OTA HDTV in East Troy?

[bigbwb]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post in this forum. I am looking to get OTA broadcasts of the local network HDTV channels at my home in East Troy. I currently use Directv for all of the other channels. I am wondering what size antenna I need to receive them and wheres a good place to purchase? I live just outside Mukwonago, and I would like to avoid a large rooftop antenna if possible.

Anyone have any experience in this area or recomendations for my sitaution?
(which antennas, do they need to be amplified, location, & etc)

Thanks everyone,

Brandon

[Den Mayer]

This is a generic reply to 'size up' your planned

OTA HD TV reception.... East Troy to Capitol Drive Tower

farm is 33 miles via the Crow....

All HD TV in MKE now runs from Chan 8 thru Chan 59....

UHF channels are 14 thru 59......

From experience, a Channel Master #3021 4 bay bow tie

UHF antenna does a Good job receiving channels 7 thru 59...,

and can easily go 40 miles when HDTV transmissions are at

full Power... My CM 3021 40 mile tests have been from:

Oshkosh to GBay, & Wisc Rapids to Wausau... using

CM 3021 ($25 unit), with RG-6 cable & T-151 tuner, mounted both inside &

outside garage doors at gutter level.......

I'd hope a CM 8 bay bow tie antenna ($52) would be considered for use

before 777 amplifiers are attached.

[jfelbab]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post in this forum. I am looking to get OTA broadcasts of the local network HDTV channels at my home in East Troy. I currently use Directv for all of the other channels. I am wondering what size antenna I need to receive them and wheres a good place to purchase? I live just outside Mukwonago, and I would like to avoid a large rooftop antenna if possible.

Anyone have any experience in this area or recomendations for my sitaution?
(which antennas, do they need to be amplified, location, & etc)

Thanks everyone,

Brandon

I live about 8 miles east of Mukwonago and I can get MKE HD feeds via a medium outdoor OTA antenna. Things should get better when the stations finally go to full power transmission in July. How much better? Only time will tell. According to AntennaWeb.org, you will need a large antenna with a preamp to get the Milwaukee HD channels. Look for an antenna with violet markings on the box. A lot of this is dependent on your home elevation and how clear your line of sight is towards the towers. You are around 33 air miles from the towers and they are are all about 53° in direction so you won't really need a rotor if you are not after other cities. Typically you would be looking at an antenna with a 10-12 foot boom length. What are your neighbors doing for OTA HD?

Your ability to get the stations now while they are at reduced power is almost nil so if you want to try to get these HD stations OTA, wait until after July when they are scheduled to begin full power broadcasts.

If you don't want a large outdoor antenna it may be easier to get your locals from cable or DTV. For DTV you will need to request and receive a waver. Contact DTV about this and they will submit the request to the stations for the waiver. The waiver, if granted by the local station, will get you the HD network feeds.

[RJRobb]

With the right antenna and a rotor, you should be able to pick up Madison and Rockford also. All are 45-55 miles from East Troy. In Fort Atkinson I'm able to pull in 4,10,12,24 (no 6, 18 or 58) from Milwaukee (50 miles), using a Winegard Sensar II (RV batwing) amplified antenna on a Dish 811 receiver.

[bigbwb]

Thanks everyone for responding.

I have recently bought and tried the terk TV36 & tv38 ota antenna at my home in east troy. The best results I can get when mounted in my attic is that ch. 10 comes in @ 90%, ch. 12 at 60% and ch. 36 at 90%. I do not receive any signal from ch. 58 or 6. Ch. 4 comes in at about 20% with no picture. The terk tv38 is rated for the violet/pink zones while the tv36 is up to red. My question to someone is should I keep either one of the antennas and hope that in July when the stations go full power I will get a better signal or should I return the 2 antennas and wait to see what will work in July? I have 30 days to return both antennas, the tv36 is $130 while the tv38 is $200. I would like to try and avoid wasting any $ here on uneccessary equipment if its not needed after July hits. As far as the difference between the 2 antennas I tried, the larger tv38 pulled in ch. 12 better and gave me only slightly better signal strenght.

Let me know what would be my best bet here.

I think part of my problem stems from being in a valley (potters lake) and having large trees around my home.

Thanks,
Brandon

[AndrewP]

Those antennas are not good. But you can wait until July. If you don't want to wait or if they will not work in July then go with Chanel Master 4228 and Titan 7777 pre-amp. This setup will rock even if installed in the attic.

[bigbwb]

What makes the terk antennas not so good? Just curious about their cons versus the cm4228 bow antennas?

