I've made great use of tvfool.com, which I think I learned about here,
and it seems to say that I would have to go at least 50 feet high --
much higher than I had in mind -- just to get 2 to 4 stations that I
can't get with an antenna in my attic. And they would probably be
network stations with mostly the same programs as a station I already
get. Also it says that all the additional stations I really want
to get (the ones in DC) are within 4 degrees of each other! and within
10 degrees of the direction the rafters/trusses in my attic point. So
I think I'm pretty lucky and I'm going with an attic antenna, for
channels 7 and up. But how big?

1) I plan to bring the antenna into the attic, unfolded, of course.
For those who have seen one, or better yet, installed one, is it
possible with a Winegard antennas, or any other brand, to start with a
folded antenna, unfold an element a little bit, remove it completely,
and reattach it in the fully unfolded position? (I"m afraid they
might be riveted on, loose enough to open but able to be removed.)

I may need to get past a 2x4. My pitched roof is not free-standing,
but has trusses every 24 inches. And those trusses include inverted
W's, made by 2x4s. Only 2 of the 2x4s are likely to be in the way.
But I'm trying to foresee all the possible mounting problems.

2) Is each element on the antenna responsible for one (or more)
channels? Or is sometimes more than one element able to receive the
same channel? I ask because: It's conceivable, and more likely if I
get a bigger antenna, that one of the truss 2x4's will be so much in
the way that I'll have to remove an antenna element permanently. I'm
sure this question is obvious, so please excuse me, but which is
better, an antenna with 36 elements but where one was permanently
removed in order to mount or aim the antenna, or a smaller one one
with 28 elements, all of them still present. ??? (Or 41 vs. 36
elements) IIUC, I might remove an element essential for a
station I want, but in that case, I could probably remove another
meant for a station I can't receive anyhow, move the antenna up or
down, forward or back, until I can put the first one back in place.
That would work, right??

3)I won't need an assistant for aiming because I have a co-ax splitter
in the attic, I'll bring a tv up, and I'll have RF remote control for
the DVDR tuner. So: Should I use a color tv, or is a (lighter) B&W
tv just as good?? The B&W is 12 and I think the color is 14 inch. (I
have no stairs, just a hatch in the closet)

4) Does it matter if I tighten the F-connector all the way to tight.
Usually, just touching the center wire to the center hole is enough to
get a good and strong picture, without even touching the outer nut to
anything. I'll certainly screw the connector on, but with weak
signals, like distant channels, does it matter if the connection is
tight?

Thanks a lot.

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:38:43 -0500, mm
wrote:


I've made great use of tvfool.com, which I think I learned about here,
and it seems to say that I would have to go at least 50 feet high --
much higher than I had in mind -- just to get 2 to 4 stations that I
can't get with an antenna in my attic. And they would probably be
network stations with mostly the same programs as a station I already
get. Also it says that all the additional stations I really want
to get (the ones in DC) are within 4 degrees of each other! and within
10 degrees of the direction the rafters/trusses in my attic point. So
I think I'm pretty lucky and I'm going with an attic antenna, for
channels 7 and up. But how big?

1) I plan to bring the antenna into the attic, unfolded, of course.
For those who have seen one, or better yet, installed one, is it
possible with a Winegard antennas, or any other brand, to start with a
folded antenna, unfold an element a little bit, remove it completely,
and reattach it in the fully unfolded position? (I"m afraid they
might be riveted on, loose enough to open but able to be removed.)

All are riveted that I know of. So IMHO, no.


I may need to get past a 2x4. My pitched roof is not free-standing,
but has trusses every 24 inches. And those trusses include inverted
W's, made by 2x4s. Only 2 of the 2x4s are likely to be in the way.
But I'm trying to foresee all the possible mounting problems.

2) Is each element on the antenna responsible for one (or more)
channels? Or is sometimes more than one element able to receive the
same channel? I ask because: It's conceivable, and more likely if I
get a bigger antenna, that one of the truss 2x4's will be so much in
the way that I'll have to remove an antenna element permanently. I'm
sure this question is obvious, so please excuse me, but which is
better, an antenna with 36 elements but where one was permanently
removed in order to mount or aim the antenna, or a smaller one one
with 28 elements, all of them still present. ??? (Or 41 vs. 36
elements) IIUC, I might remove an element essential for a
station I want, but in that case, I could probably remove another
meant for a station I can't receive anyhow, move the antenna up or
down, forward or back, until I can put the first one back in place.
That would work, right??

For a LP antenna, each element is contributing signal. Other designs
vary. You probably would creat a slightly non-linear response removing
one elemement, but that's life. Could you bend the element a bit?


3)I won't need an assistant for aiming because I have a co-ax splitter
in the attic, I'll bring a tv up, and I'll have RF remote control for
the DVDR tuner. So: Should I use a color tv, or is a (lighter) B&W
tv just as good?? The B&W is 12 and I think the color is 14 inch. (I
have no stairs, just a hatch in the closet)


Use the largest, best TV possible.

