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Original thread:
Post 34 made on Friday May 27, 2005 at 11:52
da_jonesy
Lurking Member
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May 2005
1
On 02/14/05 23:56 ET, whiplash2004 said...
Hey everybody,

I am interested in improving my HDTV reception
to an ATI HDTV Wonder card for my HTPC. I am
currently using the antenna that came with the
card, which seems to be an OEM knock-off of the
Silver Sensor. This is an unpowered antenna,
so I've been using a Provo 20dB amp with it and
about 40ft of continuous RG-6 coax. The antenna
is mounted just outside a second-storey window
and pointed pretty much directly at the antenna
cluster on Grand Island, NY. UPN, FOX, and PBS
are all very strong (upper 80's), but the other
down-town Buffalo stations aren't so great. NBC
doesn't even show up in an autoscan. For now
the Silver Sensor seems much more directional
than the more omni-directional RCA ANT711 that
I bought at Radio Shack, which is going back.

I had hoped to buy two CM4228s, and set them up
according to RTI Installer's instructions in this
thread. However, the opening to my attic is 20"
by 28", and 35" on the diagonal. Pretty tight
squeeze for the 39.5" square CM4228! Also, I
only have a maximum of 5ft clearance at the peak,
so I can't mount them vertically above each other.
I think I will instead try this setup with two
CM4221s. At 20" wide, I think I can get them
up there, and will have to live with the reduced
range. Solidsignal.com has them at $22.49US each
and $23.95US ground shipping to the U.S. I've
heard that for $5 you can have items held at the
Lewiston UPS depot and then drive across the border
to pick them up. It's only a 20 minute drive
for me across the border, so I figure I can wrap
this all up for under $100Cdn, since they haven't
been too tight lately at the border for duty when
you're driving across, except for alcohol or tobacco.

I would appreciate some input on my plan before
I go ahead with it. I would like to be able to
receive all of the stations listed below. I've
calculated my range and bearing to each station
as follows:

My location:
Latitude: 43° 11 Min.25 Sec.
Longitude: -79° 15 Min. 20 Sec.

47.82 Miles, 132.7 degrees - 240kW - WGRZ 2/33
- 42 43' 6"N, 78 33' 47"W
48.56 Miles, 138.8 degrees - 790 kW - WIVB 3/39
- 42 39' 33"N, 78 37' 33" W
49.9 Miles, 139.7 degrees - 358 kW - WKBW 7/38
- 42 38' 15"N, 78 37' 12"W
20.18 Miles, 123.1 degrees - 156 kW - WNED 17/43
- 43 1' 48"N, 78 55' 15"W
20.18 Miles, 123.1 degrees - 1000 kW - WNLO 23/32
- 43 1' 48"N, 78 55' 15"W
20.35 Miles, 125.8 degrees - 35kW - WUTV 29/14
- 43 1' 32"N, 78 55' 43"W
31.92 Miles, 348.1 degrees - 38 kW - CBLT 5/20
- 43 38' 33"N, 79 23' 15"W

I expect I will need both 4221s to pick up the
Buffalo cluser (~135 degrees) and Grand Island
cluster (~124 degrees). But what about CBC?
Would a third antenna pointed north (348.1 degrees)
help, or would this just increase multipath issues?
I have read the information about "notching out"
just the one channel on a possible additional
antenna. Any input from all of you is always
appreciated. Particularily if the 4221s are a
better option for me than the CM4248 Yagi. Thanks
again for any advice!

Were you able to get the Channel Masters or did you stick with the ANT711? I was thinking of getting a ANT711 as well.


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