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Best TV antenna

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Actually it is spot on. You tell it your home address so its not so "vague" and when I google map the stations you can see the towers.

It's only 'spot on' if you're lucky, it takes no account of the local conditions - how could it?.

Essentially it's just a theoretical suggestion based on distance from transmitters (and their power of course) and the underlying geography.

Basically if you're in a good area and it's already obvious what mast and aerial you need to get good reception, then they are correct - but if you're in a troublesome area (particularly where it varies completely from house to house), then they are utterly useless. The ONLY way is to have local experience and professional knowledge.
 
Nigel;
I was saying, spot on as far aiming goes.
Signal strength is another story.
I live in a valley so the difference between marginal reception and good reception for most of my channels is about 30 feet higher.

This site will still take care of most of the guess work for you and give you a good place to start.

BTW do you install antennas?
I did when I was a teenager and wish these sites were around back then.
 
nYou need to give up on having an antenna in the attic. I struggled with that for 2 years and finally put an antenna outside where it works many times better.

Go to TVFool.com type in your address it will give you all the information you need to buy or build a good antenna. The factory antennas are build to sell they are not built to work perfect. You can modify a factory antenna to make is work much better. Your coax cable needs to be 1 piece not several pieces connected together there is a lot of signal loose at each connection.

I tried a CM4228 antenna also a 91XG antenna, they were nothing to brag about. I am 45 miles from 44 stations that are all between 308 to 327 degrees. The 91XG is too directional and very sensitive to wind and bad weather. The CM4224 is more forgiving, does not need to be rotated because it picks up a good signal 10 degrees each side of center but picks up a weaker signal. The CM4228 can be improved by removing the connection between the 2 halves of the antenna then connect each 4 bay to a T combiner with a balum matching transformer and 2 pieces of coax 18" long. Add a 48" reflector too and reception is much better. I receive stations 65 miles away.
 
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If you locate the new antenna a significant distance from the TV and you still have signal problems then a signal booster amplifier located at the antenna my help.
 
Your coax cable needs to be 1 piece not several pieces connected together there is a lot of signal loose at each connection.

While I would certainly agree that's it's by FAR the best to have one continuous run of coaxial cable, there's certainly not a 'lot' of loss at any properly made connections - there 'may' be a very small one, and any proper professional job is likely to have at least one such connection (at the outlet point).
 
#1: Determine if you need UHF and VHF
#2: Determine if you need a rotor
#3: Get an idea what antenna you need from TVfool
#4: Determine # of outlets you have to service.
 
#1: Determine if you need UHF and VHF YES BOTH
#2: Determine if you need a rotor NO
#3: Get an idea what antenna you need from TVfool
#4: Determine # of outlets you have to service.
JUST ONE
I have the RCA ANT1650 Digital Flat Indoor Antenna and when the weather gets bad, my picture pixelates and sometime I lose sound and sometimes signal. I bought a second unit for the other room and it works when the main TV doesn't, it has the same antenna, but it also has the RCA Digital Signal Amplifier for Indoor Antennas plugged in, we looked around today and found the one for this antenna, If all works well, I may not need all this valuable information, but it's here for me and others to use if needed.
Thanks for all,
Kinarfi
PS or Edit, Most of what we watch is at 32 miles.
 
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To give you an idea of what I've been up against, I have a Wineguard HD8200U UHF/VHF antenna, An Eagle Aspen ROTR100 rotor, a Channel master mast mounted amp, about 75 feet of RG-6 to something like a 36-52 db amp to four 4 way taps to supply up to 12 locations. Stations are about 35 miles away. Two RG-6's runs; one for the rotor and one for the antenna. I have an RF to IR converter for the rotor remote.

Not 150% happy and I haven't fully characterized everything. I have this height vs best aim problem for one station. It's best signal is not where it's supposed to be measured with a true 8VSB meter and it moved when the antenna dropped about a foot.
 
A lot of the new TVs do not have a good preamp. Factories assume everyone has a strong signal from cable TV or satellite. With a poor preamp an antenna does not work well on that brand of TV.
 
A lot of the new TVs do not have a good preamp. Factories assume everyone has a strong signal from cable TV or satellite. With a poor preamp an antenna does not work well on that brand of TV.
Thus my suggestion to add a (good low-noise) preamp at the antenna if needed.
 
I moved the antenna away from behind the TV, maybe the metal back was hindering it, added the amp that came with it and things seem to be going pretty good now. Here a photo of the insides of the antenna, sort of. Anyone car to explain this antenna?
 

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I moved the antenna away from behind the TV, maybe the metal back was hindering it, added the amp that came with it and things seem to be going pretty good now. Here a photo of the insides of the antenna, sort of. Anyone car to explain this antenna?

Yes, it's a load of crap :p

Fit a proper external aerial - a decent size Yagi if you're in a poor area.

These supposed 'fractal' aerials don't sound any use, and 'bow-ties' are low gain but were good for anti-ghosting in the analogue TV days.
 
I have the RCA ANT1650 Digital Flat Indoor Antenna and when the weather gets bad, my picture pixelates and sometime I lose sound and sometimes signal. I bought a second unit for the other room and it works when the main TV doesn't, it has the same antenna, but it also has the RCA Digital Signal Amplifier for Indoor Antennas plugged in,
The digital stuff in the descriptions is marketing hype. Its still RF and all analogue. As far as the transmission and reception go.
 
HDTV antena.HDTV is broadcast on one of two frequencies: VHF (Very High Frequency) or UHF (Ultra High Frequency) Most HDTV broadcasts are in UHF, so it’s best.
 
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