TV antenna
 

Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

TV antenna
 

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:59:00 -0800 (PST), Larryr
wrote in
:

Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

Winegard MS-2000 is the best reviewed outdoor omni I know of:
http://www.summitsource.com/product_info.php?ref=1&products_id=4573

--
Very best wishes for the holiday season and for the coming new year,
John

TV antenna
 

Larryr wrote in news:ea1fdcdd-3aa2-4708-92c0-
:

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.


The lawyers at the FCC, determined to sell off as much of the public's
airwaves as possible to line their pockets, have chased most of the VHF
stations into the UHF band where multipath reflections are just
terrible.

Digital TV uses a very fast stream of data to render the high definition
pictures the public demands that flickers less than the old system, so
the data streams are very intense. You come along and get the main data
stream coming at your all-around, non-directional antenna PLUS a couple
of hundred OTHER data streams bouncing off tall buildings, mountains,
bridges, other towers, the hotel whorehouse on the beach and EVERY
airplane aluminum cloud that passes overhead landing at the airport.

The old UHF TV was almost unwatchable with all these late-arriving
reflected signals we called "ghosts". The solution was a DIRECTIONAL
antenna that only listened in ONE, very narrow, direction so it wouldn't
pick up the ghosts so bad as an omnidirectional did. The picture got
clearer and you were happy. Those days are ovah!

The computer now sees the main data stream and a bunch of weak then
strong then weak then strong secondary data streams, which in the old
days were those ghosts fading in and out to the right of the main
picture (because the sweep was left to right like reading a book). But,
now, the computer starts to receive, every so often, TWO channels with
the same picture data on them....the main stream coming in directly PLUS
another stream from the reflection off the "Honeymoon Hotel" out on the
beach sticking up. The computer has a very complex error correcting
algorithm which can detect the right stream to render....UP TO A
POINT....when the reflected stream is nearly as powerful as the main
stream. Now confused by the two strong signals it's reading
simultaneously, the computer and its algorithm become swamped, which
causes it to stop trying to render either. Your picture pixelates into
the squares the picture is made up of, finally locking or only decoding
a pixel square or two every scan. The "good" tv lock up and blank so
you can't see ATSC's dirty little secret.....it can't handle multipath
signals changing in phase too rapidly. It can't handle a moving TV at
all!

The solution is Direct TV, but I know you didn't want to hear that.

TV antenna
 

The lawyers at the FCC, determined to sell off as much of the public's
airwaves as possible to line their pockets, have chased most of the VHF
stations into the UHF band where multipath reflections are just
terrible.

Bull****. Stations use UHF because the VHF space was already crowded. They
can move back to VHF after the cut-off.

TV antenna
 

"Bill Kearney" wrote in
t:

Bull****. Stations use UHF because the VHF space was already crowded.
They can move back to VHF after the cut-off.





Either the channel space 2-6 or 7-13, probably the latter, will be in
the next round of auctions after the FCC lawyers run the licensees off
it.

Charleston TV was 2,4,5 and ETV on 7 since TV was introduced. All these
channels are on high UHF and the picture locks on my Philips UHF panel
antenna at 30' over the roof every time it rains. The picture locks
when the C-17 aluminum cloud flies anywhere near me. It's a horrible TV
system I bet the cable companies had their corrupt little hands into
foisting on us...just another nail in the over-the-air coffins.

2,4 and 5, the main network channels had good VHF coverage all the way
to Augusta, the US 601 ridgeback that goes through Orangeburg, SC, up
across the lakes to nearly Florence and Myrtle Beach. FCC has solved
that problem. They barely can make Summerville, now, on digital with a
million watts on upper UHF. Cable operators got what they wanted.....

TV antenna
 

Larry wrote:
"Bill Kearney" wrote in
t:

Bull****. Stations use UHF because the VHF space was already crowded.
They can move back to VHF after the cut-off.





Either the channel space 2-6 or 7-13, probably the latter, will be in
the next round of auctions after the FCC lawyers run the licensees off
it.

Charleston TV was 2,4,5 and ETV on 7 since TV was introduced. All these
channels are on high UHF and the picture locks on my Philips UHF panel
antenna at 30' over the roof every time it rains. The picture locks
when the C-17 aluminum cloud flies anywhere near me. It's a horrible TV
system I bet the cable companies had their corrupt little hands into
foisting on us...just another nail in the over-the-air coffins.

