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On 2/27/2018 9:12 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna



Your situation may be due to the station's transmitter antenna location
and it's radiated lobe pattern. They may intentionally not be
transmitting much power out over the ocean, focusing it more inland to
populated areas.

I got good digital reception in a more challenging terrain and the
amplified rabbit ears antenna was in the garage, about six feet above
the floor. I was on a bit of a hill, but not that high above sea level.

Amazon prime TV
 

On 2/27/2018 10:37 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.



I kinda doubt that's his problem. The RF amp will more than make up for
any losses and actually there isn't much signal loss in the RF signal
cable anyway unless he has miles of it.

I think it's more an issue of where the transmitter's antenna radiation
pattern has been optimized for. Greg is near the ocean and there's not
much point of the station wasting signal power out over the water.

Amazon prime TV
 

On 2/27/2018 7:36 PM, wrote:

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:28:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I am not promoting Comcast by any means but the problems you cite must
be somewhat unique to your area. Up here Comcast has been very
reliable. Really can't remember the last time it was down for any length
of time since we moved here 2 years ago. It might occasionally drop for
a minute or two if Comcast is working on a distribution amplifier nearby
but even that is very rare. It even has worked fine in a major
ice/snowstorm last winter when we lost power for a few hours. Plugged

he router, main cable box and a TV into the generator and everything
was fine.



I understand Comcast works well up north but they suck here. They
bought out the local company and never bothered to upgrade any
equipment. This is from my Comcast neighbor. He worked for South
Florida Cable and then Media one before Comcast bought them.
+e only seem to upgrade when something breaks.


That makes sense. About three- four years ago Comcast did a major
overall up here of everyone's home equipment including distribution amps
to eliminate "splitters" that most customers had. I think they were
upgrading because of the Xfinity 1 system that wouldn't work properly
with the old gear. Comcast guy almost flipped out when he did our house
in Duxbury because it had cable running to every room except the
bathrooms. I remember he installed two distribution amps, each with 6
or 8 channels. When he was done every splitter was gone.

Amazon prime TV
 

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 23:59:23 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 7:29 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:06:57 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:04:59 -0500 (EST), justan wrote:

Thst's too much to pay for tv. Our fiber cable and internet is
free, but I put up a small OTA emergency antenna and I get about
60 channels with it.

That's for everything. If I don't get the discounts I may try an outdoor antenna. I've got one, just
too lazy to put it up yet.

Digital TV has made the antenna thing a lot less rewarding. In
Maryland I could get all of the DC stations with a coat hanger and if
you had any decent antenna at all you got Baltimore as well as DC.
With a rotor you could point it south and get Richmond (Important to
my Ex when the skins games were blacked out)
These days, with a deep fringe antenna and an amp I have trouble
getting the Ft Myers stations 30 miles away.



Weird. I posted this before but I could get 50-60 digital channels with
a simple rabbit ear antenna set (amplified) in the house in Duxbury. I
imagine your area is flatter than we are so I am surprised you have such
poor reception. We were about 40 miles south of Boston, definitely in a
fringe area and not all would stay "locked" in but the main ones worked
fine in HD. Nice thing about digital is that you either "get it" or you
don't. The days of snowy pictures are gone.

Got all of the major network channels from Boston and Providence
including the sub channels. Channel 5 also had programing on 5.1 and
5.2. Same with channel 4 which also had 4.1, 7 also has 7.1 etc. Also
got some of the former UHF channels. Some of the off beat programming
were old classics like Perry Mason, Columbo and the Rockwood Files. One
even had the old Jackie Gleason Honeymooners series, the original
Superman series and many more really old ones.


Dunno, the only thing that makes any sense at all is I have a big live
oak right in the LOS. I did not think that would screw up the signal
tho. I have it hanging on the same bracket as the satellite and I may
move it when that goes away. I am just not sure I can get away from
all of the trees.

Amazon prime TV
 

On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:09:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 9:12 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna



Your situation may be due to the station's transmitter antenna location
and it's radiated lobe pattern. They may intentionally not be
transmitting much power out over the ocean, focusing it more inland to
populated areas.

I got good digital reception in a more challenging terrain and the
amplified rabbit ears antenna was in the garage, about six feet above
the floor. I was on a bit of a hill, but not that high above sea level.

I am pretty much directly south of the towers and that is parallel to
the coast. If they want to get to Bonita and Naples, they have to go
through me.

Amazon prime TV
 

On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:15:26 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 10:37 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.



