Success from Waterford?

[HDefinicktion]

I am curious to know if anyone has been able to pick up CBS from Waterford, or nearby? I am currently using the Zenith OTA Antennea until the weather gets better that I can get on my roof. I am able to recieve NBC and ABC easily, however, it seems that CBS has been having some problems lately. Will the upgrade to the new antennea help me get CBS, or should I not bother with it. With March Madness lurking, I wanted to know if I shuld be making plans for a long four day weekend with friends on the couches...

Thanks in advance

[rnelson]

I am curious to know if anyone has been able to pick up CBS from Waterford, or nearby? I am currently using the Zenith OTA Antennea until the weather gets better that I can get on my roof. I am able to recieve NBC and ABC easily, however, it seems that CBS has been having some problems lately. Will the upgrade to the new antennea help me get CBS, or should I not bother with it. With March Madness lurking, I wanted to know if I shuld be making plans for a long four day weekend with friends on the couches...

Thanks in advance

I live in Rochester which is just next door. I have not had any problems receiving any of the HD stations.

Roy

[HDefinicktion]

Roy,

What type of set-up do you have?

[rnelson]

Roy,

What type of set-up do you have?

HI HD

I have a

Channelmaster 3671 Antenna
Channelmaster 9521A Rotor
Titan2 7777 Pre-Amplifier
Mounted on a 10' Tripod (Roof)

I've only been able to get Fox6 after first part of November but since I get about 68% signal. Never had an issue with 58.

[syrett4]

HI HD

I have a

Channelmaster 3671 Antenna
Channelmaster 9521A Rotor
Titan2 7777 Pre-Amplifier
Mounted on a 10' Tripod (Roof)

I've only been able to get Fox6 after first part of November but since I get about 68% signal. Never had an issue with 58.

Are you able to reach any Chicago channels? WGN specifically. I doubt it, but I am curious. It may make me rethink/add OTA to my system.

Thanks in advance.

[mred]

I get most of the Chicago stations (no CBS) from west-central Racine with my rooftop antenna with a rotor. I bet you could probably pull in WGN. I have a fairly cheap Magnavox antenna from Menards, a single-story house in a somewhat low area, and my antenna is only about 6 feet above my roof.

[rnelson]

Are you able to reach any Chicago channels? WGN specifically. I doubt it, but I am curious. It may make me rethink/add OTA to my system.

Thanks in advance.

I have received the HD Channels from Chicago but not on a regular enogh basis to turn the router to the SE. I would need a tower to get the height needed for that. 10 Feet is just not enough on a single story home.

Roy

[HDefinicktion]

Intersting...I have no signal coming in from 58-1 and 58-2. I guess moving the antenna to the rook from the attic would help. Did you install this yourself? If so, how do you ground it, or do you even need to ground it. In regards to the rotor, since you don't rotate for Chicago channels, how important is having one?

[rnelson]

Intersting...I have no signal coming in from 58-1 and 58-2. I guess moving the antenna to the rook from the attic would help. Did you install this yourself? If so, how do you ground it, or do you even need to ground it. In regards to the rotor, since you don't rotate for Chicago channels, how important is having one?

Hi HD

First of all, Always,Always,Always... Always ground your antenna. I picked up an 8 Foot Grounding Rod from the local hardware store. I used a pipe with a cap threaded on the end to drive it into the ground. I got a Grouding Wire and connected it to the Tripod and the Grouding rod. There are special connectors to attach a ground wire to a tripod.

Yes, I installed it myself with some friends help. If you need some help, sounds like a nice Antenna Raising party.

Also, because it was on a 10 ft tripod, We attached guide wires to keep winds from blowing it down (Hopefully).

So far, so good. It's been two years. As for the rotor, You will need it. I often fine tune it to get the best balance of signal between 18,24,6 etc. You don't need to make much of a movement in order to change the signal a great deal. If you don't put on a rotor, you will find yourself always going up to make little adjustments. That's just to much of a PITA factor. Also, you might be on higher ground where you can have better luck not only picking up chicago, but Madison as well.

Roy

[mred]

I second the rotor recommendation. I got mine for $50 at Menards, and I'm very happy I did. You will have no chance at getting Chicago DTV stations unless the antenna is pointing that way, and you may have serious problems getting the Milwaukee DTV stations unless you are pointed at them. It's not hard or expensive to install, and as Roy said, sometimes you just have to make little adjustments to get the harder-to-receive stations.

Definitely ground your antenna and everything else in your line. I was getting really bad reception when I first installed my antenna until I realized I neglected to ground the case of my antenna amplifier. I don't know if grounding the antenna will help your signal at all, but it's a huge safety issue (lightning) if you don't.

