GraysonPeddie

Hi. I once did a search for "antenna" and came across this thread, so I thought I'd start my thread here.

But before you read any further, take a monent to answer the questions in the poll:

What area do you live in?
Do you have an antenna for your TV?
What kind of TV do you have?
If you have an antenna (or not, depending whether you've subscribed to the basic cable from your cable company), what type of tuner do you have?

After you're done with the poll, read on...

Here's my information about TV stations I'm getting (note that post-digital transition doesn't apply since I'll be moving to Orlando next year; plus, I'm only interested in digital, but just want to show all the chanels available):



The ones I'm interested in DTV stations are:
WTWC-DT - NBC HD (40-1; real channel 2)
WTXL-DT - ABC HD (27-1; real channel 22)
WCTV-DT - CBS HD (6-1; real channel 46)
WTLH-DT - FOX HD (49-1; real channel 50)

Currently, I have a Winegard SharpShooter SS-3000 antenna, and I'm planning to get rid of it, because I've stack so much stuff, which includes suitcase, 2 books, and a computer software package, where the antenna sits on top of it. But unfortunately, since my antenna can pick up a range of up to 30 miles from a television station, I think all that stuff seems to degrade the signal about 5 miles.

So, I went in to do a research on antennae that will help me boost the signal strength. However, with Channel Master 4221 antenna, I cannot garuntee that this will pick up underpowered digital signal from WTXL-DT (ABC HD). This antenna picks signals up to 45 miles away. I could go with Channel Master 4220, but I wanted something that gives me more coverage, so I wanted to stick with a 4-bay antenna.

A couple of days ago, I once stumbled across ClearStream2, I've researched this antenna and find out that ClearStream2 ties with DB2 (similar to 4220 from Channel Master), I was dissappointed with its performance. If you read the thread that I've linked, ClearStream2 has a gain of 10.2 dBi. Subtract 10.2 dBi by 2.15, and you get 8.15 dBd, which is similar to AntennasDirect DB2's 11.4 dBi gain. When it comes to a 4-bay antenna, Channel Master 4221 is similar to AntennasDirect DB4, which has a 13.7 dB gain (remember, AntennasDirect lists that as dBi, which converts to 11.55 dBd). However, I can't get a similar figure from Channel Master and that I may have found that AntennasDirect may be overrated when it comes to specifications.

Just to give you a general idea of how antenna fares with the others, have a look at the image from http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html:



As you can see, my Winegard SS-3000 falls short below good quality Channel Master antennae out there in the market (don't get yourself caught up on Channel Master 4228 or AntennasDirect DB8, because those two are way less directional than 4-bay antennae).

I wasn't asking for help, but I wanted to post my findings/researches on getting an antenna for me. My current antenna is having trouble locking in ABC HD station, but even if I get Channel Master 4221, again, there's no garuntee that this antenna will be able to lock into WTXL-DT; but, I still will not get WTWC-DT (NBC HD), which I can forget about it, but I love to see some shows in HD, but I don't want to plug my TV into the cable TV service. I just don't watch basic cable; only locals. I know I can just delete most of the channels from my TV, but I like being able to be free from Comcast, but I'm stuck with High Speed Internet with Comcast for now.

Anyway, if moderators feel that this thread doesn't belong there, then you can just move my thread to whether it belongs. I just saw the "analog TV shutoff" thread during the search with the keyword "antenna," so that's why I posted there.

(Edit: Hmm... I thought I'm going to add in four questions in the poll, but only have one... This forum software is a little ackward to me.)

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CCfan

Hi, all.

If you want to watching on youtube video:
YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna!

Yes, I am big fan of Digital OTA. Because OTA has better pictures, sound
than cable or satellite. Hey, others can't beat OTA digital because
they are FREE! I hate analog OTA because sometimes closed captioning
is missing. However in digital are drastically improved with closed-captioned will be perfect -- unless transmitter, broadcasters, stations did have
closed-captioned errors -- at least watchable signal at least 40-45% reception signal.

__________________
I am closed captioning fan.

GraysonPeddie

My delivery of CM4221 should be here today.

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GraysonPeddie

(Phew... I was not able to finish up... My tab in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 crashed, but that's to be expected because it's a beta...)

I got my Channel Master 4221 (I'll call it CM4221) and I compared against my SharpShooter SS-3000. But before I begin, let me say that since I don't have the mounting hardware for my antenna, my antenna sits on top of the suitcase with the handle bar raised up to its fullest.

Analog
Channel 6 - probably WCTV / NBC: Barely can pick up VHF analog channel 6, although that's to be expected of my UHF-only CM4221. Ties in with SS-3000.
Channel 7 (unknown): Barely; same as channel 6.
Channel 11 (WFSU / PBS): It's okay.
Channel 14 (PBS but not in Tallahassee): Worse than channel 11
Channel 27 (WTXL / ABC) Good
Channel 35 (probably a music channel but I get a message saying that they have technical difficulties): Better than channel 11
Channel 40 (WTWC / NBC): Almost crystal clear and I think it fares better than SS-3000.
Channel 45 (not sure): Better than SS-3000
Channel 49 (WTLH / FOX): Have problems aiming, but once I aim to WTLH, I'll lose WCTV and WTXL)

Digital
Channel 6-1 (WCTV-DT), 6-2 (MyNetworkTV / WCTV-DT2): Great
Channel 11-1 (WFSU-DT), 11-2 (FKN), 11-3 (Create), 11-4 (Florida Network Channel): Great
Channel 24-1 (WTLF-DT / CW) almost have trouble lock-in but great
Channel 27-1 (WTXL-DT / ABC HD): Great, but almost a lock in. Of course, CM4221 is better than SS-3000. With SS-3000, it's hard for me to lock in to ABC's transmitter.
Channel 40-1 (WTWC-DT / NBC): Big mistake, WTWC, for broadcasting in VHF channel 2, but thanks for not making me addicted to Deal Or No Deal (even though NBC isn't forcing me to watch, but utter mindless).
Channel 49-1 (WTLH-DT / FOX), 49-2 (CW): Can't lock in unless I rotate. SS-3000 seems to score better, but I can't jump into conclusion here.

The final result is that it's pretty much a tie, but I must consider CM-4221 to be better because it is able to lock in to ABC-HD, but quite intermittent, due to WTXL's low power from the transmitter.

Perhaps a mounting hardware with a couple feet of pole (mast) can help with CM4221? I'm just thinking that the suitcase may almost himper the signal to the antenna, but my antenna is way high up to the ceiling. There is a possibility that the wall on top of the window sill can act as a reflector, but I don't consider that much of a problem. Still, it's better to have it outdoors, but because I live in my apartment and have no balcony, I'm stuck with indoor antennas, but CM4221 is a much better deal than SS-3000 if you don't mind not having asthetics.

But please be careful when installing like outdoor-liked antenna indoor. Some ends of the metal can be sharp, but my antenna's bowtie didn't cut my skin.

Update: No problems locking in the signal from WTXL-DT (ABC HD). During the time of writing, I'm watching High School Musical and no intermittent skipping! Although antenna-unrelated, I saw closed caption come in at almost the correct time, but disappeared quicklier than normal, as I didn't have a chance to read it.

My antenna tilts at a 10-degree angle from straight up (straight up is 0 degrees). I think this is why at a 0 degree angle, I don't think I'll be able to lock in.

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