[AndrewP]

I read about people experience on different forums, AvsForum.com,
www.satelliteguys.us, hdtvoice.com, etc. When you will see 4228 you will understand why it works right away, even before installing it.
In my case I got all Chicago (except VHF signal of CBS) stations with 4228 in the attic (!). And I am 71 miles from Chicago Towers.

[homthtr]

With East Troy being in a hole it's a tough area, but we are not having any problems with OTA in East Troy using the 4228 8 Bay Bow tie. No Rotor.

Steve
www.gourmetav.com

[bradsmainsite]

You did not mention type of home ranch, or 2-story. 10' or 15' when it comes to UHF makes a big difference, its all about height baby when your up in these freq's

If your anything less than 2-story you better go a conventional roof top antenna
if your planning on a permanent install. You should go with a VHF/UHF style again
if this is going to be perment for a couple years because we don't know what channels these stations are going to end up on because they could go back to their original channels ie UHF ch 28 is DTV ch 4, but ch 4 could move back to their old analog spot VHF ch 4 when the change over takes place. If you went with a
UHF only antenna it would not be sufficient to pull in these VHF channels in the future. Better safe than sorry otherwise wasted time and money! ;)

A very good system that is relatively compact assuming you have enough height is
a TDP 4BG26 antenna boom length is 90" (great UHF section) Winegard HDP269
preamp and Minimum 5' tripod, also I would recomend a rotor. I have used this system 40-65 miles out and have had no trouble with getting all the digital channels except FOX 6 of course! :bang:


I do have all these items in stock and can ship in 1 day!
Antenna 4BG26 $74.95
HDP269 preamp $68.95
Tax and shipping extra.
Call 1-877-564-CCS1

[Den Mayer]

As for after the Analog TV shut down......

I believe only Channels 7 thru 51 will remain
as Digital TV options....

Both GBay Analog TV channels 2 and 5 will be moving to
to UHF Channels 23 and 39 respectively....

A Good UHF antenna will pick up VHF-HI channels
(7 - 13) quite well.....

I'm beginning to get more confident that BIG
VHF-LO (2-6) antennas are gone for good...

[bradsmainsite]

So much for the old slogan ads of WBAY2 and WFRV5 won't that be hard for
people to get used to much less todays tmj4 I have got to see that change to
believe it but I suppose its possible! :p

Can you imagine the out cry by these stations across the country that have touted
these solgans since TV time began. WOW :D this truly is an exciting time in TV again!

Brad

[oflaherty]

All TV stations have already made their FCC first round channel selections. There are just a few conflicts to be resolved in the second round.

According to the tables put together by TV Technology magazine, five Wisconsin stations will remain on VHF:
WMVS-8 Milwaukee
WEAU-13 Eau Claire
WKBT-8 La Crosse
WAOW-9 Wausau
WSAW-7 Wausau

In Chicago it looks like two or three station will stay on VHF:
WLS-7
WBBM wants 11 or 3
WTTW wants 47 or 11

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/On-RF/F_Lung-04.06.05.shtml

And don’t worry about the slogans. Thanks to virtual channels, everyone gets to keep their old channel numbers. WTMJ-DT has been on physical channel 28 since November 2000.. but it is still 4-1 for the viewers.

--Sean at TMJ

[bigbwb]

homthtr,
My current setup is the cm 8 bow antenna with the 7777 pre-amp in my attic. The two channels I cant get are Fox 6 & CBS 58. Any suggestions or am I SOL? The antenna is in my ranch home about 14ft off the ground. I get 70-90% signal on all other channels but only about 10-20% on the CBS & Fox channels. Could it maybe the direction I am pointing it or what?

Thanks,
Brandon

[jfelbab]

homthtr,
My current setup is the cm 8 bow antenna with the 7777 pre-amp in my attic. The two channels I cant get are Fox 6 & CBS 58. Any suggestions or am I SOL? The antenna is in my ranch home about 14ft off the ground. I get 70-90% signal on all other channels but only about 10-20% on the CBS & Fox channels. Could it maybe the direction I am pointing it or what?

Thanks,
Brandon

I've read that these stations are currently operating at a fraction of their alloted power. They are expected to be at full power on or around the first of July. I'd suggest waiting a month and see what happens.

[bradsmainsite]

Your only other choice would be to move it outside on the roof, but I
doubt that would even get you FOX 6. It's probably worth the wait to
see what the power upgrades will do.

Brad

P.S. Placing any antenna in the attic provides for a 50% reduction in signal
strenght right off the bat sometimes it can be more or a little less, but thats
usually the starting point.