4) Does it matter if I tighten the F-connector all the way to tight.
Usually, just touching the center wire to the center hole is enough to
get a good and strong picture, without even touching the outer nut to
anything. I'll certainly screw the connector on, but with weak
signals, like distant channels, does it matter if the connection is
tight?


It may help prevent oxidation and future bad contact.

Thanks a lot.

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:46:03 -0500, PeterD wrote:

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:38:43 -0500, mm
wrote:

1) I plan to bring the antenna into the attic, unfolded, of course.
For those who have seen one, or better yet, installed one, is it
possible with a Winegard antennas, or any other brand, to start with a
folded antenna, unfold an element a little bit, remove it completely,
and reattach it in the fully unfolded position? (I"m afraid they
might be riveted on, loose enough to open but able to be removed.)

All are riveted that I know of. So IMHO, no.

That makes sense. It's not a Tinker Toy, and one certainly doesn't
want it coming apart on top a mast. In fact, someone in NYC, on Fifth
Avenue was killed about 20 years ago when someone dropped a curtain
rod out of a window. I don't know how big the rod was, but I have the
image not that it hit him on the head but that it stabbed him.

For a LP antenna, each element is contributing signal. Other designs
vary. You probably would creat a slightly non-linear response removing
one elemement, but that's life. Could you bend the element a bit?

I suppose. It offends my sense of how one treats something new, but
these are only partly works of art. They're meant to do something.

If I broke an element, would a replacment have to have the same cross
section, or would anything the same length made out of the same
material (aluminum), work well?

3)I won't need an assistant for aiming because I have a co-ax splitter
in the attic, I'll bring a tv up, and I'll have RF remote control for
the DVDR tuner. So: Should I use a color tv, or is a (lighter) B&W
tv just as good?? ...

Use the largest, best TV possible.

Okay, I'll use color.

4) .... I'll certainly screw the connector on, but with weak
signals, like distant channels, does it matter if the connection is
tight?


It may help prevent oxidation and future bad contact.

Okay, I'll do that too.

I wonder why Meat Plow thinks I'm trolling. This antenna could
easily last me 30 years if I live so long. It's worth doing it right.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks again.

On Dec 15, 8:07*pm, mm wrote:
....snip, too much...

with regard to removing an element.

sure, snap it off, but save it.

Drill a hole through the board large enough and remount the element to
the antenna.

Just picture making the whole antenna, look like it did before, but
intertwined in the wood structure.

Below, 300MHz, should be no problem. And you said you were
intereseted in ch 7, 175MHz?

At reall high frequencies the wood, and its moisture, start getting
back into the picture. [sorry for the pun]

However, break, or cut, but be sure to reconnect smoothly. Contact at
one point is not good enough. Think surfaces, this is RF.

On Dec 15, 8:07*pm, mm wrote:
On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:46:03 -0500, PeterD wrote:
On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:38:43 -0500, mm
wrote:

1) *I plan to bring the antenna into the attic, unfolded, of course.
For those who have seen one, or better yet, installed one, is it
possible with a Winegard antennas, or any other brand, to start with a
folded antenna, unfold an element a little bit, remove it completely,
and reattach it in the fully unfolded position? *(I"m afraid they
might be riveted on, loose enough to open but able to be removed.)

All are riveted that I know of. So IMHO, no.

That makes sense. It's not a Tinker Toy, and one certainly doesn't
want it coming apart on top a mast. *In fact, someone in NYC, on Fifth
Avenue was killed about 20 years ago when someone dropped a curtain
rod out of a window. I don't know how big the rod was, but I have the
image not that it hit him on the head but that it stabbed him.

For a LP antenna, each element is contributing signal. Other designs
vary. You probably would creat a slightly non-linear response removing
one elemement, but that's life. Could you bend the element a bit?

I suppose. *It offends my sense of how one treats something new, but
these are only partly works of art. *They're meant to do something.

If I broke an element, would a replacment have to have the same cross
section, or would anything the same length made out of the same
material (aluminum), work well?

3)I won't need an assistant for aiming because I have a co-ax splitter
in the attic, I'll bring a tv up, and I'll have RF remote control for
the DVDR tuner. * So: Should I use a color tv, or is a (lighter) B&W
tv just as good?? ...

Use the largest, best TV possible.

Okay, I'll use color.

4) .... I'll certainly screw the connector on, but with weak
signals, like distant channels, does it matter if the connection is
tight?

It may help prevent oxidation and future bad contact.

Okay, I'll do that too.

I wonder why Meat Plow thinks I'm trolling. * This antenna could
easily last me 30 years if I live so long. *It's worth doing it right.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks again.

Buy one of these and you probably won't have to cut anything apart and
re-assemble. It's 3ft x 5ft horizontally.

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7694P.pdf

No, it's not for everybody in that it does not do channels 2-6 but
there aren't many places with VHF lo. A little GC 10-8101 on the
connectors will keep water and corrosion out for many years. After the
connector is installed on the cable, place the silicone on the center
conductor before screwwing it to the mate. Connector should be 'snug'
but don't 'torque' it down too hard.

http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/pro...C-QO1721829242

G²