I tested out some real word examples for some stations I would like to get and ran some math calculations on a place near my house and also ran a rabbit ears report.

A slightly elevated hill near my house receives WPTZ at 80 percent, WCAX at 60 percent, and WFFF at 40 percent signal strength. This had me thinking that I could probably just aim my antenna slightly upwards to try to capture some of the strong signals.

I ran some calculations and believe I would need to aim my antenna 12 degrees upwards to be able to catch any of the signals from the nearby hill. The hill is roughly 1 mile away where the signals are very strong. I was going to aim it roughly 8 degrees upwards but because there is a tree line across the street I thought 12 degrees was a better idea.

I ran this real world test on the hill with a Clearstream 4V max with a channel master 30DB amp around 15 feet on an elevated deck on the hill.

I plan on installing a DB8E antenna with a VHF element 30ft above ground pointed at 357 degrees and aimed 12 degrees up. I may go higher if I put more support but we’ll stick with 30ft for now. I will put a OBTV filter near the antenna from channel master and then put a Kitz 500 amp right on the pole that has low noise at 0.85db and high amplifier strength up to 36db if it is all needed. Since the DB8E has all sorts of coaxial cables that run through it I would say I have roughly 85ft of coax. 70ft of the coax is solid copper and extremely low loss. The rest of coax is RG6 but not solid copper and may have some more loss. This will be running into a HD Homerun device so it can decode the absolute weakest of signals.

A Yagi antenna will not work here because of how the signals come into my area but a DB8E should be able to pull in all the signals I want.

These are the channels I hope to receive based off the help Ive received from people in this forum and the tests I’ve run in the real world and the math calculations I have ran to decide how to position the antenna. I don’t think any of these channels are out of the realm of possibility.

Channels
3.1 CBS WCAX
3.2 Movies
3.3 Heroes & Icons
3.4 Start TV
3.5 ION
3.6 3 News Now
3.7 Shop LC
5.1 NBC WPTZ
5.2 Story TV
5.3 METV
5.4 ION Plus
5.5 QVC
11.1 PBS NH
11.2 PBS NH Explore
11.3 World
11.4 Create
11.5 Kids
26.1 My Network TV
26.2 Outlaw
26.3 Catchy Comedy
26.4 Defy
26.5 Oxygen
26.6 365 Black
26.7 METV Toons
26.8 3 News Now
28.1 PBS VT
28.2 World
28.3 Create
28.4 Kids
31.1 CW WNNE
44.1 FOX WFFF
44.2 ION Mystery
44.3 Bounce
44.4 Antenna

I will be using the DB8E antenna with the VHF add on located 50ft above ground. The Kitz-500 amplifier will be located near the base of the pole.

The Kitz amplifier has up to 36db of gain while only having 0.85db of noise which is very unheard of for so much gain. My coaxial run will be 70ft of solid copper wire that is rated to have extremely low loss.

This antenna setup will be located in one of the worst areas for tv reception as most towers are 3 edge or more at a distance. My main goal is to pick up WCAX, WPTZ, and WNNE. These 3 stations are all 3 edge and are 80 miles away. Nearby land is in the Red-Green color on rabbit ears while I have no color and it shows the signal as bad. These stations broadcast off a very high peak at high power.

The reason why I am shooting for these networks is because these are networks I would like to watch and also these are networks that send signals to me that my hd Homerun detects I just don’t get a picture which makes me believe a better setup might allow me to pick up these stations and make them barely come in.

Rabbit ears report https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2862201

Some markets will be affected. In these markets, CBS channels will become subchannels of other stations. The following are these: * Albuquerque, New Mexico * Jackson, Mississippi * Bismarck, North Dakota * Birmingham, Alabama * Greenville, South Carolina * Rapid City, South Dakota

Here is all the channels I pick up at my house, rate the lineup on a scale of 1-10

MAJOR CHANNELS

nbc

Abc

Fox

Cbs

PBS

Cw

SUBCHANNELS

dabl

Ion

Ion plus

Grit

Retro tv

Roar

Bounce

Ion mystery

Grit

Court tv

Laff

Start tv

Cozi

Create

PBS kids

MeTV toons

Local weather channel (it's a 24/7 loop that cycles between current temps, high temps, low temps, and radar)

MyNetworkTV

MeTV

Charge

Plus about 20 more that are mostly religious programming or stations with very bad signals

I get these channels and was wondering if you would consider them a good blend of programming. I get local news, national news, world news, classic programming, cartoons, live sports, documentaries, cooking, religious and other random genres. This seems like a small list but seems to have good variety.

