Baffled by antenna choices (OTA Voom receiver)

[dinki]

Hey guys, I'm new to the OTA scene. I have DirecTV and Cox Cable now. I am wanting to get rid of my Cox Cable service as it is the basic package and the majority to the channels in the lineup are available as free OTA digital stations which I have been able to successfully tune with a Voom receiver I got from a friend of mine.

I've tried several different antennas in hopes to get as many OTA channels as I can. I've tried a regular rabbit ears antenna which did work on one station but not very well. I then purchased a different rabbit ears antenna with a 50db amplifier in it. This work much better but was VERY sensitive to positioning. I then purchased a UHF Yagi style antenna from Radio Shack for about $25. This worked best of all, but isn't very practical due to it's size. The antenna grabs most of the stations I am trying to get, but there is one that is far enough out from the other towers that I can't tune it without reaiming the yagi (and thus losing the others).

Does a good multidirectional antenna (omni directional?) exist for a reasonable price? I am looking for something that will mount under my DTV dish (it's on a 6' pole from the ground up) or something that I can put in my attic.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

[Ratman]

Go to www.antennaweb.org
Cut and paste the results here so we have an idea of distance and direction of x-mitters.

[dinki]

Thanks for the speedy reply (and sorry for posting in the wrong area).

Here are the results:

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow - uhf KLFY-DT 56.1 CBS LAFAYETTE LA 265° 15.6 56
* yellow - uhf KLPB-DT 24.1 PBS LAFAYETTE LA 265° 15.6 23
* red - uhf WGMB-DT 45.1 FOX BATON ROUGE LA 87° 44.4 45
* blue - vhf WBRZ-DT 2.1 ABC BATON ROUGE LA 90° 49.5 13
* blue - uhf KADN-DT 16.1 FOX LAFAYETTE LA 278° 11.7 16
* violet - uhf KATC-DT 3.1 ABC LAFAYETTE LA 192° 7.7 28


Of these, I cannot receive WBRZ-DT 2.1 or WGMB-DT 45.1 . I have problems receiving KATC-DT 3.1 when aiming for the stations at 265d . I am able to catch at least one other station that is not listed above. That station is out of Baton Rouge. Another station I was able to catch once while testing is in Alexandria, LA which is about 60 miles from here.

Thanks again..

[Ratman]

Well...
1) you have one channel that's VHF (WBRZ). That UHF only antenna (I assume a 15-2162) is not going to help. Especially at 50 miles.

2) the directions are west, east and southwest.

Could an "omni" work? Possibly if they were all under 15 miles. The problem with "omni" and digital is that multipathing can be a big problem. Digital is not as forgiving as analog.

Even if you didn't go to the effort to shoot for the Baton stations, you still have a problem with ABC from KATC at 192 degrees. (and showing violet, you have either a blocked line of sight or they are at low power).

My recommendation would be a to add a rotor. If you do that... you may consider using a Channel Master 4221 (or better a 4228). Both of these antennas are very good at picking up "high band" VHF (channels 7-13).

If you want to add the 60 mile station to your list, then the 4228 would be your best choice.