I live near Chicago in the suburbs and I have not had any issues with Channel 7.1
Thanks for sharing that info Ellen! Hopefully the replacement goes quicker than anticipated.
And everyone in Indiana. 
Yes, having lived in NW IN many years ago agree.
WellâŚI tried the Clearstream 4. No ABC 7 and I even lost CBS (which works fine with my current antenna). So the Clearstream is going back. ShameâŚthis means I will have to wait out the antenna replacement and hope it is done sooner than later. Thankfully the NFL is never broadcast on ABC or Iâd be sad
One of the recommendations was to try different locations within the attic not just at the existing one. Did you try moving the antenna around and observe where the signals converged? At one attic installation it took over two hours to find the location where all the signals converged.
One of the pitfalls of attic installation is that signals are not that extensive but instead âmigrateâ to specific spots. In an attic not all spots are equal. The antidote to that is to put the antenna on the roof higher to avoid the way signals are treated within an enclosure such as an attic.
Since it is the south side of Chicago that is being affected by the antenna replacement, are you living in that area?
I tried several different angles with rescans. The limited space in the attic left me with few choices for position but I think I tried what I could. And yes I am south of the broadcast tower (SW specifically). At this point I have hope that the â3 monthsâ for the work means the work is roughly half way done (problem started in early September) as opposed to 3 months left.
I saw it mentioned at another OTA forum for the Chicago area that a helicopter was seen dropping in a new antenna at the Sears Tower a few weeks ago.
In fact here are some awesome pictures of the work being done:
If youâre just looking for a temporary option, you could go with PlayStation Vue. Depending on your location, the local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX should be included in the Core package. I had to get it to supplement my OTA viewing since WGN quit broadcasting most of the Cubs Games so I needed FSN just to watch the Playoffs. The nice thing is itâs month to month so I can cancel when the season is over and pick it back up anytime.
This is the great thing about streaming packages - single monthly payments and commitments. I needed ESPN last year just for the college football playoffs and championship so got it for just two months via Sling.
Agreed, I think ABC is included with Sling Core package which would be even cheaper than Vue.
PlayStation vue is an option (it has DVR includedâŚdoes sling?). However Iâd rather ABC not get the retransmission fee from me. Sure itâs not much for a single household but itâs the principle. Their advertisers will not get my viewershipâŚagainâŚmore of a principle thing. It might not matter but in my mind maybe just maybe theyâll suffer lost revenue and think twice before giving the Southside the shaft next upgrade.
Sling DVR is limited, 1-3 day retention depending on the station. Both Sling and VUE have a 7 day free trial. Try them both out. I like the interface much better on Sling but you canât beat the 28 day retention on VUE and other features. Plus, DISH owns Sling TV and I just cut the cord from them this past summer so needless to say theyâre not getting a dime more out of me for anything.
I know this is an old post I havenât been on the forums for quite some time. Anyhow I too live in Chicago and I recently started to have issues with ABC ch7, it started maybe the last couple of months ago. Iâm close to Sear Tower 7.5 miles and I still get ch7 but if itâs even a little cloudy or get slight rain it starts to break up really bad. This wasnât the case it was fine even last year in heavy rain and snow. I was using a Mohu leaf installed in my attic, I moved it around a bit and it made no difference. I just got the ClearStream v4 on Monday at Best Buy for $80. ABC is coming in great now. Even the little rain we got today would have given me issue with ch 7 and so far so good.
2 Likes
The v4 has a broader beamwidth than the Mohu. Frequencies can shift by inches and the 4v will have a better chance at getting them. Also the 4 loops on the 4v together have a higher gain than the Mohu. During bad weather the multiple loops have a larger window for signal reception and thus make for more stable reception. Think of the 4 loops as 4 Mohus - each loop is a separate receiving element.
Also the v4 has a reflector on the back which adds as much as 15% to the signal strength. The Mohu Leaf doesnât.
1 Like
WellâŚstill no ABC Chicago for me 29 miles SW of the broadcast antenna (tried two different antennas). If Ellenâs info is still on trackâŚIâm about halfway until the signal is back. Sure I know most people still use cable and satellite and therefore have no problem but for the station sacrificed the fall season given their timing for the antenna replacement (again this assumes Ellenâs info is correct about ABC changing their antenna). Youâd think the summer months would have been a better time to mess with the broadcast instead of when sweeps is.
I have the RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi (link way up above) and I tried the ClearStream 4. The ClearStream 4 was far worse than the RCA.I lost stations with it and ABC never came in. As far as Eliâs commentâŚI am a bit further away at 29 miles as opposed to Eliâs 7.5 miles. Assuming the story of ABC 7 changing their antenna being true (where the south side would suffer) even if Eli were south of the tower being that close might still be acceptable compared to being 29 miles out.
Might be worthwhile to send them an email asking for corroboration regarding the antenna change.
Unfortunately they do not seem interested in responding to my emails or tweets on the subject.
Jackasses! I had a similar type of problem with one of the stations in my area about 8 years ago. One of their HD signal processing cards failed and their HD signal stopped and all we had was their SD feed. After about 20-30 people calling in for 2-3 weeks after the initial problem, they admitted the problem and said that it would take 4-6 weeks to get another card and install it! Up to that point they had not been willing to admit anything; instead they blamed US for OUR equipment not working properly.
Stations should post their problems and work because they use the PUBLIC frequencies and their license to do so comes up for review and renewal every X number of years. As long as they are using public resources, they are not entirely private and should communicate to the public any issues. One of the license renewal criteria is âservice to the community.â
2 Likes