Reciption - Brookfield wooded lot.

[Jerry W]

I picked up a Zenith HDV420 set top box to test HDTV reception; using this with analog TV set and 20” computer monitor for signal reception testing. Using an indoor Zenith UHF Digital antenna (seems overpriced) that does not seem to provide much improvement compared to simple VHF rabbit ears.

I’m getting normal to good bar readings (no numerical values seem to be available from the 420 unit) for 4.1, 10, 12.1, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 with a few periods of dropout. This initial testing occurred during good weather.

I live on a heavily wooded lot in southwest Brookfield near Bluemound and Brookfield Rd. and right now no leaves on the trees.

How much worse will reception be with tree foliage? Moving antenna to attic or rooftop would be feasible - raising an antenna above treeline is not feasible.

What kind of luck can I expect picking up other local channels; clearer sightline to the west - Madison?

Any input would be appreciated.

[Gregg Lengling]

Even with the wooded lot you should do alright with the antenna on the roof. Your roof attenuates a lot of signal so you'll have a marked improvement with an outside antenna. Yes the foliage will attenuate the signal somewhat...but that shouldn't matter much as long as the stations are running decent power and not flea power like Fox6.


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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
HiDTV Pro 2 computer reciever card
glengling@ameritech.net

[Jerry W]

Thanks for such a rapid reply Gregg; I really appreciate this forum!

[Kevin Arnold]

And you might be able to get Madison stations with a rooftop antenna and a rotor. You are right on the edge of their receivable signal. Most are duplicates of Milw. offerings except that Fox 47/11 is actually receivable while Fox6 isn't.