OTA with Voom

[Sean Mota]

The V* receiver is a digital signal OTA only. Even the digital SD channel will be a challenge to reach you. I do not know whether your elevation will be a plus.

 

[mike123abc]

I will be moving in 3 weeks and am having Voom installed. I checked antennaweb and the Digital stations are about 75 miles away from me. Will I still be able to view them from my location?

If the signals are full power you might be able to do it with a huge antenna. I can get a lock on the Dallas, TX stations that are 75+ miles away using a huge UHF antenna. With a large antenna I am able to recieve my local digitals broadcasting less than 3kwatts 35 miles away.

 

[GC112]

I just had the OTA Voom antenna installed and like I thought, no usable signal on any of the six OTA channels in my area, Naples, FL. The installers were supposed to bring the upgraded antenna, but did not so I had them do the work and isntall the Stealth for kicks, no go. Anyway, Voom is going to uprgrade the antenna.

Also, with the antenna there was only one amp, did the isntallers install it wrong? With one amp, it only works on one receiver, should I have two? Will I need an amp with the upgraded antenna?

 

[Sean Mota]

how far are you from the transmitter?

 

[desidoc]

Can I receive regular UHF and VHF channels if I connect the antenna to TV directly, because I dont have any local HD channels here in yucca valley zip 92284

 

[Sean Mota]

Can I receive regular UHF and VHF channels if I connect the antenna to TV directly, because I dont have any local HD channels here in yucca valley zip 92284

You still can receive the SD digital ota channels through the receiver if your local are transmitting.

Only if your TV has a digital OTA tuner should you consider connecting the antenna directly and bypassing the receiver.

 

[TRColasanto]

Will I be able to get anything OTA?

Hi everyone, great forum here. I ordered Voom on Tuesday, it's scheduled to be installed on Monday. I also called today to confirm, and they said it's still a go. All the info here has been great, and hopefully the install won't be too bad. At least I'm prepared.

Anyway, my zip is 21915, I live between Philadelphia and Baltimore, but not too close to either. According to antennaweb.org, there's only one digital station, and it's almost 50 miles away. Does that make it pointless to install the stealth antenna? I'm guessing I won't get any OTA channels without a better antenna? I see from Sean's pictures that even with the amp, the stealth works with yellow, green, and light green, but the channel antennaweb.org shows for me is violet.

Will I get any local channels, even SD, at all?

All this is a little confusing to me, but this forum has helped sort out a lot. I'll post details of my install here too.

 

[Sean Mota]

Hi everyone, great forum here. I ordered Voom on Tuesday, it's scheduled to be installed on Monday. I also called today to confirm, and they said it's still a go. All the info here has been great, and hopefully the install won't be too bad. At least I'm prepared.

Anyway, my zip is 21915, I live between Philadelphia and Baltimore, but not too close to either. According to antennaweb.org, there's only one digital station, and it's almost 50 miles away. Does that make it pointless to install the stealth antenna? I'm guessing I won't get any OTA channels without a better antenna? I see from Sean's pictures that even with the amp, the stealth works with yellow, green, and light green, but the channel antennaweb.org shows for me is violet.

Will I get any local channels, even SD, at all?

All this is a little confusing to me, but this forum has helped sort out a lot. I'll post details of my install here too.

You need a stronger antenna. I will suggest to let the installer run the wire and connect it. You can have it then replaced with a stronger one. SD/HD OTA is still a digital connection and it will suffer from the same problem. In your case - distance.

 

[Fargus]

OTA from about 80 miles away?

Im about 80 miles away from HD OTA signals and was curious if anyone had any reccomendations for what i should do to get the signals.
Just curious if anyone out there is getting signals from that far away and what antenna they are using.

 

[jabroni]

I can get about two channels for my mother-in-law from about 70 miles away. However, unless she erects a taller tower. She uses a channel master, very large antenna and a quality amplifier. Sorry, I can't remember the brand of the amplifier.

