antenna selection discussion

Do you want advice about what hardware to buy for use with MythTV? Ask here.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
dochawk
Junior
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:32 pm
United States of America

antenna selection discussion

Post by dochawk »

I think this is hardware, but it might well be general discussion or off-topic. I won't be offended if it gets moved. And my searching didn't find one, so.


what observations have people had on the choice of antenna, whether indoor, outdoor, or amplified?

Any particular brands that work well, or to be avoided?

I've got a general assumption that running two or four tuners, and after a splitter the television at that, is going to tax the signal more than just feeding straight to a television.

At the moment, I have an RCA ANT4WHE1, about ten bucks at Walmart. It gets the closest stations well, but there is no feasible non-ugly place near the television and rack that lets it get weaker ones, so unless the amplifier I just order works, it will go back.

Also, RCA's app to find direction is quite limited--it only works on stations that, for whatever reason, they chose to include. So it includes a station 90 miles away, but not one just a few miles a way with channels my wife wants.

at the moment, I'm only connected to the television, with parts still arriving.
User avatar
pvr4me
Senior
Posts: 763
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 7:25 pm
Location: near Toronto, Canada
Contact:
Canada

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by pvr4me »

Antennas usually involve compromises. The 'best' one depends on your exact circumstances. Enter your address in one of the signal estimating web sites and come back with the results.

The only hard and fast rule is that outdoor antennas mounted high up are superior to all indoor antennas. Depending on the construction of your home, around half of the otherwise available signal is attenuated by building materials.

Craig
Formerly the MacPorts guy.
gnurocks
Junior
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:18 pm
United States of America

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by gnurocks »

To the OP,

I went with a GE antenna and mounted it in the attic. See here https://www.amazon.com/GE-29884-Outdoor ... 73786&th=1

From the school of hard knocks, make sure you get good reception before you amplify or split the signal. So, I recommend using a TV to continue testing signal strength and put the antenna in the right place to start with.

I also went with the GE amplifier and 4-way splitter combo (exceptional results). See here https://www.amazon.com/GE-4-Way-Distrib ... UH1SE&th=1

Finally, TV Fool is what I used and it was very helpful for directing the antenna. See here https://www.tvfool.com/

Hope this helps.
User avatar
dochawk
Junior
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:32 pm
United States of America

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by dochawk »

A $40 RCA from Walmart arrived yesterday, and is working well:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Amplifie ... /752836166

it's a soft flexible pad, probably a foot and a half by a foot. We now seem to get everything clearly (well, as clearly as some of those over compressed channels can get [but the blocks are nice and clear :roll: ]).

UPDATE: it only gets the weaker stations in the evening, getting nothing in the morning and afternoon.
Last edited by dochawk on Sun Feb 05, 2023 11:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
dochawk
Junior
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:32 pm
United States of America

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by dochawk »

I found another to avoid.

Amazon's "PBD WA-2608 Digital Amplified Outdoor HD TV Antenna with Mounting Pole"

it worked nicely at first during indoor testing.

However, it seemed to come and go.

After two days of putzing around, I happened to brush the input cable, and suddenly the channel came in.

Further investigation showed that the two F connections were loose, presumably not soldered firmly to the board inside!

So it's going back for build quality.

also, it's a *lot* of plastic to be facing the southern sun in the high desert, where 117 is a common summer temperature . . .

Meanwhile, I noticed that from much of my front yard, I can actually *see* the tower with the weaker station my wife wants! (8.2 miles away on a mountaintop). From my family room , though, in addition to being blocked by multiple house walls, it's blocked by a newly constructed multi-floor school building across the street.

So, with cable already going out to my front yard, I took the first $10 antenna and stuck it on the aimed antenna , at the end of 40 feet of an old RG6 cable with a clear line of sight and no amplifier--and they all came in beautifully.

So I'll look for a fairly small and inexpensive outdoor antenna that can hang from the rafter of my porch roof, and pass cable through the garage and attic to the living room.
white_haired_uncle
Senior
Posts: 244
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2023 8:55 pm
Location: Safe outside my gilded cage
United States of America

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by white_haired_uncle »

Keep in mind that if you have adequate signal reception, and not too many splitters, an amplifier is only going to make things worse. Yes, worse.

There's no such thing as an HD antenna, or Digital, or Extra-Mega-Ultra-11+K antenna. All marketing. You need an HD antenna to pick up HD like you need a German phone to speak German on the phone. SD/HD/4K, it's all the same 1s and 0s, the antenna doesn't care (but the tuner does).

What does matter is Low-VHF, Hi-VHF, and UHF. A lot of the cheap indoor (small, flat) antennas are UHF only (though you might pick up some VHF via the cable itself). VHF requires a bigger antenna.

Multidirectional antennas suck, but they do so equally in all directions. Unidirectional antennas are much better, if all your stations are roughly in the same direction (it's not uncommon for all the majors to broadcast from the same area in larger markets).

I have a RCA ANT751 yagi in the attic.

Again, start with https://www.rabbitears.info/ and then head over to AVS.
blm-ubunet
Senior
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2014 1:08 am
Cambodia

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by blm-ubunet »

There is some relationship between antenna design/styles & received signals.

DVB-T/T2 uses CODFM modulation so it can allow a lot of multi-path & therefore ganged array (flat panel) antennas work extremely well.
Whereas ASTC uses VSB & which has better effective range but does not cope with multi-path.

And a masthead amplifier can make up the signal loss in cabling.
gnurocks
Junior
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:18 pm
United States of America

Re: antenna selection discussion

Post by gnurocks »

gnurocks wrote:
Thu Jan 26, 2023 3:23 pm
To the OP,

I went with a GE antenna and mounted it in the attic. See here https://www.amazon.com/GE-29884-Outdoor ... 73786&th=1

From the school of hard knocks, make sure you get good reception before you amplify or split the signal. So, I recommend using a TV to continue testing signal strength and put the antenna in the right place to start with.

I also went with the GE amplifier and 4-way splitter combo (exceptional results). See here https://www.amazon.com/GE-4-Way-Distrib ... UH1SE&th=1

Finally, TV Fool is what I used and it was very helpful for directing the antenna. See here https://www.tvfool.com/

Hope this helps.
UPDATE: Started to get pixilation with Two TVs and an HDHhomeRun FLEX DUO connected. The 12V version of the RCA VH240R (not the 5V version) and a 75 Ohm termination cap on an unused port fixed things for me. See here https://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/connectivity/?sku=VH240R
Post Reply