Trouble picking up low-power station

[Turboff]

Ok, this past weekend I installed my antenna system, which consists of a CM 4228 and CM Titan2 7777 amp. My tuner is the one in Dish's 811 STB. I pick up ABC, FOX, and PBS without any trouble (90%), and CBS comes through very pixelated (sometimes not at all) because it is VHF 9 and the 4228 is basically UHF-only.

My WB affiliate, however, broadcasts UHF low-power (under 4kW) so I am unable to reciever it (jumps around from 49 to 56%). I have contacted the station's engineer and he said that they've filed an application with the FCC to move to high-power, but that it might take until mid-2006. He also said, however, that he knows of a few people in my area that do get the station. The 4228 supposedly being a very good UHF antenna, I thought that I'd be one of those few people that are able to get it. I guess not. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I might want to try to be able to get the broadcast? Thanks.

[fredinva]

Turboff,
I've got exactly the same set-up: 4228, 7777, and dish 811.
I get nbc, cbs, but Fox is low power for me, and they also won't go full power till mid year. Our PBS is ch 3 and I might try a roof top vhf for it.
I guess we'll just have to wait on the low power stations.

a suggestion, try a set top antenna for your vhf channel, you may get it.

I've got mts and trees, but I tried a set-top at a friends friday (two miles away) and he got uhf and our vhf(PBS).

fred
a note - in my case the 7777 only increased my signal by about 5 or 6% over the 4228 alone.

[Ratman]

Or... connect this to the VHF side of the 7777 for VHF:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D236

[Turboff]

This is a bit odd. I wrote the first message while I was getting ready for church and the low-power WB was not working. When I got back, however, it was working, albeit at 60%. Still, it's working and I'm confused why now and not before. I live 50 miles from the towers, BTW.

[tigerbangs]

The Chanenel Master 4228 should have no problem receiving Channel 9: it has about 8db gain at that frequency. I suggest that you re-open your preamp, and switch the input into the "combined" VHF-UHF" mode, rather than the separate mode: thatt should fix your problem with channel 9! :)

[mjones73]

This is a bit odd. I wrote the first message while I was getting ready for church and the low-power WB was not working. When I got back, however, it was working, albeit at 60%. Still, it's working and I'm confused why now and not before. I live 50 miles from the towers, BTW.

60 is about the minimum you need to receive a station cleanly. Various things like weather, cloud coverage, wind, etc can impact the signal which is why you might see it a little higher now. On heavily overcast nights I can pick up channels like 80+ miles away from me because I believe the signals bounce off the clouds...

[Turboff]

The amp's manual says that it comes from the factory set to combined so I'm assuming that it is combined since I didn't change anything.

The WB signal is down again. Does rain have an impact, because it's been raining on and off all day and I can't remember if WB was working yesterday (there was no rain)?

I found this (http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html) website which has measurements for antennas and was wondering if it might help anyone.

Thanks for all the help.

[mjones73]

Yes weather in general can impact the signal. You are bordline due to them being low power and you have a high gain antenna with a pre-amp already, not much you can do about it.

[Turboff]

Just an update on my situation.

In the link that I provided earlier (hdtvprimer.com), the author says that the 4228's VHF performance would probably be improved if the two screens were binded together more tightly. Well, all I did was take a simple wire and tied it around both screens and viola! CBS is up and running at 83%! Amazing what one little wire can do.

Also, I had thought that the 4228 was fairly directional so I had aimed it straight towards Indianapolis (which is where every station except for the WB affiliate has its towers). The WB tower is about 30 degress counter-clockwise from the others, but just out of curiosity I turned the antenna in-between the two locations and viola! WB is running at 80%. The Indianapolis stations which were going around 90% dropped to mid 80's but since it's digital it doesn't matter.

Needless to say I'm very happy and a big thanks to everyone that helped me pick my equipment and get everything set-up over the past month, especially Ratman who recommended the 4228 a while ago.

[Ratman]

I turned the antenna in-between the two locations and viola! WB is running at 80%. The Indianapolis stations which were going around 90% dropped to mid 80's but since it's digital it doesn't matter..

The 'beamwidth' is not a straight line. This type of aiming is called 'splitting the difference'.