[HDefinicktion]

Noted the safety issue...I will make sure to ground. How is the rotor powered...low voltage?? From to rotor is there a separate line run to the box that controls the unit? I have heard that there are differrent types of control units. What type do you recommend? Lastly, the guide wires, and they ran from the top of the tripod down to the house? If so how long do you recommend the wires be? Thanks again for the help.

[rnelson]

Noted the safety issue...I will make sure to ground. How is the rotor powered...low voltage?? From to rotor is there a separate line run to the box that controls the unit? I have heard that there are differrent types of control units. What type do you recommend? Lastly, the guide wires, and they ran from the top of the tripod down to the house? If so how long do you recommend the wires be? Thanks again for the help.

As far as the rotor is conserned, there is a special cable that attaches to the control unit that is placed by your theatre system. That line carries all the voltage to the rotor. Nothing else is needed.

The router control unit I have gives a digital readout of the direction in degrees. It can also store different settings. For example, once you find the best setting for 58, you can store that setting in 58. After changing to a chicago station, you can go back to your setting for 58 just by enterring 58 on the remote control. It is really nice to have. The remote control will store up to 99 settings. You can fine tune the antenna by using the direction button.

As far as the Guide wires go, I just paid attention to the angle as they looked from the ground. You don't want too steep an angle because that will not give you any support. I suppose a professional installer has what the book recomends, but for a DYI, as long as the angle looks right, . . . go for it. 3 wires, equally spaced.

One more thing. I assembled all this on the ground. Placed the antenna into the tripod, with the rotor, cables and wires attached. Attached the guide wires and everything. I could stand on the roof with the antenna tripod standing on my deck and reach the top of the antenna from there. After everything was in place, we just lifted the tripod up to the roof and attached it to the roof from there.

Who is nuts enough to climb up onto a 10' Tripod on the roof to attach cables to the antenna. I know professionals do it every day, but for me . . . NO WAY!!!!!

One more thing. I used a level on the mast to determine the position of the tripod and attached it to the roof. After going back down to the ground, It was noticable that the antenna itself was not quite parallel to the ground, meaning that it was not square to the mast. To late to fix that. Point being. . . Have someone on the ground tell you when the antenna is parallel. Visual is OK. Make sure the rotor is pointing North and the tripod is positioned so the antenna points north and you will be fine.

Remember. . . Most Professionals begin as DIYs. Just be cool! :)

Roy

[mred]

Noted the safety issue...I will make sure to ground. How is the rotor powered...low voltage?? From to rotor is there a separate line run to the box that controls the unit? I have heard that there are differrent types of control units. What type do you recommend? Lastly, the guide wires, and they ran from the top of the tripod down to the house? If so how long do you recommend the wires be? Thanks again for the help.

I have this unit (http://www.summitsource.com/prods/ANWROM.html) which I bought at Menards around 6 months ago for $50. No readout, no saved settings, no remote control. As for digital units with remote control, Walmart.com has one by zenith for $58 online, and Blain's Farm and Fleet in Racine has one for $75. I really can't speak to the quality of any of these rotors.

[audiopile]

Unless you know for a ABSOLUTE FACT Exactly where any buried cables or gass lines are on your property - call Digger's Hotline before you decide to install any ground rods or stay rods for antennas. Digger's Hotline is 800-242-8511 . I have never had them take more than a couple of days to come out - scan and mark a site.
First off - hitting a buried electrical service is way different than anything you can chop into inside the house/buisness - there is a fusable link that will probably blow rather quickly - but not before you or your helper(s) are toast. The plastic residential gas lines are also vulnerable .
The other thing to keep in mind is that if you do knock out your service or a neighbor's service ( phone,cable,power or gas)- YOU will be footing the bill - 3 to 4 person crew -probably at OT rates - plus materials and repairs to any neighbor's or public verge areas that need landscaping afterwards. If you have called digger's hotline and they miss something - it's their problem not yours. The most immediate hazard to a DIYer are the power lines and they pretty close to never miss those.
Take your time - plan the job out -call DH ahead of time.

[HDefinicktion]

Once again...safety first....I have called them before when doing some landscaping, and I will be sure to again. Is there a place you recommend to get the rotor of the Internet, or would you recommend looking locally?

[Slot Car Driver]

I was at Menards today and they had a rotor with Digital control. Not sure of the price, but looked like it should be OK. I got one there last year, didn't have the digital control, but I had the digital control from another one. Works very good. I live in Brookfield (northeast side) and can get Madison and Chicago when the weather is good - single story house, antenna about 10 feet above roof.

[mred]

I think Menards currently has the non-digital one for $45 and the digital one for $70.

[HDefinicktion]

And just think, I missed the 17% bag sale...boy, I am sure next week if I can fit my item in a sandwich baggie they will give 25% off! I will have to take a stop by and take a peak at what they have...hopefully the weather starts getting warmer soon...Thanks for all your help