I kinda doubt that's his problem. The RF amp will more than make up for
any losses and actually there isn't much signal loss in the RF signal
cable anyway unless he has miles of it.

I think it's more an issue of where the transmitter's antenna radiation
pattern has been optimized for. Greg is near the ocean and there's not
much point of the station wasting signal power out over the water.


This is the setup and that distance is 26 miles. (not sure why google
does not save the ruler when you save the picture)
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Antenna.jpg

Amazon prime TV
 

On 2/28/2018 1:57 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:15:26 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 10:37 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.



I kinda doubt that's his problem. The RF amp will more than make up for
any losses and actually there isn't much signal loss in the RF signal
cable anyway unless he has miles of it.

I think it's more an issue of where the transmitter's antenna radiation
pattern has been optimized for. Greg is near the ocean and there's not
much point of the station wasting signal power out over the water.


This is the setup and that distance is 26 miles. (not sure why google
does not save the ruler when you save the picture)
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Antenna.jpg



Strange. At 26 miles as the crow flies you should get very good
reception with the antenna you described, trees or no trees. The TV I
used in the garage with the rabbit ears had a signal strength meter in
the setup and I could peg it when I adjusted the antenna for Boston
station. Most of the stations that were viewable registered "70" out of
100. I remember if the signal strength dropped to under 60 I'd get drop
outs sometimes. We were surrounded by big trees as well and they didn't
present a problem.

I wonder if your stations are utilizing the maximum power authorized by
the FCC or if there's a restriction. Doesn't make sense.

Amazon prime TV
 

On 2/28/2018 1:57 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:15:26 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 10:37 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.



I kinda doubt that's his problem. The RF amp will more than make up for
any losses and actually there isn't much signal loss in the RF signal
cable anyway unless he has miles of it.

I think it's more an issue of where the transmitter's antenna radiation
pattern has been optimized for. Greg is near the ocean and there's not
much point of the station wasting signal power out over the water.


This is the setup and that distance is 26 miles. (not sure why google
does not save the ruler when you save the picture)
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Antenna.jpg



Greg, I was just thinking about something. Don't know exactly what type
of antenna you are using but maybe it was designed primarily for the old
VHF frequencies that analog TV used. Most of the digital broadcasts are
now on UHF. Unless your antenna is designed to receive UHF freqs, that
may be part of your problem.

Amazon prime TV
 

On 2/28/2018 12:57 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:15:26 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/27/2018 10:37 PM, Its Me wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.



I kinda doubt that's his problem. The RF amp will more than make up for
any losses and actually there isn't much signal loss in the RF signal
cable anyway unless he has miles of it.

I think it's more an issue of where the transmitter's antenna radiation
pattern has been optimized for. Greg is near the ocean and there's not
much point of the station wasting signal power out over the water.


This is the setup and that distance is 26 miles. (not sure why google
does not save the ruler when you save the picture)
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Antenna.jpg

Have you tried TV Fool?
I don't know your exact location but I used Estero and got a map that
shows you have useful stations in three directions. Your antenna is
directional enough that you may need to rotate it to get a strong signal
in the other two directions.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...382b41e2ae7 c

Start here with your address,
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=29

For even more info start at the home page.
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...page&Itemid=75

Mikek

Amazon prime TV
 

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 11:58:41 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 19:37:57 -0800 (PST), Its Me
wrote:

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 9:13:10 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:37:19 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:


Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.

I am not sure why OTA sucks so bad here. OI am 30 miles from the
towers and it is flat ground. Looking down the line on Google I don't
even see any big buildings, just trees. I do have one big live oak
right here. The antenna is 25 feet off the ground and I am afraid to
stick a lightning rod up much higher.

I am running this, with an amp
http://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2440/vhf-uhf-hdtv-60-mile-fringe-yagi/dp/88W2140?st=UHF%20antenna

How long is the cable coming down from the antenna, and what kind of cable? You get a lot of loss in that cable.

It is the RG6 that the satellite company uses. Originally I had a run
of fresh RG6 I got from Comcast (I have a spool from my neighbor) and
I thought that might be bad. When I sent one of my sat boxes back I
switched over to that cable. No change. The amp is right up next to
the antenna. Without the amp it really sux.
I understand 300 ohm foam twinlead is probably the best but that is
hard to come by and the antenna is set up for coax, as is the TV.

RG6 is the good stuff, at least for TVs. The twinlead would be better, but it's such a pain to install properly with all the standoffs, etc. Tape it to a metal mast and you're losing it's advantage. Sounds like you're just in a dead spot.