 

[ricks]

Newbie - bear with me here. Currently have no digital/HD setup. Doing my research before I pull the trigger. When I do, I intend to go with V*.

Zip is 33411 - suburb of West Palm Beach. All local HD stations are about 9 miles away except the ABC station which is 30 miles away and 170 degrees opposite. All except one of the close stations are UHF. All of the Miami stations are the same direction as the majority of my local stations. They are all about 52 miles away and all UHF.

I live in a townhouse so would prefer to avoid a large outdoor antenna if possible. That, probably, conflicts with my desire to also pull in the Miami stations. Two questions:

1. Is there any method to determine what stations I can receive through experimenting with various antennas - either inside or outside - before I have an OTA tuner? I'm expecting a resounding "NO" on that one.

2. With the above info on stations, any suggestions on whether I should first try V*'s antenna or should I go straight to a different antenna and have it available for the install?

 

[Sean Mota]

Ricks, since you are so close 9 miles away from the stations, you might want to try an indoor silver sensor antenna. Do not know if you will be able to pull the ABC - 30 miles away. Don't know about the 52 miles away with silver sensor. The silver senson is ONLY UHF so keep this in mind. With the Stealth Antenna you won't be able to pull the Miami stations. Stealth Antenna is only 45 miles range with UHF and 30 miles range with VHF. If you decide to go with the outside antenna, you will need a rotor to pull your ABC station. There is no way to experiment and see what works unless you do it. I was in your situation before and decided to go to experiment with Radio Shack antennas. RS has an excellent return policy. No questions asked if it does not work for you. I ended up with the biggest antenna they have because at the time I was pulling stations from CT since in NYC the transmitters went down after 9/11.

 

[klen]

Newbie - bear with me here. Currently have no digital/HD setup. Doing my research before I pull the trigger. When I do, I intend to go with V*.

Zip is 33411 - suburb of West Palm Beach. All local HD stations are about 9 miles away except the ABC station which is 30 miles away and 170 degrees opposite. All except one of the close stations are UHF. All of the Miami stations are the same direction as the majority of my local stations. They are all about 52 miles away and all UHF.

I live in a townhouse so would prefer to avoid a large outdoor antenna if possible. That, probably, conflicts with my desire to also pull in the Miami stations. Two questions:

1. Is there any method to determine what stations I can receive through experimenting with various antennas - either inside or outside - before I have an OTA tuner? I'm expecting a resounding "NO" on that one.

2. With the above info on stations, any suggestions on whether I should first try V*'s antenna or should I go straight to a different antenna and have it available for the install?

Try voom's Channlemaster 3010 Stealth antenna first, It is fairly decent, and pretty easy on the eyes. If it doesn't pick all of those stations up, call them back. They will install a better antenna at no charge. be forwarned though, that the replacement will be about 8 feet long.........

 

[ricks]

Ricks, since you are so close 9 miles away from the stations, you might want to try an indoor silver sensor antenna. Do not know if you will be able to pull the ABC - 30 miles away. Don't know about the 52 miles away with silver sensor. The silver senson is ONLY UHF so keep this in mind. With the Stealth Antenna you won't be able to pull the Miami stations. Stealth Antenna is only 45 miles range with UHF and 30 miles range with VHF. If you decide to go with the outside antenna, you will need a rotor to pull your ABC station. There is no way to experiment and see what works unless you do it. I was in your situation before and decided to go to experiment with Radio Shack antennas. RS has an excellent return policy. No questions asked if it does not work for you. I ended up with the biggest antenna they have because at the time I was pulling stations from CT since in NYC the transmitters went down after 9/11.

Sean:

So, if you were in my shoes, you would purchase the silver sensor and have it on hand, or an indoor that does both UHF and VHF, and forget about having the outdoor antenna done doing the install? Then, if I decide I need the outdoor later - it is my problem to finish the install? Or, is it possible to make that determination during the initial install and have them go ahead with the external? I imagine the installer won't want to mess around with me that much. As you can see, I'm more confused about the install process than I am about selecting my TV, components, and provider.

