Which antenna actually works in West Bend?

[byteme]

OK, I've talked to three different places and got three different answers as to what will work getting HD from West Bend.  I'm on the west side of Little Cedar lake, up on top of a decent sized hill with nothing but a couple trees line of sight to the 149 150 degree area where all the goodness is fed from.

I've been told:

CM 4228 - by warren electronics

CM 3020 - w/ CM777? preamp by Solid Signal

Winegard's Prostar 7052A  - by titan TV

Will any of these really work?  All I really want is what everyone else wants, CBS and FOX.  I've currently got D* HD package with the 811 box and an antenna I got free at a rummage sale on the garage giving me PBS, ABC UPN, PAX and NBC.  For CBS I can currently get about 50 or so on the signal meter of the 811, everything else is in the high 70's low 80's.  I've got a request in for a waiver with CBS but that's not going to give me Packer games.

Thanks!

[dlhoppe]

I'm using Winegard's largest UHF/VHF antenna without a preamp. I'm just east of West Bend in the town of Trenton. If you're up on a hill, you shouldn't have a problem getting what you want. Remember, if you get a UHF-Only antenna, you may have to change it again if the TV stations re-assign to VHF frequencies when the final analog/digital cut-over occurs.

By the way, you might want to think about a rotator too. I can get Fox out of Green Bay with a little more strength than WITI out of Milwaukee from my location. This is a temporary condition, but who knows how long it'll be before WITI adds another 9v battery to their transmitter.

[byteme]

I'm using Winegard's largest UHF/VHF antenna without a preamp.

Thanks!  Is that the 7052 that you're using?

I've now also had someone tell me that the DB4 high gain will also work, however, if you've got the 7052 and it works then I'm not messing around.  Where did you get it and what kind of signal strength are you getting?

Thanks again!

[dlhoppe]

The one I have is a discontinued model, but it's equivilant to the HD8200P.  With more elements and more gain, the 8200 will surely do a better job than the 7052. If it were me, I'd go with the best one for fringe reception, the 8200. In fact, that's what I did back when I bought mine. I bought the biggest and baddest available at the time. Turned out perfect given the distance I am from Milw and Green Bay.  Keep in mind that you're a tad further than I am from the towers.

My signal strengths (for Milw stations) are all very strong (mostly "pegged") except for WITI. I get a very solid signal, but only in the mid 80's for WITI. Since I moved my antenna outside, I've never seen a single freeze or breakup when watching WITI.

Signal strengths (for Green Bay) are all very strong as well. WLUK (Fox) comes in a little stronger than WITI out of Milwaukee.

I added the rotator when I installed outside because I had doubts about being able to watch WITI. As it turns out, I haven't had any trouble at all. So I haven't had to turn to Green Bay. Nice to know it's there with the touch of a button if I need it though.

[byteme]

OK, finally got a chance to get everything together.  I ordered the 91XG from antenna's direct.  Richard was very helpful, shipped quick and was pretty easy to put together.  At first I figured, lets try it on the garage where the other antenna is, had about 100ft run of cable from there to the TV with one splitter in the line.  No more channels than the other antenna was giving me.

So, I chimney mounted it, on a 10' pole from Menards, cut the cable length to about 25 feet.  Now I'm pulling in everything, CBS, NBC, ABC UPN - everything but FOX is pegged.  However I was getting mid 60's signal strength from them too, enough to watch the first half of the Pack in HD, then in the 2nd half it started breaking up a bit (60 signal).  Later in the evening the strength was up to high 60's.

I've got a lot of trees south and east of me so no chance in getting clear sky view - is this an issue?  Would a preamp help with Fox?

Thanks!!

[dlhoppe]

If you try a pre-amp, make sure you use a low-power one. If you go with too strong, it'll cause more problems.

Have you tried fine-tuning the aim of your antenna?  What about up and down on the mast?  That can have an effect also.