Winegard Square Shooter OTA Antenna

[charlesrshell]

Does anyone have experience with a Winegard Model SS2000 Amplified Square Shooter OTA antenna? Plan on an attic install and the TV stations are 20 to 25 miles away. Does this antenna work good? Thanks for your inputs.

 

[rad]

I have one. I'm only 15 miles from our antenna farm but with it mounted in the attic I get 95->100 readings in my D* HR20-700. If any of your stations are low band VHF (2-6) you might have problems since the antenna isn't supposed to handle that range very well.

 

[charlesrshell]

It comes with an amp. But, do you think I should get the Winegard HD-269 Pre-Amp too? One of my main channels is VHF 4.

 

[rad]

It comes with an amp. But, do you think I should get the Winegard HD-269 Pre-Amp too? One of my main channels is VHF 4.

Don't know, but why not try it first and see what happens without the amp. Even with an amp don't know about channel 4, could be an issue still.

 

[charlesrshell]

OK, I will give it a try. Thanks for the help

 

[oljim]

Why spend all that money on a SS then hide in the attic, the Winegard 4400 has more gain and is only $20-25
The SS is for people that care about looks and not how good it works.
A coat hanger is better for Ch 4 than the SS,

 

[Gentleman]

I am about 25 miles from my transmitters, all located in the same area and was using the SS2000 mounted outside and had great reception on all uhf channels, then my local PBS went to vhf channel 11 and nothing I did with the SS would pick up that channel, now I have a simple silver sensor uhf/vhf un amplified antenna in my attic and all by signals are in the 90 to 100 range

Bob

 

[Hall]

The SS is for people that care about looks...

Since it looks cool, it's gotta work good, right ?

 

[rad]

Why spend all that money on a SS then hide in the attic, the Winegard 4400 has more gain and is only $20-25
The SS is for people that care about looks and not how good it works.
A coat hanger is better for Ch 4 than the SS,

I got it due to space limitations in the attic, no real good place for a regular antenna.

 

[digiblur]

Does anyone have experience with a Winegard Model SS2000 Amplified Square Shooter OTA antenna? Plan on an attic install and the TV stations are 20 to 25 miles away. Does this antenna work good? Thanks for your inputs.

Garbage... in our area with have a decently powered ABC-HD on RF 13. You can pick it up just fine with regular rabbit ears. The Winegard Scrap shooter wouldn't even show the signal at all. It was replaced with a CM4221, RF 13 hit 95% and we also saw a gain on all of the other UHF channels.

 

[charlesrshell]

Gentlemen, what brand and model simple silver sensor uhf/vhf antenna do you have? Thanks to all for your info.

 

[oljim]

Why not do it the right way, get a VHF/UHF and put it outside, attic can cut signal by 50%

 

[gdarwin]

Why not do it the right way, get a VHF/UHF and put it outside, attic can cut signal by 50%

and cause multipath problems....

 

[charlesrshell]

OK, I might install it outside now. Again, thanks for the info

 

[Jim5506]

The Winegard HDP-269 is the amp that comes with the amplified Sharp Shooter. Some people have good luck with the SS, others do not. Stacking amplifiers is not a good idea. If you need more signal get a better antenna.

Actually, digital TV reception is an art, not a science. No one can say for sure whether it will work for you or not. If you buy one, be sure to buy it from a place that will let you return it if it fails to meet your needs.

That being said, I prefer antennas that look like antennas, because I believe that the laws of physics do not change and traditional antenna design has proven itself to be reliable and effective. Most gimmicky looking antennas are just that, gimmicks, not antennas.

 

[charlesrshell]

Thanks Jim, I think I am going to try out a Channel Master 4221 and still go with an attic mount. I would rather go with the next size up (4228) but the attic access isn't big enough in less I take take the antenna all apart. If it doesn't work that good I will try out the pre-amp. I am presently using a little Winegard SS-3000 indoor antenna now and it works pretty good. So I think the bigger Channel Master 4221 should be OK.

 

[Tower Guy]

OK, I will give it a try. Thanks for the help

The Square Shooter 2000 already has an HDP-269 connected inside. That antenna will not work on channel 4 at your distance. Indoor antennas should have as much gain and directivity as possible. The Square Shooter has modest gain and directivity. It is intended to be mounted outdoors. It might wok for you, but don't be surprised if you are disappointed.

 

[Tower Guy]

Thanks Jim, I think I am going to try out a Channel Master 4221 and still go with an attic mount. I would rather go with the next size up (4228) but the attic access isn't big enough in less I take take the antenna all apart. If it doesn't work that good I will try out the pre-amp. I am presently using a little Winegard SS-3000 indoor antenna now and it works pretty good. So I think the bigger Channel Master 4221 should be OK.

The 4221 is not intended to receive channel 4.

 

[texasbrit]

Before getting worried about channel 4, if the OP is just looking for DIGITAL stations then KMOV which is channel 4 analog is transmitting digitally on 56, and will move to channel 24 in 2009 when analog goes away. As far as I can see, all the OP's digitals will be on UHF after 2009.
So the square shooter might work OK, but the CM4221 is a much better antenna.

 

[charlesrshell]

Channel 4 in the St. Louis area is broadcasted in UHF channel 4.1 and in VHF channel 4. I have an indoor antenna now and the TV picture is super good in the UHF channel 4.1 and not so good in the VHF channel 4. So I think the 4221 would probably be OK. However, I am now checking out the Terrestrial DB8 antenna. Does anyone have any experience with this antenna? My mission is to bring in only UHF digitals for backup when the dish antenna has thunderstorm problems. I am planning on the OTA running to three 722s and one 322.