Dual ChannelMaster 4221?

[pgtman11]

I recently just purchased a ChannelMaster 4221 from Maramax on Rawson (great prices!), and installed it in my attic. I recieve all the local channels just fine, but when the weather fades, I have audio dropout problems. This gets pretty annoying, as my home theater reciever needs a few seconds to synch up again.

I really do not want to install the antenna on the roof, even though I know that would probably fix my issues. The 4221 would be an eyesore on my roof. I had a hard enough time putting a dish out there.

Would it be possible to purchase another 4221 and run dual antennas from my attic?

Assuming this is the case, would the two antenas be wired in series or parallel?

Any thoughts?

[waterhead]

An eysore?
I think receiving free OTA HDTV is the most beautiful thing in the world!
Besides who looks at your roof, anyway? You want good reception, put it outside.

[murdoc]

Might want to try swapping with a Channelmaster 4228 8-bowtie.  The reviews are astounding.

[AndrewP]

Yes, 4228 is much better. Another solution is to add ChannelMaster Titan 7777 pre-amp. You will need one if you split a signal on two or more TVs for sure.

[jfelbab]

Cheapest solution is the 7777.  This amplifier electrically doubles your antenna size.

[psubill78]

Cheapest solution is the 7777.  This amplifier electrically doubles your antenna size.

When you add an amplifier such as this, where is it installed.

Can it go in my basement, where the signal is diplexed from the satellite feed?

[AndrewP]

It consists of two parts. One part is installed at the antenna, second part (power supply) can be installed abywhere, you can do it before diplexer.

[audiopile]

You have to understand that the loss inside a attic is not a linear proposition and frankly if you get enough water/snow running down the roof you are going to have a problem. the real difficulty is random and utterly unpredictable near field reflection into the antenna when it's in a attic. Amping up won't do you any good with this multipath problem. Please understand that although most boxes/displays give some indication of "signal strength" - it ain't no such thing. this is actually indicating Bit Error Ratio (BER) - which is pretty much all MPEG cares about. BER is definitly effected by how much signal is coming into the reciever - but also tracks the effects of  noise and distortion. Attic installs have tremendously more distortion. Your antenna was designed to be high and outside - in a attic it works about as well as most cars do in water.  OK - since most people seem to have a lot more time and pateince than I do - if you really want to waste some more time on a atic install - try a 4228  ( there really isn't a better HD antenna for the Milw. area)- don't start adding multiple  antennas under the roof - in almost all cases they will simply interfere with each other.

[bradsmainsite]

I strongly agree with the above an amp was only ever designed to OVERCOME
cable loss due to long runs!  It by no means makes an antenna better!  Have
you ever heard the old saying garabage in garabage out theory?  That is all an amp
will do just make more of what it is given and if its a garabage signal you will just get more of it.

Besides a roof was really meant to hold up an antenna array not just keep you
dry!

When your watching the Packer games do you really care what it looks like on
your roof? (OK bad analogy after yesterdays game)! :rolleyes:

Really though think about it in 40 years will you still be worried about how that
antenna looked on your roof much less what people think of you because I will
tell you, you should know how little people really think of you anyway!

[AndrewP]

OK - since most people seem to have a lot more time and pateince than I do - if you really want to waste some more time on a atic install - try a 4228  ( there really isn't a better HD antenna for the Milw. area)- don't start adding multiple  antennas under the roof - in almost all cases they will simply interfere with each other.

Maybe you are right in most cases. And I read a lot of such comments on the web when I looked at my situation. But I also read that it is sometimes worth to try. So I installed 4228 in the attic in Muskego, aimed it to Chicago and I got almost all stations. But most Milwaukee channels did not show up. So I added another chip antenna from Menards, aimed it at Milwaukee, combined two signals with splitter, connected to Titan 7777, then in the basement split signal to two TVs. Now I have Milwaukee (27-33 degrees, 20 miles) and Chicago (164 degrees, 70 miles) stations. So it worked very well here.

[pgtman11]

Thanks for the reply's so far.

I live in Bay View, so I'm probably no more than 9-10 miles from the major towers.

My roof is a 12-12 pitch, so installing an antenna out there would be a serious pain. Thanks to the pitch, snow doesn't build up very much on the roof as well.

I'm not a fan of adding an inline amp, plus I only have about 7' feet of RG-6 between the antenna and my HD tuner.

The reason I asked about a dual 4221 is that a 4228 is essentially two 4221's combined.

Since I posted I haven't had any audio drop out problems. Go figure  :cool:

[psubill78]

I'm in Kenosha, where can I get a 4228 with a return policy?

[AndrewP]

//www.solidsignal.com

However, shipping charges will offset the price you pay locally ($40) at Marmax (Rawson ave, just east of Rawson & 76).

I'm in Kenosha, where can I get a 4228 with a return policy?

[audiopile]

Would recomend getting a 4228 from Marmax - this is not a packed to ship item from the manufactorer - these things need to come in on a palet. give us some idea of what you are trying to do with it ( range/ compass heading(s)) , actual HD chanel frequencies ) and we can probably give you some idea if  4228 will work for you. Frankly - if you can't get the thing to work for you - post it on the used equipment end of this site and you should have no problem finding a new home for the 4228  ( hint: MAKE SURE YOU RETAIN ALL THE HARDWARE!)
    Marmax is a great resource - but they are not a "retail" operation - you need to be a big boy/girl with them and understand that they do not take "it didn't work for me /I don't like it /it's the wrong color/my dog ate it" returns

[psubill78]

give us some idea of what you are trying to do with it ( range/ compass heading(s)) , actual HD chanel frequencies

Trying to pull in the Chicago HD channels from Kenosha, WI (just north of 50, east of H).  According to antennaweb.org, the Chicago Stations are 165 degrees, and 50 miles.

Right now, I have one of these things http://www.antennasdirect.com/DB2_Indoor_antenna.html  (or something similiar) on my roof, pointed and getting like 40-50% on the lower channels, and like 70% on FOX 32 (channel 31.  With it - I loose WGN (channel 19) and ABC (channel 52) during the day times.  It just isn't stable enough to trust my tivo recording.

I am hoping the 4228 will work in my attic.... I'm not sure my association will allow it outside.