Improving daytime reception?

[CubsWin]

there are combiners out there that do JUST VHF and JUST UHF. Thats what I use as I have 2 separate antennas (VHF is NW of me whereas UHF is West of me)
Solid signal carries them. UVSJ is the item. If you click on the pic and blow it up you'll see the 2 cables (one from each antenna) go into a box which is right below the preamp

If you select a VHF station (like WBBM) it will go tot he VHF antenna. Everything on UHF will go to the other antena

View attachment 109882

Ok, thank you for the info. I ordered the antenna you recommended along with a Pico Macom combiner and will give that a shot. At only $20 for the antenna, it's worth a try at least.

I couldn't find any instructions for installing this particular antenna. Will I just need to connect it to the combiner and that's it, or will it also require a separate power supply from somewhere else?

 

[Mr Tony]

What you would do is hook the new antenna to the VHF side of the combiner and the existing goes to the UHF. Looking at the specs on most combiners if you have a pre-amp in the setup it will work fine on the UHF side. My setup is the pre-amp is before the combiner so both VHF & UHF get amplified. But that has to do with the pre-amp that I have.

No power supply will be needed for the VHF. I'm sure it will work fine for WBBM even without power to it.

 

[larrykenney]

The attached photo shows my UHF/VHF combination. I've got the 91XG for UHF at the top and a 10 element high VHF yagi below it for VHF. They are connected to a combiner and there's one coax coming down into the house. You need an antenna with some gain for VHF if you want solid reception all the time. I don't think you need the 10 elements (in fact, I don't think they make it any more) but a 5 element version should work great for you. These antennas get stations that are 65 miles away as well as a VHF station that's 83 miles away occasionally.

 

[FTA4PA]

That looks a lot like my setup! VHF high-band is an Antenna Craft Y10713 (as you said no longer made). UHF is an Antennas Direct 91XG. All of our channels are 2 Edge either 42 or 57 miles away. The 91XG gets one of the channels that is 57 miles away but I need to try another spot as we are still missing the other one at 57 miles. Did get a glimpse of it though!
[GALLERY=media, 82]My Antennas by FTA4PA posted Apr 4, 2015 at 10:04 AM[/GALLERY]

 

[Mr Tony]

wish I still had the Y10 7-13

Have the Y5 version which works great for my one VHF station

 

[FaT Air]

I wish the Y5 and Y10 were still available. Either that or the last 2 VHF 'holdouts', in this neck of the woods, switch to UHF. (yeah, like that's going to happen) If I knew that they were going to be discontinued I would have ordered 6 of each a while ago.

 

[Mr Tony]

agreed

 

[CubsWin]

When mounting the 2nd antenna, do I need to position it in a certain location relative to my other antenna? I don't think I have room to go directly above or below, so is it OK to put them side-by-side, or even staggered, where the new one is slightly ahead or behind the other? I need to work around my existing antenna, which has a fairly large footprint in my attic. Is there anything I need to be aware of to prevent any sort of interference between the two?

 

[Mr Tony]

When mounting the 2nd antenna, do I need to position it in a certain location relative to my other antenna? I don't think I have room to go directly above or below, so is it OK to put them side-by-side, or even staggered, where the new one is slightly ahead or behind the other? I need to work around my existing antenna, which has a fairly large footprint in my attic. Is there anything I need to be aware of to prevent any sort of interference between the two?

the simplest answer is there is no exact answer. it will be trial and error but I think if you just aim it at the tower it should work.

On my setup the vhf is resting on the top of the tripod. if I move it up 6 inches on the pole the signal goes down

 

[larrykenney]

I've found that moving an antenna just a foot or two up, down, left or right, can make the difference between receiving a station well and not receiving it at all. A station's wavelength give peaks and nulls in the signal, and on UHF these peaks and nulls are not far apart. As Iceberg indicated above, higher is not necessarily better. You've just got to find that perfect spot.

