What antenna needed for Fox 6 in Germantown

[gobble]

I have a $40 Radio Shack antenna in my attic and get decent signal strength on every channel except 6-1.  When I do a channel search, 6-1 shows up on the guide but signal strength is 0.  What kind of antenna do you guys have in Germantown and the suburbs that gets 6-1?  Can 6-1 be pulled in with a attic antenna?

I still can't get over how incompetant the people are at Fox 6.  I emailed them 6 months ago and the guaranteed we would have a workable signal by football season.  Now I get an email from Connie Ritter saying their high power transmitter may not be up until next year.  How can they be so far behind the competition?  I went and ordered the Sunday Ticket thinking I could get my HD without this piece of crap station and now I find out they black out the local games.  Can't they take into consideration that the local station doesn't work?

[gobble]

Update.

I went to Fleet Farm and bought a Zenith antenna which says specifically for HDTV.  I mounted it in the attic and now get a signal.  It bounces all over from 0 to 69%.  However, I can't get a picture.  Any ideas?

[Tom Sielicki]

I can't get it either.   I did before when it was on Brown Deer road.    I am hoping for Fox out of Green Bay or Madison.   Wisn is destroying the fox6 signal.   Have 1 week to go till packers.

[gobble]

I guess I'm just talking to myself here, but I'm getting some funny results.  I get a signal strength on 6-1 that jumps up and down.  Its get up to over 70%.  The other digital channels get similar signal strength.  

The problem is 6-1 doesn't lock in a picture.  The other stations all do.  Even the PAX station works.  Why would the other stations lock in with similar signal strength but 6-1 doesn't?  Why have I read that Fox is at 33-1?

Finally, would it do me any good to buy an 8 bay bowtie antenna?

[dlhoppe]

gobble,

If you have an amp attached to your antenna, remove it. If not, try attenuating the signal to bring down the gain a little. I had the same problem with WITI when I had an amp installed. It was overloading and causing the signal strength to continuously bounce from 0 to 80.  Once I removed the amp, everything worked fine. I don't think the Fox signal is actually the problem other than being weak. The real problem is that WISN's signal is very strong and is the next adjacent channel number. It's kind of drowning out the Fox signal. I would think you could get an adjustable attenuator from RS for less than $10. It might be worth a try.

[gobble]

I don't have an amp or an attenuator.  I'll buy the attenuator and give it a try.  I must admit though that I don't know what an attenuator is.  I have a feeling that we're working with technology that my grandparents used to use when trying to get the signal for their black and white tv's.  These antennas appear very low tech.

[Racer47]

You should buy either a Channel Master 8 bay, Channel Master yagi or Winegard yagi. All are UHF only. Try it outside first, not in the attic. UHF antennas are not as height sensitive as VHF. For VHF higher is always better, but not so with UHF. Also higher and lower signal strengths for UHF can be 50 ft apart.

Buy a good antenna. Try several locations outside. Turn the antenna slowly in each of the locations. Do this without a pre-amp or attenuator. Use a short length of RG6 to the hd box.

There is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. Any antenna that gets channel 33 analog also gets 33 digital.

I bought the 8 bay and can get all of the Milw digitals. I am near Holy Hill. On another post they showed the Fox digital transmitter pattern does not put out as much signal N and S. It is skewed to the W. So your location will be different.

Its not primitive. Its just a weak signal. Work with it a while and see what you can get. I think its a challenge but I also understand that for most people this is more frustrating than fun.

8 bay - Channel Master 4228
4 bay - Channel Master 4221
yagi - Channel Master 4248
yagi - Winegard CA9095
8 bay - Wingard PR-8800
yagi - Winegard PR9032

//www.starkelectronic.com has most or all of these

Good luck.

[dlhoppe]

gobble,

An attenuator lowers the gain from the antenna. It's the opposite of what an amplifier does.

[Tom Snyder]

I'm near Freistadt and Goldendale and have a Radio Shack Double Bowtie indoor antenna in my living room, and it gives me a flawless, solid 70 signal strength on Fox 6.

[gobble]

I'm Division and Donges Bay and can't lock in.