2,4 and 5, the main network channels had good VHF coverage all the way
to Augusta, the US 601 ridgeback that goes through Orangeburg, SC, up
across the lakes to nearly Florence and Myrtle Beach. FCC has solved
that problem. They barely can make Summerville, now, on digital with a
million watts on upper UHF. Cable operators got what they wanted.....



Happy Holidays, Larry...and I hope you have a healthy 2009

HK (from wrecked.boats, the former boating newsgroup)

TV antenna
 

Boater wrote in news:6ro0hcF2iepgU2
@mid.individual.net:

Happy Holidays, Larry...and I hope you have a healthy 2009

HK (from wrecked.boats, the former boating newsgroup)



Same to you, Harry. Long time no type! You must really be appreciating
the recent oil prices in that power boat.

Happy New Year to all!

TV antenna
 

Larry, thanks for the detailed explanation of how DTV deals with
multipath interference. While watching TV last night, I discovered
that removing the power injector from the system resulted in
significantly better digital "continuity", and less snow type noise on
VHF analog.

This makes me think that there is a problem in this particular unit.
I am tempted to open it up and see what I can see. The appeal of not
shipping it back to the online seller ( they charged $16 for UPS
ground) is quite tempting. I may screw it up, will certainly void the
warranty, but may find a mechanical problem that I can fix. I am
going to AB the winegard in passive mode and the homebrew loop to see
which is better.

The FCC's spectrum auctions are of interest to me as a live sound
engineer. Wireless mics are in a state of flux with heavy use in the
700Mhz band before the recent changes. Lots of users are very vexed
with this, but as an industry, we have very little clout compared to
cellular and broadband providers.

TV antenna
 

Larryr wrote in news:8c1cb3a9-523c-4901-b0e9-
:

The FCC's spectrum auctions are of interest to me as a live sound
engineer. Wireless mics are in a state of flux with heavy use in the
700Mhz band before the recent changes. Lots of users are very vexed
with this, but as an industry, we have very little clout compared to
cellular and broadband providers.



I work on PA systems in churches. Channel 7 TV on 174 eliminates those
mics in that band 100%. That transmitter will shut down soon, relieving
lots of problems their video sidebands have caused all these years.

Of all places, Radio Shack came out with some really nice, and cheap,
900 Mhz handheld and lapel/beltclip wireless mics that work simply
wonderful! They are all channel selectable over 8 channels on 900 Mhz.
I've never heard a single odd noise or had any reports of any odd
signals breaking their squelch. With all 8 receivers stacked under the
pulpit at the back of the auditorium, antennas helter skelter wherever
they'll fit, I can take a hand mic off the stage, down any aisle, out
the back doors into the church vestibule, out the thick front door of
this huge masonry church that seats 1100, down the 18 front steps into
the street, across the street and halfway down the neighbor's driveway
across the street from the church before the signal starts to break up!
They've got to be the hottest wireless mics under $150 I've ever seen.
The same church has another mic they paid over $600 for on the 450 Mhz
spectrum that can't go to the back of the big church without balking.
And, crazy as it is, the cheap RS mics SOUND BETTER! The handheld costs
about $80 so if someone breaks it there's not so many tears shed as with
one costing $350.

Now, if I could only teach AME preachers how NOT to put the damned 9V
transistor battery in UPSIDE DOWN with BOTH battery contacts shorting
out against the BIG METAL SPRING holding the battery in
place!....Grrrrr....(expletives deleted).

"Come fix this mic. It went dead and even a new battery didn't fix it."

"See the nice diagram I pasted to the box you store them in? Notice how
these contacts on the battery fit SO NEATLY into these two little SLOTS,
ONE BIG and one little so you can't get them in reversed? Notice how
the battery that melted has BOTH contacts shorting against the metal
clip on the OPPOSITE END from where the two slots are?!"

I try to stay calm.....They keep writing the checks.....(c;]

What do you charge for putting batteries into microphones 25 miles away?

TV antenna
 

On Dec 28, 10:26*am, Larry wrote:

Of all places, Radio Shack came out with some really nice, and cheap,
900 Mhz handheld and lapel/beltclip wireless mics that work simply
wonderful! *They are all channel selectable over 8 channels on 900 Mhz. *
I've never heard a single odd noise or had any reports of any odd
signals breaking their squelch.

I have a hard time trusting radio shack to build durability into
micronta products. After i blew up a fluke 77 looking at a microwave
(idiot move) I replaced it with a top of the line micronta DMM. The
on off switch failed within a month, after I had left the US under
sail and couldn't return it. I suspect that in the long run, even if
the RS mics sound decent, the companders are not up to real pro
standards and the durability is probably iffy at best.

Now, if I could only teach AME preachers how NOT to put the damned 9V
transistor battery in UPSIDE DOWN with BOTH battery contacts shorting
out against the BIG METAL SPRING holding the battery in
place!....Grrrrr....(expletives deleted).

"Come fix this mic. *It went dead and even a new battery didn't fix it."

"See the nice diagram I pasted to the box you store them in? *Notice how
these contacts on the battery fit SO NEATLY into these two little SLOTS,
ONE BIG and one little so you can't get them in reversed? *Notice how
the battery that melted has BOTH contacts shorting against the metal
clip on the OPPOSITE END from where the two slots are?!"

I try to stay calm.....They keep writing the checks.....(c;]

What do you charge for putting batteries into microphones 25 miles away?

The more you charge for such a service call, the more likely the users
will educate themselves to prevent future expense!!!

TV antenna
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:44:19 -0800 (PST), Larryr
wrote in
:

On Dec 28, 10:26*am, Larry wrote:

Of all places, Radio Shack came out with some really nice, and cheap,
900 Mhz handheld and lapel/beltclip wireless mics that work simply
wonderful! *They are all channel selectable over 8 channels on 900 Mhz. *
I've never heard a single odd noise or had any reports of any odd
signals breaking their squelch.

I have a hard time trusting radio shack to build durability into
micronta products. ...

Radio Shack doesn't build them. They are sourced from multiple Asian
contract manufacturers.

--
Very best wishes for the holiday season and for the coming new year,
John

TV antenna
 

John Navas wrote in
:

Radio Shack doesn't build them. They are sourced from multiple Asian
contract manufacturers.


I knew that. I think Uniden, the CB maker, made these....

TV antenna
 

On Dec 28, 7:20*pm, Larry wrote:
John Navas wrote :

Radio Shack doesn't build them. *They are sourced from multiple Asian
contract manufacturers.

I knew that. *I think Uniden, the CB maker, made these....

Radio Shack does specify what they want in a product. Some are just
rebranded like the radio shack SM-58 look alikes that have shure
written on the xlr insert. Of course they are 58's that didn't meet
quality control specs for shure...

If radio shack buys tens of thousands of a unit, they damn well can
(but may not) demand robustness in design.They didn't in feature laden
DMM's that fail if you sneeze hard on them.

TV antenna
 

Larryr wrote in
:

On Dec 28, 7:20*pm, Larry wrote:
John Navas wrote
innews:vi8fl4dvq9el9saob1hj
:

Radio Shack doesn't build them. *They are sourced from multiple
Asian contract manufacturers.

I knew that. *I think Uniden, the CB maker, made these....

Radio Shack does specify what they want in a product. Some are just
rebranded like the radio shack SM-58 look alikes that have shure
written on the xlr insert. Of course they are 58's that didn't meet
quality control specs for shure...

If radio shack buys tens of thousands of a unit, they damn well can
(but may not) demand robustness in design.They didn't in feature laden
DMM's that fail if you sneeze hard on them.


One of the lapel mics failed a couple of months ago. They had plenty of
spares so didn't hand it to me until I was working on the antique Allen
electronic pipe organ that dates back to the very first point-contact
germanium transistors it is full of....one oscillator transistor for
each note it plays...a hartley oscillator with tapped coil for
stability.

Someone forgot to turn off the preamp in the mic and the button watch
battery in the tiny box was dead. I can't believe how long those things
will run or how much abuse they'll take swingin' and swayin' to the
screaming music every Sunday. They all must be deaf. I even have to
replace mid range speakers!

I buy DMMs, in bulk, from Harbor Freight. At $3.99, they're worth it
even if you toss the whole DMM in the trash just for the nice little
test leads that are nicer than RatShacks and half the price with a full
featured DMM with batteries attached! I keep a dozen or so to hand out
to aspiring young technicians and engineers I may need a hand from 10
years from now....mostly to get out of my wheelchair, probably. Give a
curious kid a little DMM and you can ruin his whole life! Serves them
right....it did me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9CxjvIAJqc

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90899
Darn, they went up a buck!

At $20, this is my favorite DMM:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37772

While were here, every boat should have this 100A battery tester:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90636
It's only $15 and will snoop out those dead cells in 2 minutes flat!

I held my breath and bought the Big Kahuna of battery/alternator
testers:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91129
Wanna see how much power you can get before the belt starts slippin'?
Dis be the beast! 500 amps. If you're going to try for more than a
hundred amps....make damned sure the clamps dig INTO the posts real hard
or this carbon pile load will really smoke them!

