Milwaukee HDTV User Group

Update: Last month up in the attic , I installed an 8 bay antenna on a rotor which is nice to be able to point it in any direction from my easy chair.(saved hundreds of dollars by doing it myself) I am now able to get channels 3,27 and 47 from Madison,like Chicago, also about 75 miles from us. I can also sometime pull in stations from Michigan and Rockford , Ill. Not bad , eh? {cheers}

re:FSWI , Slingtv has recently added regional sports channels for an additional $5 a month I believe. Just as long as Charter doesn't impose a data cap , seems like a great deal.

I first had cable in 1981 in Hartland , back when MTV was actually watchable. It was RVS Cablevision which later became Century Cable. At the same time , Selectv was around and I also had that with their funky indoor antenna which needed to be moved constantly it seemed. It was broadcast over channel 24.Can't believe I paid $25 a month for that...lol. :bang:

Just curious how many distant channels people here are picking up and where is your location and type of antenna(s) you use. I am in the SE part of Muskego and am able to always get WLS Chicago which is about 74 miles from me. I also get WFLD all the time and WPWR about 75% of the time and WGN maybe 30% of the time. All I'm using is an Eagle Aspen directional 2 bay antenna in my attic about 20 feet off the ground with antenna pointing slightly southeast. Also using the Channel Master Titan 7777 preamp. This spring I plan on hiring a pro to install a rooftop antenna  with a rotor in hopes to snatch Madison, Rockford, Grand Rapids and who knows. I briefly , believe it or not , was getting Green Bay and few times but this was several months ago. Anyway . Looking for  thoughts on various antenna configs. Thanks :wave:

Just wanted to share my recent success in picking up Chicago stations which are 74 miles to our South/Southeast from our home on the SE side of Muskego. A week ago ,I  Installed indoor/outdoor Channel Master Smartenna with an rca preamp to aid bringing in weaker stations. Now, this antenna is only rated at 50 miles and only 15 feet above ground , but the preamp helps...just a little. As I type this I am watching channel 50.4 Buzzr tv out of Gary Indiana. Their tower is actually in downtown chicago, 75 miles from us. But also, was getting Fox 17 out of Grand Rapids Michigan and WNDU ch 16.1 out of South Bend Indiana...130 miles away as the crow flies! I love trying to draw in free tv stations :rof: Can also get WFLD Fox 32 from Chicago. This morning I did a manual re-scan on our Channel Master DVR+ and was able to draw in WMAQ (very weak) , WLS (strong) and WGN (strong) Now , I know I won't always get these channels , seems to be more stable early in the morning and in the evening. I'm sure in winter it'll be even better  with longer nights and no leaves on our maple tree to the south. But I'm very happy to get what I can, Especially Buzzr tv which I'm still waiting for a Milwaukee channel to pick up. {cheers}

Are we talking about the same channel? My brother in GA says it's not like that there...very few commercials.:huh?:

Earlier this past summer , I did a scan and Weathernation 68.1 showed up. I was only able to get it for a few hours. Since then (and multiple scans later) I have not been able to pick it up. I have our indoor antenna picking up EVERY local ota channel at 100% signal strength ,. but STILL can't draw it in. What gives? We are even getting channel 10.1 @ 100% and from what I understand , WIWN is using their tower. We are in Muskego so I would think we should be able to get WIWN. Any suggestions?  I was impressed with what I saw , it is very much like what the Weather channel USED to be decades ago....ONLY WEATHER and not NBC/Liberal- pushed agendas.

Earlier this past summer , I did a scan and Weathernation 68.1 showed up. I was only able to get it for a  few hours. Since then (and multiple scans later) I have not been able to pick it up. I have our indoor antenna picking up EVERY local ota channel at 100% signal strength ,. but STILL can't draw it in. What gives? We are even getting channel 10.1 @ 100% and from what I understand , WIWN is using their tower. We are in Muskego so I would think we should be able to get WIWN. Any suggestions? :bang: I was impressed with what I saw , it is very much like what the Weather channel USED to be decades ago....ONLY WEATHER and not NBC/Liberal- pushed agendas.

Thanks Jimboy. Actually , late yesterday ,Pure Sound and Vision out of Franklin contacted me. He's going to come out and do an assessment of what time of antenna I need and where to install.

Jimboy ,  Larry from Kemmer is the last one to contact me. He has apparently grown afraid of heights. His loss. :huh?:

This is boggling to me. We recently purchased the Channel Master dvr+ with the hopes of getting rid of Dish network (and the $1,100 a year we pay them) and want to go with only free OTA channels. I purchased the CM Smartantenna hoping to draw in more channels but using it indoors (also tried it outside on edge of roof...no luck) it was limited. Mainly want to get Weathernation 68.1 and WWRS (TBN) out of Mayville (43 miles to our NNW) For optimum signal strength and the highest number of channels we can get , we are trying to find a good roof antenna installer. One guy came out Monday(Ed Frawley...found on Angie's List) and said he can't do it because he doesn't own a scaling ladder to go on our 45 degree angle(normal) garage roof. A "professional" antenna installer without the correct ladder? VERY odd. We intend to utilize the current Dish cabling running underground from the garage to our house (about 75 feet)  Another guy replied (Larry from Kemmer tv..also found on Angie's List) said he doesn't climb on roofs anymore. WHAT THE HECK? I guess they don't like making money. Another company never replied. :bang::bang::bang:
 My question is , do any of you know of a good local roof antenna installer? We are sick of paying for all those Dish  channels of which we watch maybe 20 of them. We are willing to pay up to $300 to purchase and install and decent ufh/vhf antenna on our garage roof. Or possibly the roof of house. Thanks for any info!

My smartantenna is a uhf/vhf one. Guess the conditions were just right that morning to draw it in...signal only showed 25% when I was getting it. Still hoping the Winegard HD8800 will snatch signal. :deadair: Also , I think it's odd that WeatherNation 68.1 isn't on this site's list. They need to update it. Also hoping to draw in TBN out of Mayville. Will have installer tweak it perhaps straight north and still not lose and Milwaukee stations.

Not sure if anyone can help on this but a couple weeks ago  my Smartantenna from ChannelMaster arrived and upon 1st scan , it found WeatherNation Milwaukee 68.1 . Since it was an indoor/outdoor antenna , I temporarily put it outside and did a rescan hoping to find more channels . Not only didn't it find more channels , it also didn't find WeatherNation. Brought antenna back inside and every single scan since then , it hasn't found WeatherNation. We are getting the Winegard HD8800 installed on our garage roof this coming Monday and installer will be using current cabling from the Dish network (which we are dropping) Even though it is a UHF antenna , I've read several reviews on it where people were still able to get low vhf channels with it. WN is vhf channel 5 I believe. I hope this is the case. I just find it very odd that I can't get WN 68.1  with Smartantenna. I tried scanning thru our CM DVR+ as well as hooked straight to the tv. :bang::bang: