Unless he has a meter that reads signal power, it's not likely he's going to be able to provide numerical quantities for the difference in the gain of the new vs the old antenna.

Glad to hear it's working out. Consider the channel 11 reception a bonus since we didn't design the DB2/4e for anything other than UHF.

For vertical stacking, what's the distance between the top and bottom antennas (measurements center-to-center, or from the bottom of the top to the top of the bottom antenna)?

Unboxed my DB4e. Nice looking antenna.

One thing I noticed was one of the lower elements is a bit loose on the rivet. No way to adjust as-is. Question for ADTech: I was thinking I could shim it (between washer and rivet head) tighter with a piece of metal like a c-clip and dab a bit of silicone so it doesnt shake loose, or wrap telephone copper bare wire around between washer and rivet head to tighten. Thoughts?

Tested antenna indoors near a window. Got the usual channels I get with the terk amplified and 4221HD clone, TVO, and CHCH. Installing the CM7777 pre-amp got me CBLT-DT 5.1 (54 miles away) surprisingly. 30% quality 100% signal on a zinwell convertor.

Impressed so far. Saturday is install day. 36ft on tower and hope we can pull in TO and Buffalo stations.

Chris, what is impressing you? Just getting that 1 channel, CBLT?

Well yes. Impressed that I can pull in cbc from indoors at 54miles away from broadcast station.

Chris,

The elements all have a "little" movement in them. However, if the movement is excessive in your opinion, i.e. if you just shake the whole unit and the wire moves, your idea of using some thin wire to shim it sounds reasonable to me. I do know that some pre-production units exhibited this concern and the factory was supposed to adjust the riveting mechanism to tighten them.

I checked the several production units I have here at the office and they all seem snug enough. Perhaps it was a one off occurrence.... We'll keep an eye out for it.

The rest are snug. Not a big deal. Thanks for the response! :cool:

Hello folks and AD Tech,

I know the DB4e is technically a UHF antenna but what's the performance on VHF high? I'm only asking because of the following comment on the AD website:

Most of our UHF Antennas will pick up high VHF stations like channels 7-13 depending on your distance from the transmitters and a few other variables.

However the Clearstream 2 UHF antenna needed a special kit from what I could see to get VHF-Hi ... is the DB4e the same deal or is it more "VHF-Hi friendly" right off the bat?

Any specs for VHF-Hi?

On VHF, the new bowties aren't much different as the old bowties.

If you NEED VHF, plan accordingly unless you want to experiment. (Is that plain enough?) :p

They were designed from the beginning to be optimized for UHF 14-51, nothing else. The VHF dipole shown earlier is one option for modest high-VHF reception. At this point in time, you'd have to roll-your-own north of the border.

Just an update on my loose db4e element. I squeezed a bit on the rivet with a pair of large adjustable pliers and that tightened it up without any compromise to plastic or antenna structure. Note, be gentle and easy with it.

Chris

will there be a "DB8e" ???

Hi chris-P,

Don't use a wire shim. Reputable antenna vendors build their antennas out of materials that don't react when touching when exposed to moisture. If you add metal such as a wire shim, likely copper in contact with aluminum and or steel, it will introduce galvanic action and that joint will start to rust prematurely.

will there be a "DB8e" ???

See previous...

Don't use a wire shim.

See previous. He already fixed it himself by re-crimping it.

Hey @ADTech,

Nice to see you taking part in this community!

I'd like to hear your equipment recommendation for my OTA needs. Here's my TVFool report (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dec1210025ef114).

I'd like to pickup all channels from the first 2 transmission zones (~3-8 miles + ~83 miles). You can see that both are mostly UHF but they each contain 1 VHF-HI channel.

The antenna will be placed on the roof at a height of aprox 35 feets. I want only one antenna and no rotator.

Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance

Here's my TVFool report (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dec1210025ef114). . . . .I'd like to pickup all channels from the first 2 transmission zones (~3-8 miles + ~83 miles).
Wow, LOS stations 83 miles away!! Don't see that too often.

That is a lot, but those Burlington transmitters are on top of a 4000' hill- a good thing for Bw1t1, who has very little elevation at his location in Montreal.
Many San Diegans can get the Los Angeles transmitters line-of-sight at over 125 miles, thanks to Mt. Wilson. Height makes might!

I can post a report that's near me showing 103 miles LOS! (heh). Transmitters on Mt Seymour in BC, plot location in Everett, WA.

That is a lot, but those Burlington transmitters are on top of a 4000' hill- a good thing for Bw1t1, who has very little elevation at his location in Montreal.
Many San Diegans can get the Los Angeles transmitters line-of-sight at over 125 miles, thanks to Mt. Wilson. Height makes might!
Oups! I've forgot to add the sea level elevation of my area that is aprox 30 feet. :-/

That means the total elevation will be about 65 feets above sea level. Also, I don't see anything in the line of sight to the 2 "trasnmission zones". It's quite clear in front of the house.

Thanks guys!

bw1t1,

I refrain from making specific recommendations on-forum out of deference to the forum's rules. Hope you understand.

Generically, your TVFool suggests that a moderately directional high-VHF/UHF mounted in a good location ought to do well. Ironically, your proximity to the local Montreal transmitters might present the greatest problem for you due to the signals being very strong and near your line of sight to Mt Mansfield.

bw1t1,

I refrain from making specific recommendations on-forum out of deference to the forum's rules. Hope you understand.

Generically, your TVFool suggests that a moderately directional high-VHF/UHF mounted in a good location ought to do well. Ironically, your proximity to the local Montreal transmitters might present the greatest problem for you due to the signals being very strong and near your line of sight to Mt Mansfield.
Ho sorry for asking commercial recommendations here. I did not know it was forbidden. My bad...

Maybe other people here wants to suggest something?

I've also noticed that the big distance gap between the 2 zones is a major problem here. The VHF-HI channels on both zones is the other major problem.

According to AD site, Clearstream 2 might be the one to get?

Some AD antennas are advertised as UHF. But I've read that many UHF antennas can do quite well on VHF-HI. Do you guys have any VHF-HI measurements for some UHF antennas (DB4e, DB8 or Clearstream 2 for example) ?

Thanks for your time,