Likewise, pointing the antenna a few degrees one way or the other can give the same results. There are two stations transmitting from the Walnut Grove transmitter site 65 miles from here (where the Sacramento and Stockton stations are all located) that won't come in with the same heading. One peaks at 51 degrees but I get "No Signal" for the other. The other peaks at 59 degrees, and there I can't get the one I get at 51 degrees. I find it amazing that 8 degrees can make that much of a difference.

RF is such an interesting phenomenon!

 

[Mr Tony]

I've found that moving an antenna just a foot or two up, down, left or right, can make the difference between receiving a station well and not receiving it at all. A station's wavelength give peaks and nulls in the signal, and on UHF these peaks and nulls are not far apart. As Iceberg indicated above, higher is not necessarily better. You've just got to find that perfect spot.

Learned that when I live in my apartment. I thought put the antenna as high as I could in the walk in closet would work. But I gained points with it being about 3 feet lower

Likewise, pointing the antenna a few degrees one way or the other can give the same results. There are two stations transmitting from the Walnut Grove transmitter site 65 miles from here (where the Sacramento and Stockton stations are all located) that won't come in with the same heading. One peaks at 51 degrees but I get "No Signal" for the other. The other peaks at 59 degrees, and there I can't get the one I get at 51 degrees. I find it amazing that 8 degrees can make that much of a difference.

I've seen things like that too. My Ion station (KPXM) is 68 miles away at at 184 degrees
Minneapolis (93 miles away) is at 165 degrees.

Ion comes in stronger aimed at 165 degrees then it does at 184. There is even a dead spot around 175ish where the signal just drops. Then picks back up as the antenna moves west

 

[CubsWin]

I have some good news to report back.

I received the $20 VHF antenna from MCM today and attached it to a mast in my attic, just a few feet away from my existing combo antenna. I lined it up and pointed it the same direction as my existing antenna, then disconnected the other antenna and plugged the new one into the pre-amp.

I went back downstairs not knowing what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was getting a 75 signal strength reading for WBBM in the middle of the day where I could rarely even lock a mid-50's signal on my other antenna. I had never seen a signal higher than 63 before and that was with perfect nighttime conditions. I have been monitoring the signal on the new antenna and it has been maintaining steady between 73-78, which should be more than good enough. I assume if I really wanted to play with the alignment and get it just right I could pick up a few more points, but I don't want to mess with it too much as long as it is working.

The only remaining test will be whether everything still works fine once plugged into the combiner. I should receive that later this week and can test it out. I don't expect it would cause any problems, but I don't want to declare success just yet.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Mr Tony]

very cool! Glad its working out for ya

went back downstairs not knowing what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was getting a 75 signal strength reading for WBBM in the middle of the day where I could rarely even lock a mid-50's signal on my other antenna. I had never seen a signal higher than 63 before and that was with perfect nighttime conditions.

what are you working with that shows that meter?
TV?
Tivo?
converter box?
other DVR?

 

[CubsWin]

what are you working with that shows that meter?
TV?
Tivo?
converter box?
other DVR?

Dish Network Hopper

 

[Mr Tony]

good to know. What is the threshold on the Hopper dongle?
I know on the older Dish products (722, 211, DTVPal) 63 or so was threshold

 

[CubsWin]

good to know. What is the threshold on the Hopper dongle?
I know on the older Dish products (722, 211, DTVPal) 63 or so was threshold

I could be wrong, but I think it is right around 60, maybe even upper 50's (with heavy pixelation).

 

[Mr Tony]

sounds like my DTVPal then

 

[CubsWin]

Even better, I have been getting between 80-100 signal strength this evening.

I never would have thought that a $20 antenna could be the answer to my problem, but it sure seems to be doing the trick.

 

[Mr Tony]

Awesome!
Glad its working for you

​

 

[Mr Tony]

I never would have thought that a $20 antenna could be the answer to my problem, but it sure seems to be doing the trick.

Its amazing what you'll pick up when you use the right antenna