Antennas

Cowcaster88

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
1,815
So I'm going to cancel my cable service this week because I feel we are paying too much for really nothing considering we mostly watch NBC. With that being said, I was wondering what are some of the strongest antenna setups that can catch a number of TV signals? We live in the county of St Louis, MO therefore the broadcast should going only like 20-25 miles from the source.

On top of this I'm going to hook up my MacBook Pro for additional programming.
 
Antennas are very particular at what locations they're being used at, sometimes a cheap antenna will work better than an expensive antenna, it all depends on where you live of course, and if the sources are split up, or in one general direction. Sure you don't have other transmission towers or broadcasting stations in other directions? Even up to 60 to 70 miles away? If so then you can catch them also, with the right setup of course. You can even go dual-antenna with a combiner and point them different directions, or use one antenna with a rotator that you would program.

I wrote these instructions recently for someone else, but it applies equally here: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035712933&postcount=2

Here's a follow-up i wrote to someone who wasn't eager to follow those instructions ;): http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035718439&postcount=17

The right antenna for your area = more channels, follow those instructions and you'll be good to go.

20-25 miles is not very far btw, but it depends on line of sight and obstacles etc etc (mountains, buildings + huge trees)

Good luck either way and let us know if you need more help.
 
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Check out: TVfool.com or AntennaWeb, you can punch in your address to find out which direction to point an antenna and what strength you may need.

One important thing to checkout from those sites is whether your stations are VHF(HI/LO) or UHF.
If they are all UHF, you can get away with a somewhat smaller antenna than if you need VHF.


The most important thing is not to buy a space age small amplified overpriced antenna.
 
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