend unless it is mounted on a tower with a
heavy-duty rotor.

In limited situations a pre-amp will help. But in most cases, a
better antenna is the answer. Unfortunately, NO all-channel antenna
is good enough for weak UHF signals. IF you are getting a poor to
fair picture on channel 49 using a VHF-UHF antenna, chances are you
will get a good to excellent picture using the 4228A.

If you want the best reception, STAY AWAY from Radio Shack when it
comes to television antenna products.

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:03:45 GMT, "Arthur Harris"
wrote:



snip
TV preamps are mainly intended to overcome feedline losses. They typically
have rather high noise figure (6 dB or more). I doubt that a preamp alone
will improve your reception significantly.

I think mine have a nf a bit lower, but regardless of the noise figure
you are correct. The amp is primarily for over coming feed line
losses. It *might* make some difference with the received signal.

What type of antenna are you using now and how high is it? Is your house on
a hill or in a valley? What is the terrain between you and the stations? TV
signals are basically line-of-sight. Antenna height is a huge factor in good
reception.

The Radio Shack antennas that have a log-periodic VHF section and a
corner-reflector UHF section are pretty good. The bigger the antenna, the
better it will work. Don't trust the "range" figures in their catalog. Get
the antenna up at least 25-30 feet (a chimney mount works well). Use RG-6
coaxial cable to feed the antenna.

I've seen little difference in the performance between the high priced
and low priced antennas in the same category. The range figures are
pretty much for comparisons only as it's gonna be a rare day and with
a very tall tower that any one comes near the range of their biggest
antennas. I do actually come near the range listed for the big UHF
antennas, but I have them mounted in the neighborhood of 90 feet.

I used to install TV antennas for a business, but that was long ago.

You can probably get a good idea of what you need by looking at your
neighbors' roofs!


Very sensible approach.

Since you're trying to receive signals from two different directions, you
will need a rotator. There's no way around that (unless you want to install
two separate antennas).

At UHF two antennas will probably be cheaper than a rotor, but that is
assuming all channels can be received well with two permanently
mounted antennas.

When using two antennas, *don't* tie them together with a combiner.
Use separate feed lines (RG-6) and switch at the TV set. Most sets now
days have at least two coax inputs any way.


Then, there's always cable TV. ;-

At one time I had cable, satellite (C-band) and a big outside antenna
with the ability to switch instantly between them.

The satellite reception was head and shoulders above the outside
antenna. The outside antenna was good for local stations (out to about
60 miles). Of the three the cable had by far the poorest signal and
it was a fairly recent system install, not just our home.

After two weeks we called the cable company and canceled.

With cable you are going to receive your local channels. With
satellite you won't unless they are one of the *major* metropolitan
areas and most stations won't give out waivers to allow you to receive
the networks off satellite. I receive the national networks off
C-band, but they required a wavier to move to the small dish...Without
exception the stations said no even though I already do receive the
networks.

So, I no longer watch any of the local stations. My antennas are
high enough I can watch the network affiliates out of other areas. and
I still receive "Prime time" (national networks) off C-band.

BTW Quality of cable signal varies greatly from one company to
another.

You'll have to fix the return add due to dumb virus checkers, not spam
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair?)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Art Harris N2AH

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:43:28 GMT, "Arthur Harris"
wrote:

"Steve Stone" wrote:
A good ground might help signal reception.

Not a chance! A ground may be good idea for lightning protection,

And electrical system safety.

Roger (K8RI)

but it's
not going to improve TV reception.

Art Harris N2AH


You'll have to fix the return add due to dumb virus checkers, not spam
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair?)
www.rogerhalstead.com

lbbs wrote:
My low channels and high channels are coming in week (I especially would
like to improve channel 49). I like in a small city of 130,000
population. We have Toronto aprox 40 miles north and Buffalo 40 miles
south of us. I would to find a way to improve my TV signal. One of the
things I would like to try is put a preamp on the antenna, but not sure what
dB rating to use so I don't over amplify my signal (I don't want to improve
some channels at the expense of other good channels). Any ideas?




The right pre-amp mounted at the antenna will make a noticeable
improvement regardless of the antenna age or design. Obviously though,
the better the antenna the better the result. The most important
considerations are pre-amp output capability and noise figure. For UHF
TV, select a pre-amp with a 2db noise figure or less and about a 15db
gain or more. This will improve your overall noise figure below the
typical TV tuner noise figure of 6 db and over come the coax line loss.
The output capability is a function of pre-amp design and db gain. The
preamp amplifies many channels at the same time and a strong TV signal
or multiple weaker signals, even though you might be watching another
channel, will overload the preamp if the preamp db gain is too high. I
have found that the Channel Master 7777 VHF/UHF pre-amp works depending
upon location. The output capability ffor this pre-amp is not really
good; but works for my current location, south east Florida. I get TV
reception ranging from 17 to 110 miles distant from the transmitters,
using a Winegard HD9095 UHF only antenna. The antenna is on a
telescoping mast and the height can be varied from 12 to about 40 feet.
On the other hand, when I was in the NYC area only 12 miles distant from
the WTC (prior to 9/11) overload with this pre-amp was a problem. I was
trying to receive WTNH-DT digital about 80 miles distant and the preamp
got clobbered from the very powerful NYC TV stations.


Also, what about cleaning up the connection at the antenna, by cutting off
the end
that is corroded and reconnecting it to the antenna? Or just cleaning the
connection with sand paper?


Try cleaning the feed point contacts the best you can. I have found that
cleaning more then that results in little value. Usually something
breaks and you end up with a pile of junk.