Thanks for your time.

 

[ricks]

Try voom's Channlemaster 3010 Stealth antenna first, It is fairly decent, and pretty easy on the eyes. If it doesn't pick all of those stations up, call them back. They will install a better antenna at no charge. be forwarned though, that the replacement will be about 8 feet long.........

Oops. Didn't see your reply while replying to Sean. Not surprisingly, there are always differing opinions to every situation.

 

[Sean Mota]

Try voom's Channlemaster 3010 Stealth antenna first, It is fairly decent, and pretty easy on the eyes. If it doesn't pick all of those stations up, call them back. They will install a better antenna at no charge. be forwarned though, that the replacement will be about 8 feet long.........

I agree. Just be patient.

 

[RickyMac]

Color Zones

More pictures including the pre-amp.

I noticed the color zones on your box were yellow and green. The colors recommended for my area are Red, Blue and violet. Does Voom ensure that the correct antenna is installed according to the location?

 

[Sean Mota]

I noticed the color zones on your box were yellow and green. The colors recommended for my area are Red, Blue and violet. Does Voom ensure that the correct antenna is installed according to the location?

That's a good question. I do not know. Anybody else was installed with the same antenna or antenna made more for your area?

 

[pmalve]

My OTA update

After being aggravated with Voom the first couple of days, I think I am getting a handle on it. I didn't know what to do about an antenna here in Ct as I could not find anyone close to me on any of the forums close to me to talk to. Most of the stuff I read said Ct is terrible for digital ota. CBS broadcasting extremely low power. I decided to let Voom install stealth to see if anything would come in. Towers are only about 20 miles from me as the crow flies but there are a lot of hills. With stealth antenna I picked up the 2 VHF stations from New Haven. WTNH (ABC) had a 55% signal. WCTX (UPN) had a 40% signal. It rained the next day and I lost WCTX, wouldn't lock, kept freezing picture. I went and bought a CM 7621 VHF/UHF combo antenna, rotor, and CM 7777 amp. Intalled it about 20' above roof. Wife says I should get alien channels. Tried without amp first and didn't get anything better than with the stealth. Hooked up amp, major difference. The man at Signal Electronics said they just got the 7777's in. Can't keep them in stock, he didn't know why. I told him about them having the lowest noise, critical for digital from what I have read. WTNH now about 80% WCTX about 55% and solid no matter the weather. Couldn't get WTXX (WB) which was a surprise as I thought that would be one of the easier Hartford channels to get. Was shocked to get WFSB (CBS) with no problem. Have read about people 5 miles away who have trouble getting it. Getting it at 45 to 55%. Watched it a lot this weekend with no dropouts. I also picked up WHPX (PAX) which is 55 miles from me, not that I have ever watched PAX. My only complaint is that WVIT (NBC) and WTIC (FOX) signed on last week and I have no way to add them to reciever. Called customer service and was told they can't add anything until FCC tells them it is ok. She said it could take a few months. This seems like a way to pass the buck. Also my reciever doesn't show all the channels that I should get for my zipcode. She said that is a mapping issue and they would download an update early this week. Sean, does this true about them not being able to add NBC and Fox for months. I would really like to watch some Nascar. My cable signal is awful after watching digital ota. If not, could you help at all? I think this could be a good service if they get the bugs out. If there was a way to add channels I would try to get NYC channels. I used to get NYC years ago.

 

[Sean Mota]

pmalve,

good report. Glad to hear that you got everything working. I know the feeling. I lost my OTAs when I was swapped my receiver this weekend. Let me send this about WVIT (NBC) and WTIC (fox). I got your information. That statement could be true as there are people still waiting for channel mapping for sometime. Each case is different. Before we make any type of assumption, let me send your request for WVIT and WTIC.

How is WTNH (ABC)? When there was no ABC here in NYC, I used to get WTNH with a rotor but the signal dropped so much that I pretty much was discouraged from pointing to it.