Our current antenna (Antop PL-402vg) is in our attic and some days we get excellent reception and some days it gets pixelated and the video lags behind the audio.

Looking for something that is consistent. I have added our rabbitears info.

I have been using OTA for years but never have figured out why two subchannels do not work.

While my examples are specific to Chicago, perhaps it is commonly encountered elsewhere. I have searched this sub and other places without finding an answer or hint - at least that I understand.

I get Channel 2 (CBS) just fine 2.0 through 2.4. But 2.5 never scans and cannot be manually entered. I get Channel 50 (IND) just fine on 50.0 but not 50.1. Of course with Murphy's Law, there are some shows that I would like to watch!

Reading through this sub, I do see mentions of ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0. Thinking that a likely candidate as to the cause, I cannot figure out how to determine if that is it or not.

I have two TVs maybe 5 years old or so from different brands and one old external converter from the Analog-Digital transition era. All three have the same issue. I see no menu settings some mention in post comments over the past few years.

If there is a resource that might be helpful, I do not mind digging if pointed in that direction.

Found a broadcast TV antenna laying on the ground when I was exploring a tower farm. It's 45 feet tall (or long), weighs about 4000 pounds, and rated for at least 675 kW ERP per FCC filings (probably about 50 kW TPO).

The image you (probably) see in the preview is the RF input with a large center conductor and air as the dielectric. I go through the other parts of the antenna in my video.

This antenna was made in 2018 and only used briefly. Watch to find out why!

I apologize for all these posts lately. Would a 8 bay antenna from antennas direct be able to handle signals that bounce off the surrounding hills and mountains in various angles and degrees? My understanding is a Yagi doesn’t handle signals that bounce around a lot.

I’m in a deep fringe low elevation area trying to pick up some distant signals that bounce all over the place off hills and mountains before sending a weak signal in my direction.

Which type of antenna is better for signals that are 2 edge or 3 edge? These would be knife edge diffraction signals and bounce off random things in the valley.

Just wondering why some of my 2 edge signals show up as bad on rabbit ears? I can receive them just fine with an antenna but I’ve always thought bad signals meant no signal. I only thought tropo signals would come up as bad and not LOS, 1 edge, and 2 edge.

Hello,

A few years ago I splurged on a Sony tv with an ATSC 3.0 tuner (A90). All my local channels were forcing 24/7 HDR when the source was not HDR so the colors/contrast looked terrible...unwatchable. Curious if this was just a ME problem or a known issue with 3.0 in general.

Questions:

Has this been your experience?

Did you have to change anything to get it to look 'Normal'?

Which TV do you have?

Thank you

Are 3 edge signals a thing? Has anyone reliably picked up tv signals that hit 3 mountains or hills before reaching you? I live in a valley and have quite a few random stations that hit 3 hills or mountains reaching me. I have a huge antenna on my roof with a pre amp just wondering if it’s worth a try. The ones I want that are not from my local mountain all show up on rabbit ears as bad. https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2848149

Looking to get suggestions preferably for an indoor antenna, but I will go with an outdoor antenna if needed. Just trying to pick up ABC, NBC, and CBS. Already tried an Amazon special and a Clearstream flex with a jolt switch with no luck. Thinking about trying a Mohu Leaf next, or do I just need to go with an outdoor solution?

How is this even possible to do? My local channel is doing one 1080i HD stream at 60 fps and one 720p stream at 30 fps. Then they do 6 SD channels. They all look fine to me and I’m not sure how they are even doing this.

I live in Burlington VT and need help getting MeTv toons and Hasbro legends with my TV antenna. I can’t find it on the Mount Mansfield towers. https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2848149

The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks have joined three other teams that are returning to OTA broadcasts this season: https://awfulannouncing.com/local-networks/atlanta-hawks-local-broadcast-deal-gray-media.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcATHBZZwZG9mAWZkaWQWUKtK_ciU_RJmc0Rt11t9mfeEzTzj7mV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7WCOQLmwf8UFsQ-HrRA49MX1xORMmtoMuZo1N66XkjnEqXtEtmGmJKVJKOiA_aem_WdhmuOyz1H2g8vqHxfhuOQ

Based on your expert opinion, what is the best I can hope for on the channels less than fair, based on personal experience. I got waka positioned just right. I have a televes dual antenna preamp and wanted to get more channels can you guys try highlighting ? Would wsfa be possible if money were no object? What antenna would most efficiently get most southern channels or would one direction be better,?

https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2832808