It never ceases to amaze me, an old metrologist (calibration technician
USN) how ACCURATE even the cheapest Chinese analog volt or ammeter is
calibrated. It's uncanny! Those little analog VOMs from Ratshack are
DEAD ACCURATE!

TV antenna
 

Radio Shack SPL meters are damn accurate.
My boat came with a panel mounted digital DC volt meter that reads to .
1
I had a Fluke 187(some crackhead stole it!) that read to .001 and also
read AC on DC so I could see the ripple making it thru the rectifier
on AC Charge. It was fun to watch the voltage come up by the
thousandth.
The panel meter is .2-.3Volts low and is quite upsetting when it says
my 900AH golf cart bank is at 12.0 when It's in the high 12.3 with a
10 amp draw....

My problem with "dispose-a-tools" is that they need to be disposed of
at the most inconvenient times, when you are contorted into a tight
corner having spent a half an hour setting up a 2 minute job they
validate murphy and fail. argggh

TV antenna
 

Larryr wrote in news:422276b1-0f4b-4462-8db5-
:

The panel meter is .2-.3Volts low and is quite upsetting when it says
my 900AH golf cart bank is at 12.0 when It's in the high 12.3 with a
10 amp draw....



If you would remove the panel meter and take it to a calibration shop that
does analog meters, they will put it in a magnet charger and put an
accurate full scale voltage on it. Then, they will pulse the magnet
charger to bring the meter's permanent magnet up to proper magnetic field,
making the meter read correctly. They will track the meter and if the
tracking from full scale to zero is out of tolerance, they can rescale the
meter scale to read correctly....for more money, of course.

If you tell them you want the meter to be dead accurate at some point on
its scale, say 14.2V for accurate charging, they can calibrate the magnetic
field at that point, instead of full scale.

They'll also test the D'Arsonval's movement jewelled bearings and set the
tension on them, which will have slackened over its lifetime, and make sure
it has the right hairspring tension for good tracking. The hairsprings
slacken tension over their lives, making the meter too sensitive and
spreading the scale inaccurately.

Sure is cheaper than a new, also inaccurately calibrated, meter.

If you're near Houston or Virginia Beach find EIL Instruments and give them
a call. I used to be their mobile calibration van manager, dragging an
office trailer across the country repairing and calibrating CG and FAA test
equipment, on site. Both places had meter calibration facilities to
support commercial and military shipping panel meters, which are still in
use today.

TV antenna
 

Larry, the panel meter is a no name digital meter. I would rather
take calibration service money and put it towards a battery monitor
system like a link 1000, although I have gotten by without such so
far. Thanks for the info nonetheless.

TV antenna
 

Larryr wrote in news:b9dee785-7855-441f-933a-
:

Larry, the panel meter is a no name digital meter. I would rather
take calibration service money and put it towards a battery monitor
system like a link 1000, although I have gotten by without such so
far. Thanks for the info nonetheless.


I bet there's a little tiny pot in that kind of meter to calibrate it.
Probably has some fingernail polish holding it fast. Put a known
CALIBRATED meter across the terminals on the back and just adjust the pot
until it reads the same 13.8327 volts the calibrated meter reads.

DVM's aren't rocket science.

Shhhh...don't tell anyone, though. I made quite a comfortable living off
them for many years.....(c;

TV antenna
 

In article , Larryr wrote:
Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

I never tried swinging an antenna ! I bought a RCA omni some time ago and
it has a amplifier, but the selection switch on the control makes no
difference in high/low band reception. I suspect something faulty.
Well Tandy used to sell the best little antenna that had a motorized
dipole type system inside a thin round case. That was NOT sold at Radio Shack
that I know of. JC Whitney had them, but its long gone. The best system
would be a home made one with amplification and directionality of
some sort, either phasing or motorization.

greg

TV antenna
 

In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article ,
Larryr wrote:
Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

I never tried swinging an antenna ! I bought a RCA omni some time ago and
it has a amplifier, but the selection switch on the control makes no
difference in high/low band reception. I suspect something faulty.
Well Tandy used to sell the best little antenna that had a motorized
dipole type system inside a thin round case. That was NOT sold at Radio Shack
that I know of. JC Whitney had them, but its long gone. The best system
would be a home made one with amplification and directionality of
some sort, either phasing or motorization.

greg

I guess you could also rotate one of those sticks with a rotator.
greg

TV antenna
 

In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,
Larryr wrote:
Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

