OTA antenna help

I have two houses in Massachusetts. House #2 is 48 miles from what's
known as "The Needham Antenna Farm" where just about all Boston
stations broadcast. Reception is flawless.

The reception at house #1 has recently become terrible. I'm only
eight miles from Needham. I have an 8-bay CM antenna in my attic as
all stations are UHF. It connects to a pre-amp splitter (for four
TV's). I've had it for four years. About two weeks ago, reception
turned to crap on about half of the stations. (it's fine for the
other half) If I watch the signal quality indicator, it registers 8
(on a scale of 0-10). Three or four times a minute, it drops to 1 or
two, the sound halts, and the picture freezes. Then, three seconds
later, the picture is fine and the quality has returned to 8 or so.
If I adjust the antenna, other stations get the problem.

Should I get another antenna? Perhaps a Yagi? Should I get another
pre-amp?

In article
,
says...

I have two houses in Massachusetts. House #2 is 48 miles from what's
known as "The Needham Antenna Farm" where just about all Boston
stations broadcast. Reception is flawless.

The reception at house #1 has recently become terrible. I'm only
eight miles from Needham. I have an 8-bay CM antenna in my attic as
all stations are UHF. It connects to a pre-amp splitter (for four
TV's). I've had it for four years. About two weeks ago, reception
turned to crap on about half of the stations. (it's fine for the
other half) If I watch the signal quality indicator, it registers 8
(on a scale of 0-10). Three or four times a minute, it drops to 1 or
two, the sound halts, and the picture freezes. Then, three seconds
later, the picture is fine and the quality has returned to 8 or so.
If I adjust the antenna, other stations get the problem.

Should I get another antenna? Perhaps a Yagi? Should I get another
pre-amp?

There are many things that can affect reception. My best guess based
only on what you said is some sort of interfering signal or multipath
now has a greater influence on what the antenna receives and the amp
could make it worse by amplifying the problem signal/multipath. Perhaps
with leaves coming down whatever might have been attenuating the
interference is gone/reduced or there's a new tower/building that's
adding more multipath.

The first thing I recommend is to take the amp out of the equation and
see if you get enough signal with just a 4 way splitter. If not,
perhaps consider a more omnidirectional antenna or, if in any way
possible, a completely different location, say, at least 25 feet away
from where it is, for your existing antenna. If there's any way to get
it on the roof to get adequate signal strength for 4 tuners and skip the
amp, that may offer the best solution.

Just my 2 cents. I'd guess there are more experienced voices here that
may be able to steer you in a better direction.

whosbest54
--
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On Nov 2, 12:05*pm, NadCixelsyd wrote:
...

The reception at house #1 has recently become terrible. *I'm only
eight miles from Needham. *...

Do the dropouts coincide with aircraft overhead?

jsw

On Nov 2, 8:05*am, NadCixelsyd wrote:
I have two houses in Massachusetts. *House #2 is 48 miles from what's
known as "The Needham Antenna Farm" where just about all Boston
stations broadcast. *Reception is flawless.

The reception at house #1 has recently become terrible. *I'm only
eight miles from Needham. *I have an 8-bay CM antenna in my attic as
all stations are UHF. *It connects to a pre-amp splitter (for four
TV's). *I've had it for four years. *About two weeks ago, reception
turned to crap on about half of the stations. *(it's fine for the
other half) *If I watch the signal quality indicator, it registers 8
(on a scale of 0-10). *Three or four times a minute, it drops to 1 or
two, the sound halts, and the picture freezes. *Then, three seconds
later, the picture is fine and the quality has returned to 8 or so.
If I adjust the antenna, other stations get the problem.

Should I get another antenna? *Perhaps a Yagi? *Should I get another
pre-amp?

You even _need _ a preamp in the first place? At 8 miles with an 8 bay
antenna you should have more than enough signal - unless the antenna
has to 'see' through foil backed insulation AKA a shield. We're 35
miles from Mt Wilson in LA with a Winegard SquareShooter (4.5dB gain
vs 12dB for yours) for the UHF channels (all but 4) split 4 ways with
no preamp and plenty of signal. Perhaps something failed in the
preamp. You might try bypassing it entirely to see what you have. Are
all the connectors installed correctly and firmly snugged up? I had a
loose connector that caused symptoms as you describe.

