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Roof mount antenna issue!

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S

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Good evening, We recently decided to ditch cable as we only seem to watch netflix anyways. It would however be nice to be able to view local channels.
So... I purchased a Philips outdoor 18db antenna to stick on an old antenna mount on the gable of our house.
The antenna model number is SDV8622t/27
To make a very long three day story short it will not work on the roof or in the attic. tried amp/ no amp. brand spanking new rg6 quad cable, mounting two feet above roof ridge. Every thing i could think of.
As a last ditch effort i hooked it up a ratty old 50 foot piece of coax and literally threw it into the middle of the front yard. low and behold all of the channels i am supposed to be able to get.
So what is the trick to get an antenna to work on a roof? I normally do not give up easily but antennas are totally foreign to me. any help would be appreciated.
tv fool report = not allowed to post but my zip is 43551

I do have steel siding on the house as well as the gable. but the antenna was mounted about 1.5 foot above the peak.

Thank you all for your time.

ps, at this point cost is no longer an issue but kicking this antennas but is.
 
Davenlr

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#2 ·
veryoldschool

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#3 ·
I'm never a big fan of amplified antennas as they normally are poor antennas with an amp to fake it.

TVFools shows a paperclip should get some of your networks, as the signal is that strong.

What seems to come to mind is this antenna is either defective or not getting the power for the amplifier.
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
Thank you very much for the replies and sugestions. I did not do a good job explaining the coax laying in the front yard. It was a ratty piece with the antenna and amp attached. It functioned as i would expect. Moved it back on the roof and in the attic and no dice. The power supply is delivering 5.8v at the antenna and 5.3v under load.
I know robotics not antennas but i would think it is more of an interfierance issue?
As a test if i just hook up a coat hanger to the coathat should pull in something right?

Also on the first sugested antenna will that pull in 11something and 13?
I am assuming close is good enough.

The philips antenna was in the clearance bin at meijers. Probably for a reason.
Thank you again for your help
 
Davenlr

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#7 ·
somewhatoldschool said:
Also on the first sugested antenna will that pull in 11something and 13?
I am assuming close is good enough.

The philips antenna was in the clearance bin at meijers. Probably for a reason.
Thank you again for your help
Click to expand...
VHF-hi will usually come in on the 4 bay. If it doesnt, its an easy matter of attaching two 18" pieces of wire to each antenna terminal to form a dipole for channels 7-13 (we have to do that here for an out of town PBS channel 7). Works perfectly.

If concerned, just go with the larger yagi that covers channels 2-59. Cost is about the same. Effectiveness is probably about the same.

The antenna you are using (phillips) is omnidirectional. That just means the strong signals bounce off everything in site, and the antenna picks them up and the signal gets so confused by the amp it doesnt deliver a clean signal. In the analog days, it would be seen as ghosts. Since its digital, the bits get scrambled and the receiver cannot decode them. Its best to never use an onmidirectional antenna anywhere your signal strength is high, and you only need to point one direction +/- 15 degrees.

The other rooftop antennas are directional, and reject signals coming from any direction except the direction its pointed, hence, no confusing reflections causing the bits to get scrambled.

You can also just keep the Phillips on the ground, maybe on a small pipe, if it works there, as it would appear from your description, that the signal is degraded enough at ground level as to not pick up the reflections (multipath) that is causing your roof mounting to fail.

Hope you follow...
 
S

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Discussion Starter · #9 ·
That is a great explanation and makes complete sense. Leaving it on the ground would be a bad idea. My lawn mower is very hungry and angry. It like to eat things and then spit them out breaking many windows.
I will give solid signal a jingle tommorow and see what the ups guy delivers.
do you guys normally stay up late or are you stuck on third shift?
Thanks once more for the advice.
 
Davenlr

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somewhatoldschool said:
I called up solid signal. They recomended a fv hd-30
I order that up and am paintently awaiting the ups guy.
thank you guys again.
Click to expand...
Yep, that looks like a good antenna. I really like Winegard's antennas. Seem to be very well built.
 
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