I never tried swinging an antenna ! I bought a RCA omni some time ago and
it has a amplifier, but the selection switch on the control makes no
difference in high/low band reception. I suspect something faulty.
Well Tandy used to sell the best little antenna that had a motorized
dipole type system inside a thin round case. That was NOT sold at Radio Shack
that I know of. JC Whitney had them, but its long gone. The best system
would be a home made one with amplification and directionality of
some sort, either phasing or motorization.

greg

I guess you could also rotate one of those sticks with a rotator.
greg



Check this out..

http://www.sat-sales.com/proddetail....enna_WA_260 8

TV antenna
 

In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article
,
Larryr wrote:
Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

I never tried swinging an antenna ! I bought a RCA omni some time ago and
it has a amplifier, but the selection switch on the control makes no
difference in high/low band reception. I suspect something faulty.
Well Tandy used to sell the best little antenna that had a motorized
dipole type system inside a thin round case. That was NOT sold at Radio Shack
that I know of. JC Whitney had them, but its long gone. The best system
would be a home made one with amplification and directionality of
some sort, either phasing or motorization.

greg

I guess you could also rotate one of those sticks with a rotator.
greg



Check this out..

http://www.sat-sales.com/proddetail....enna_WA_260 8

I see an updated round rotated device I was describing.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...?prod=HDMS9100

TV antenna
 

In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,

(GregS) wrote:
In article
,
Larryr wrote:
Hi, A year ago, I bought a LCD TV which tunes analog and digital
channels. I first tried to use the VHF masthead whip as an antenna
with poor results, same with rabbit ears. I made a horizontal wire
loop out of a bucket lid and a twin lead to coax transformer to hang
in the rig. I noticed that when swinging at anchor, the motion of the
boat caused the digital channels to freeze or glitch with pixelation
and audio squawks. I would then switch to the analog channel and put
up with the inferior quality.

Realizing that the time was rapidly approaching when I would not be
able to continue viewing by going analog, I decided to buy an
amplified antenna to hang in the rig. I chose a winegard ms2000 omni
which has a fairly large 21 inch saucer, a 3 watt power injector, was
supposed to come with 50' of RG 6. It arrived and I installed it. It
came with RG 59 and cheap F connectors, so I didn't use that. I flew
it and the reception was not quite as good as my home made passive
loop. I changed out coax, unplugged the power injector, and
determined that the cable was good and the amp was functioning.

So, I am very dissatisfied with this unit's performance. I am looking
for suggestions as to how to improve my drop out situation while
swinging on the hook. It should be omni directional, i think. I
understand that digital's phase sensitivity to movement is much
greater than analog. Any Ideas? Not interested in servo gyro type
stuff.

I never tried swinging an antenna ! I bought a RCA omni some time ago and
it has a amplifier, but the selection switch on the control makes no
difference in high/low band reception. I suspect something faulty.
Well Tandy used to sell the best little antenna that had a motorized
dipole type system inside a thin round case. That was NOT sold at Radio
Shack
that I know of. JC Whitney had them, but its long gone. The best system
would be a home made one with amplification and directionality of
some sort, either phasing or motorization.

greg

I guess you could also rotate one of those sticks with a rotator.
greg



Check this out..

http://www.sat-sales.com/proddetail....enna_WA_260 8

I see an updated round rotated device I was describing.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...?prod=HDMS9100


and the orginal discontinued one
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=5MS9000

TV antenna
 

In article , (GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,
(GregS) wrote:
In article ,

(GregS) wrote:
In article ,

(GregS) wrote:
In article




Check this out..

http://www.sat-sales.com/proddetail....enna_WA_260 8

I see an updated round rotated device I was describing.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...?prod=HDMS9100


and the orginal discontinued one
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?PROD=5MS9000

I'm getting a headache fishing through owners. Somehow Antennacraft,
Tandy, and Circuit City, and Woolworths are all the same. A name is nothing
to be proud of anymore.

greg

TV antenna
 

Hi Greg, thanks for the link, but swinging at anchor, I do not want a
directional antenna if I can avoid it. That is why I chose an omni -
though it is not an improvement over the passive homemade omni that I
had been using.

TV antenna
 

In article , Larryr wrote:
Hi Greg, thanks for the link, but swinging at anchor, I do not want a
directional antenna if I can avoid it. That is why I chose an omni -
though it is not an improvement over the passive homemade omni that I
had been using.

I would think a dipole poiting at the station would provide the best swing
range. I don't know the directional characteristics of a yagi
or other types. I guess the data is available.
With that motorized unit, it is basically a dipole as far as I know, but I
also can't say for sure. Rotating a stick antenna is obviously
going to be like a dipole.


greg