How can I get better signal/channels from my antenna? Details inside

Used to pass electrical current\power to another device needing it along the line. Acts as both a power pass conductor and a signal distribution leg.

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Thank you very much for all this information guys. Let me tell you, it means the world to me and my family and also that the forums are soooo active. I love it.

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BTW are all your desired channels in the same direction? If not, how far apart would they be? That will also affect your signal strength and quality.

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When you say, same direction, what do you mean?

My house is north of my town and all the antennas that broadcast are to the south (37 miles away). I have my antenna pointing at them.

I do have other TV’s hooked up that receive the signal, but they aren’t powered on all the time.

As for it being vertical, I did take a TV outside when I first mounted it and plug directly in and got every single channel with it mounted that way as my controlled test. After I wired everything up thru the splitter, that’s when channels dropped off. I then bought the WireGuard LNA and got some of those channels back but not all of them. Now, I’m just trying to get the other channels squared away, but really think the 4 way splitter is my issue as its a DirecTV one that was put in when I had that service. Replaced that at this moment seems like it may resolve my issue.

For example, all my stations are at 205 degrees magnetic north. So I use a compass to point the antenna 205 degrees. TVFool will tell you where your stations are exactly using a compass.

If the antenna is several degrees off, that means a certain loss of signal strength. Aiming the antenna using a compass (knowing the direction of the stations) optimizes signal strength and quality.

For instance, if one station is at 200 degrees and another at 220, then one aims the antenna between them at 210 degrees. An antenna such as the C2 can accomodate a 45 degree spread of stations.

What @FlyingDiver is getting at is that the tilt of the antenna may not be optimal in pointing at the horizon. Satellite dishes are deliberately mounted to point into the sky and not the horizon. TV antennas should be tilted to point at the horizon.

Since the C2 has its own reflector, the satellite dish reflector may cause “multipath” - signals being multiply reflected at different distances causing conflicts. This lessens the signal quality.

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. After reviewing my antenna, I can attest that they are within the 45 degree spread. I do remember when I did set that up, I had looked at a similar map of the locations of the towers.

The NM column tells us that you should get 5 green dots on all the stations in the green and yellow blocks.

Aiming the antenna at 131 degrees is the best direction. LOS means aim the antenna at the horizon and not into the sky.

LOS means you may not need both an amp and a distribution amp. A distribution amp may be sufficient without the Winegard. Or the Winegard with a simple 3-way splitter (minus distribution amp). However both Winegard plus CM may well work if it isn’t overkill.

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Lots of good suggestions. Although your antenna is a good one and I’m not suggesting a replacement in your case, however when all transmissions are incoming from the same direction I prefer a unidirectional yagi both for smaller profile, better efficiency in terms of weight and materials and less susceptibility to spurious RF interference from other directions.
I really don’t like the proximity of the dish to your antenna.

I just wanted to follow through to let everyone know that by adding the Channel Master (4 room version) that I increased and added 15 more channels that I couldn’t get before. I’m now up to 70 channels. Thank you very much @TabloFan :grinning:

Maybe we should add a sticky to the forum “Migrating From Satellite to OTA” :grin:

BTW @VipeNess acted with the future in mind! AT&T will be phasing out satellite TV (i.e DirecTV) by 2020 and going to pure Internet streaming TV. DirecTV will become a repackager like SlingTV and PSVue minus the satellite equipment (announced several weeks ago).

I don’t believe it. Last numbers I could find show that DirecTV and Dish between then have over 30 million subscribers. That’s something like $30B annual revenue. They’re not going to just throw away their majority share of that market.

The only article I could actually find about this is: http://hometheaterreview.com/attdirectv-to-phase-out-satellite-tv-service-reports-say/

The headline says “phase out”, but the actual quote from Bloomberg says “AT&T Inc.'s online streaming TV service, DirecTV Now, will become the company’s primary video platform in three to five years, according to people familiar with the plans.” Primary platform. Not sole platform.

“Under the timeline, as reported by Bloomberg, DirecTV set-top boxes and satellite dishes could be obsolete in three to five years. Bloomberg cites people familiar with the plans.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2016/09/27/report-directv-parent-at-t-to-phase-out-satellites.html

“Dallas-based AT&T (NYSE: T) has claimed no allegiance to satellite TV technology from day one of its $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV…”

Satellites don’t last forever - they have a lifespan. Once they are decommissioned, I doubt that AT&T will replace them. Just too costly to launch a satellite. In any case, AT&T has a newer method they are touting in the works to deliver TV signals - via electrical street lines noise free.

They’ve already said they’re not going to bother replacing the satellites that provide SD signals - it’s cheaper to replace the minority of the set top boxes that are SD only. But the numbers are still there to pay for new satellites.

They want an OTT product to compete with Sling (Dish) and PS Vue, etc. No argument there. But handing over their share of the satellite market to Dish? I don’t see it.

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