Here's my TV Fool:
TV Fool
I decided to give "cutting the cord" a try this summer. My goal is to receive the full complement of local Big Network channels from OKC, about 40 miles away:
KOCO (7), KETA (13), KFOR (27), KWTV (39), KOCB (33), and KOKH (24). Anything else is gravy.
I started with a cute little bow-tie (or crossed dipole maybe?) with an integrated pre-amp, all in a nice weather-proof housing. It worked surprisingly well once I found a good outdoor mounting location. Cable run ended up being about 75', RG6. I got all the stations above plus a few more (all the way down to KTPX ranked by Noise Margin in my TV Fool Report). All was not well, however--KOCO (7) would sporadically pixelate, and then just disappear for hours at a time.
So, I did a little research and discovered my cute little antenna likely didn't have much gain on Ch. 7 (maybe 0 dB relative to a reference dipole?), so I sent it back and got myself a small Yagi (RCA ANT751). Various sources state the VHF-Hi gain on this guy is supposed to be in the neighborhood of 5-7 db... I used a tripod temporarily seat it on the peak of my roof, so it had a clear shot at the horizon. Nothing is bolted down--I just had it up there for a few minutes of testing. Also note--I did *not* ground the cable for my test. (I intend to...) Cable run was 90' of RG6. There's a water tower a couple of miles away that's on the path from my house to the OKC antenna farm, so I know I pointed in the right direction. Result: Qualitatively the same as the cute little antenna. I get everything I'm looking for (maybe a bit more solid?), but KOCO (7) still goes from perfect, to pixelating, to gone. I've got the Winegard LNA-200 coming in tomorrow, but with the length of my run, I'm not sure it's going to do anything for me.
KETA (13) is the only other VHF-Hi channel I'm interested in, and it comes in just fine--really solid. This is weird, because TV Fool says it has roughly the same Noise Margin (KOCO-7 21.9 dB v KETA-13 21.5 dB). This makes me think that I might not have a gain problem--maybe I have an interference problem? There are lots of FM stations around here. Wonder if there could be some harmonics giving me grief?
Proposed next steps:
1. Ground the cable. (And mast, especially if this thing is going to live on the roof!) If that doesn't solve my Ch. 7 problem, then:
2. Try the LNA-200. Next:
3. Try a bigger antenna? Or some kind of filter or FM trap?
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!
TV Fool
I decided to give "cutting the cord" a try this summer. My goal is to receive the full complement of local Big Network channels from OKC, about 40 miles away:
KOCO (7), KETA (13), KFOR (27), KWTV (39), KOCB (33), and KOKH (24). Anything else is gravy.
I started with a cute little bow-tie (or crossed dipole maybe?) with an integrated pre-amp, all in a nice weather-proof housing. It worked surprisingly well once I found a good outdoor mounting location. Cable run ended up being about 75', RG6. I got all the stations above plus a few more (all the way down to KTPX ranked by Noise Margin in my TV Fool Report). All was not well, however--KOCO (7) would sporadically pixelate, and then just disappear for hours at a time.
So, I did a little research and discovered my cute little antenna likely didn't have much gain on Ch. 7 (maybe 0 dB relative to a reference dipole?), so I sent it back and got myself a small Yagi (RCA ANT751). Various sources state the VHF-Hi gain on this guy is supposed to be in the neighborhood of 5-7 db... I used a tripod temporarily seat it on the peak of my roof, so it had a clear shot at the horizon. Nothing is bolted down--I just had it up there for a few minutes of testing. Also note--I did *not* ground the cable for my test. (I intend to...) Cable run was 90' of RG6. There's a water tower a couple of miles away that's on the path from my house to the OKC antenna farm, so I know I pointed in the right direction. Result: Qualitatively the same as the cute little antenna. I get everything I'm looking for (maybe a bit more solid?), but KOCO (7) still goes from perfect, to pixelating, to gone. I've got the Winegard LNA-200 coming in tomorrow, but with the length of my run, I'm not sure it's going to do anything for me.
KETA (13) is the only other VHF-Hi channel I'm interested in, and it comes in just fine--really solid. This is weird, because TV Fool says it has roughly the same Noise Margin (KOCO-7 21.9 dB v KETA-13 21.5 dB). This makes me think that I might not have a gain problem--maybe I have an interference problem? There are lots of FM stations around here. Wonder if there could be some harmonics giving me grief?
Proposed next steps:
1. Ground the cable. (And mast, especially if this thing is going to live on the roof!) If that doesn't solve my Ch. 7 problem, then:
2. Try the LNA-200. Next:
3. Try a bigger antenna? Or some kind of filter or FM trap?
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!