HD Reception Poor in Thornville

[jinxpress]

Polaroid Model FLM-323B, 32” LCD Television, purchased fall 2006.
NTSC/ATSC Internal Tuners
Channel Master UHF/VHF/FM Antenna, purchased August 1995.
Mounted 10’ above roof peak.
75 Ohm Coaxial Cable, fifty feet in length.
1 x 2 Splitter.
360 Degree Rotor.
Antenna Location is 922 feet above MSL in Thornville, Ohio, 43076
Compass Points: Per Antennaweb.org
WBNS 283 Miles 32
WCMH 283 Miles 32
WSYX 279 Miles 31
FOX 279 Miles 31
WOSU 309 Miles 31
WHIZ 95 Miles 24

I need help! I have NEVER been able to receive a signal from WBNS in HD. Analog signal is strong. WCMH signal in HD also, on occasion, just locks up. The picture freezes, like looking at a picture and the audio shuts down. It is worse under storm conditions, but today is sunny and clear and WCMH is coming in and out.

I have moved the antenna, via the rotor, 360 degrees and still can’t receive WBNS. The channel search function wont even pick up the channel number (21), let alone a signal. I have a splitter installed from the antenna with two outputs, one going to the HD connection on the television and one going to the analog connection. I have even bypassed the splitter and ran the coax cable directly to the HD input, without effect. The antenna is old, but works very well receiving the analog signals.

Another observation that may be of some importance is, FOX signal comes in fine on HD, but very poorly on analog. WSYX (2) signals are fine whether on HD or analog.
I can even pick up the HD signal from Zanesville on the back side of the antenna.

I think that I need a different type of antenna! Can someone please make a few suggestions to help me out?

[Dbailey]

You could try this antenna, i have the 4 bay model and it is superb. This one is 8 bay.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANC4228

[rossl]

Just a guess, but I would say you probably would get better results with a higher antenna. If it's possible.

[Dbailey]

I don't know, he said 10 feet above roof peek, he might as well construct an antenna tower then...! Might also try a power amplifier on the long wire run..

[scgalena]

A combination VHF/UHF antenna will give you better signal levels from the lower DT channels 13 & 14 that we have locally.

One good way to deal with multipath is to use some type of diversity array. Trouble is, most people don’t like to go that route because it would probably make their house look like some kind of government communications compound.
This AVS explanation of diversity antenna schemes might help in some way with your design though.
<O:p</O:p
AVS Forum Antenna Topic – Page 242 #7239
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=381623&page=242

[rossl]

It might be OK next year as it is. They will turn off the analog and crank up the power on the digital signal.

:D

[jinxpress]

I sent an email to WBNS concerning the problem. Their site stated "will reply within one business day". Well, that was on Sunday. No business Sunday or Monday, but still no response yet. :( Thinking of adding the Channel Master 4228 as suggested, don't really care what the neighbors think about the antennas.

Can I combine the two antennas into one 75 ohm cable at the antenna mast? I'm a retired wrench twister and don't understand the muti-path thing.

Thanks, Tom

[Scott]

Any idea how big the CM is? If you have an attic, you could always hang it there. I did this with my mast and it works really well. This thing should have no problems in an attic (if it's not too big) :hdlove:

[jinxpress]

The CM 4228 antenna arrived yesterday afternoon. I hooked up the coax and set the antenna in my west facing, ground level, bedroom window. "WOW" channel search picked up 10 signals including the WBNS signal that I couldn't find with my mast mounted antenna. Now time to head to the roof.

Scott, this antenna is 30 x 42 and will not fit through the access to my attic, I can hardly get up there, shoulders rub going through the hole. House build in the 1920's.

Question: The new antenna came with RG 59 cable and my old antenna is using RG 6 cable, which is Best?

Thanks to all for the help, Tom

[Timcredible]

[SIZE=3]Can I combine the two antennas into one 75 ohm cable at the antenna mast? I'm a retired wrench twister and don't understand the muti-path thing.

no, you must filter out each of the frequencies first, then recombine, else you'll get weird dropouts and such. i use some splitters that split out the uhf and vhf to get just uhf off one antenna and just vhf off another antenna, then used a third splitter to recombine the signals, works well. i bought the splitters on ebay, about $2 each.

[Scott]

The CM 4228 antenna arrived yesterday afternoon. I hooked up the coax and set the antenna in my west facing, ground level, bedroom window. "WOW" channel search picked up 10 signals including the WBNS signal that I couldn't find with my mast mounted antenna. Now time to head to the roof.

Scott, this antenna is 30 x 42 and will not fit through the access to my attic, I can hardly get up there, shoulders rub going through the hole. House build in the 1920's.

Question: The new antenna came with RG 59 cable and my old antenna is using RG 6 cable, which is Best?

Thanks to all for the help, Tom

Aha! That's about the size of mine, but I put it together in the attic :D Don't use RG59, stay with the RG6. I'm actually surprised it came with 59--but then again a lot of cable STBs still do as well.

[Dbailey]

I sent an email to WBNS concerning the problem. Their site stated "will reply within one business day". Well, that was on Sunday. No business Sunday or Monday, but still no response yet. :( Thinking of adding the Channel Master 4228 as suggested, don't really care what the neighbors think about the antennas.

Can I combine the two antennas into one 75 ohm cable at the antenna mast? I'm a retired wrench twister and don't understand the muti-path thing.

Thanks, Tom
Awesome, another satisfied customer, did you get it from solidsignal.com?

[jinxpress]

Well, I have the 4228 mounted on my mast pipe six feet above the roof peak and just below my channel master VHF-UHF combo antenna. I now pick up 12 channels from the Columbus area and 4 channels when I point it NNE. Channel 35 is coming in with 4 sub channels. Haven't watched those enough to know where the signal is coming from.

I purchased the antenna from MCD Audio Visual in Fort Wayne, In. 50 bucks and UPS delivered it three days later.

Thanks for the help from this site!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[Scott]

Cool jinx. Are you using a rotator with it?

[jinxpress]

Yep, I have the antennas on an old CDE Autorotor. Way back in the day (early 80’s) it was great fun running the skip with my base CB and 300-watt amp. I had a set of beams and 50 feet of mast pipe sitting on it. It was 70 feet to the top of the beam antenna. One day while setting the standing wave and being belted to the tower, the whole thing started shaking badly. After wetting my pants and looking around for what the Heck was going on, my neighbor was on the ground shaking a guy wire. I couldn’t get down fast enough to punch him in the mouth.

[Captain_Rob]

I used to do some tower work in the 80's myself. I was on a small 40' tower that appeared to be good shape, but it was un-guided with no building support brackets. It was just free standing and bolted to a concrete buried base plate. I sprinted to the top, hooked my leg around like I normally did, then hooked on the "safety belt" and leaned back to get to work. Problem was I hadn't noticed one of the three tower legs had never been properly tightened, and the wind action had oblonged the bolt-hole about an inch or more over the years that tower had been installed. When I leaned back that tower might have moved an inch at the base, but at the top of 40' foot it felt like 10' feet worth of free glide, and then a massive metal spring action. I had worked on about 100 towers up to 300' before that with no problem, but that was one of my last tower jobs I could ever do.