Windfarm?

[Kazy]

Within the past couple of months my OTA TV reception has been going downhill.
The majority of my local channels are 30 plus miles west of my location with a few to the south. I have a Winegard omnidirectional powered antenna on the roof approx. 30' in the air and a Channel Master 4228 in the attic. (NOT CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER) I mainly use the rooftop antenna with the attic antenna as a backup. Recently all of my channel signals have been dropping....suddenly. I can be watching a channel and it will begin to pixilate and/or just drop out within seconds. Sometimes it's out for minutes, sometimes out for days. When the reception drops I have tried to go to my backup attic antenna and it is out too. For that reason I don't think it is equipment problems.
I have one channel that stays on, but the transmitter is really close to me. My latest theory is that a windfarm has recently been assembled about 5 miles west of my home. Could that possibly be the reason for my reception getting weaker? If so, could the windfarm to west also affect my reception to the south? Are there any tests I can perform to verify if that's the reason?

Feedback welcomed.

Kaz

[Davenlr]

Have your tried another tuner?

[P Smith]

You'll need very directional antenna with a rotor if your stations are not lined up - more elements and a reflector need to eliminate possible multipath from new wind-farm objects.

[Kazy]

Have your tried another tuner?

Yes, same thing on 4 TV's.

[Kazy]

You'll need very directional antenna with a rotor if your stations are not lined up - more elements and a reflector need to eliminate possible multipath from new wind-farm objects.

Please explain more. Shouldn't the Channel Master 4228 be directional enough?

[Davenlr]

4228 is directional enough if mounted in free space. Mounted in an attic, it picks up reflections from all the nails, wires, conduit, exhaust flues, and such. I personally would move the 4228 to the roof, and use the other antenna in the attic as a backup.

As for the wind farm...Most of those blades are fiberglass. Dont know if they have steel in them or not. Might be worth a call to ask them.

[SayWhat?]

You might want to read up on solar storms. The Sun is having fits right now and throwing all sorts of junk into space which could be causing interference. Some radio frequencies are having trouble, while others are not.

There are other atmospheric issues also that are causing skip and a variety of problems.

Can't say for sure if this is your issue, but you might want to see if the recent timing matches when you started having problems.

What about any nearby trees leafing out that might be 'shading' your antenna?

[Tower Guy]

4228 is directional enough if mounted in free space. Mounted in an attic, it picks up reflections from all the nails, wires, conduit, exhaust flues, and such. I personally would move the 4228 to the roof, and use the other antenna in the attic as a backup.

As for the wind farm...Most of those blades are fiberglass. Dont know if they have steel in them or not. Might be worth a call to ask them.

I agree that an antenna in the attic is probably a bigger problem than a wind farm 5 miles away.

The fiberglass blades have a flexible copper wire running through it to dissipate static. There are some reports of wind farm causing TV reception problems, but they are not well documented and usually very close to the house with reception problems. If the reception problems occur on a calm day when the blades are stationary, the problem is elsewhere.

Rather than asking questions that make me grope in the dark for a solution, let's see what you're up against. A TVfool report will show the directions, channel numbers, and signal strengths of the stations that you are trying to receive. http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

Solar storms almost never cause TV reception problems.