On 1/24/2014 9:39 AM, Pat wrote:
On Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:14:39 -0600, wrote:

On 1/24/2014 1:18 AM, micky wrote:
...

What brand was the little one that ddidn't work well?



What brand was the big on ethat worked much better?
....

Both were LG; the difference isn't brand but quality (say price).
You're looking for best sensitivity you can find; unfortunately it's not
much-publicized spec if at all. Which is why I used a local dealer with
whom I have done business before and arranged the loan for trial rather
than just walking into BORG-like place...

To the OP: Note that amplifiers like the one on your "big" antenna can
do more harm than good. Amplifiers amplify both the desired signal
and their own internally generated noise. You want the first thing
that the signal see coming from the antenna to be a low noise
amplifier circuit. In a TV, that may be called the "front end". If
it is external, it is called an amplifier. An old amplifer from the
60's or 70' probably has a worse noise figure than the front end of a
modern TV tuner expecially on the higher UHF frequencies. (In
addition, amplifiers can be overloaded by strong local signals, but I
doubt that is the problem here). If you want the original antenna to
work better, try removing the amp and replace the lead-in with new low
loss cable. It may surpise you. Remember, though, as others have
said, most of your big antenna isn't being used for most of the
stations. Only the small elements (usually in the front) are being
used for UHF. The antenna you consider to be small (a UHF bow-tie) is
one of the best UHF antennas out there.

+2

The interesting thing here is that the OTA stations have stayed on the
VHF band after the switchover...I don't know why that is; perhaps that's
cheaper as avoids some other initial startup costs I'd presume likely?
These are all repeaters, not the main station towers--the stations main
towers are all in Wichita area 200+ mi distant. Not at all like a metro
area out here...if terrain weren't flat and treeless there'd be no
signal at all I expect.

Interestingly, yesterday the one most to the NE wasn't picking up again;
in the cold I didn't go out to see if it has anything to do with the
antenna positioning again in the wind...today's a little warmer, I'll
likely go take a look this afternoon...

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