G²

On Tue, 2 Nov 2010 09:05:20 -0700 (PDT), NadCixelsyd
wrote:

I have two houses in Massachusetts. House #2 is 48 miles from what's
known as "The Needham Antenna Farm" where just about all Boston
stations broadcast. Reception is flawless.

The reception at house #1 has recently become terrible. I'm only
eight miles from Needham. I have an 8-bay CM antenna in my attic as
all stations are UHF. It connects to a pre-amp splitter (for four
TV's). I've had it for four years. About two weeks ago, reception
turned to crap on about half of the stations. (it's fine for the
other half) If I watch the signal quality indicator, it registers 8
(on a scale of 0-10). Three or four times a minute, it drops to 1 or
two, the sound halts, and the picture freezes. Then, three seconds

Local TV Weather radar overloading amp front end?? (too much gain)
Shift in nearby airport traffic patterns? (pattern should change
throughout the day, with fewer interruptions @ late night).
New overpass opened up nearby (antenna needs to be higher) ?
Defective Antenna amp and/or lower gain?
Is only a single HDTV affected?

Plug in your address in the following tool link, and find out exact
distance and bearing of the stations you're having problems.
(post results for both good and bad stations).

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx




later, the picture is fine and the quality has returned to 8 or so.
If I adjust the antenna, other stations get the problem.

Should I get another antenna? Perhaps a Yagi? Should I get another
pre-amp?

As others suggested, eliminate the pre-amp and 4-way splitter, and
connect the antenna at the first break point to a tv and see what you
get. If all the channels come in fine, your problem is downstream,
either the pre-amp or the splitter is the problem.
If you still have reception problems, try moving the antenna someplace
else in the attic, or test it outdoors.
Just curious, which stations are giving you issues? ( call letters).

NadCixelsyd wrote:
Should I get another antenna? Perhaps a Yagi? Should I get another
pre-amp?

I'd echo the advise to try getting rid of the preamp.

If you're only 8 miles from the Needham towers, you may be overloading either the preamp and/or the TV.

--

Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View, TN EM66

Just curious, which stations are giving you issues? ( call letters).

The antenna was propped against the roof rafters. I decided to
install it better. I bought a dowel and mounted the antenna perfectly
vertical, which seems to have solved the problem. The signal quality
on channel 5 (UHF-20) and channel 38 (UHF-39) is not the best, but the
picture and audio appear flawless. Monday, I'll go down to U-do-it
Electronics and buy a splitter that's not connected to a pre-amp.

Separately: While purchasing the dowel at Home Depot, the cashier
asked me what I was going to do with it. He was flabbergasted that
free TV was still available after the analog cutoff. He was even more
surprised the HDTV was available OTA. The cable companies have done a
fantastic job at keeping OTA HDTV a secret. I don't know how HDTV is
in rural areas, but with 13 stations to choose from, and Netflix, I
want for nothing. (Note: If you love pro sports, which I don't, then
OTA is not for you)

Per NadCixelsyd:
I don't know how HDTV is
in rural areas, but with 13 stations to choose from, and Netflix, I
want for nothing.

+1
--
PeteCresswell

On Nov 6, 8:46*pm, NadCixelsyd wrote:
...I don't know how HDTV is
in rural areas, but with 13 stations to choose from, and Netflix, I
want for nothing. *(Note: *If you love pro sports, which I don't, then
OTA is not for you)

According to the maps the old and new coverage areas are pretty
similar. At 30+ miles away in NH I have better reception with digital
than I did with analog, and a few more useful channels although I
can't get Portland ME, Providence RI and Hartford CT any more.

PBS 44 has made good use of the digital channels. Right now they are
showing Batman Forever on 44-1 and a Counting Crows concert on 44-4.
Corinne Bailey Rae is next and Kings of Leon come on at midnight.

jsw