I just put up on my roof a CM3020.. I ordered a rotor for it.. I had many closer stations that I was getting with a squareshooter... but there is one station that I what to get..now the station I am trying to get is the same distance and direction as a station I now get a good signal with the new antenna.I pointed it for the strongest signal....with the squareshooter this station had good and bad days , but I could not get a signal on the station I'm trying to get...with the new antenna the signal comes in and out and not good enough to lock on.. My question is what can I do now? The station is 36 miles away..[ miles.. I'm in the US]

cad81dave:

Hello and Welcome to the DHC Forums.

Please take the time to update your CP with your exact location as it often helps us to help you. All you say is that you are in the US and that you are trying to receive a particular channel OTA.

Also, check the OTA thread for reception results. We may have one for the area you are located in.

Ok...I wasn't thinking that was important.. I'm in springfield Massachusetts.
latitude 42.1525,lontitude -072.4777 ....now I get ch61 FOX , perfect its at 223 degrees 36 miles from my home..ch20 CW is the one I am trying to get..Its also 223 degrees and 36 miles away...I am using a VOOM satillite box for my tuner...

Ok...I wasn't thinking that was important.. I'm in springfield Massachusetts.Hi Dave, I did some searching, needed something to do.

You didn't provide near enough info, so i'll take some guesses?

Fox 61 WTIC is out of Hartford CT and you get the digital on ch 31?
erp is 425 kW

CW 20 WTXX is out of Waterbury CT and you ge the digital on ch 12?
erp is 9.6 kW, 19.2 kW application
Both transmit from 41° 42' 13.00" N Latitude, 72° 49' 57.00" W Longitude

If it's the analog you're trying to recieve, ch 20 comes from
41° 31' 4.00 " N Latitude, 73° 01' 7.00 " W Longitude
with erp of 2240 kW

Also if we can get your Zip code we can plug it into the Antennaweb tool to get a better view of your OTA possibilities.

My zip is 01151... I am only intrested in HDTV... I wanted to know if a pre amp, like a CM7777 would be good or bad for my problem..?.

You'll have a hard time picking up a very, very, very low power station coming from the same place as a very, very high power station.

A preamp won't help. Unless you use a channel filter first, amplify the low power station only, then combine it back togeter. but that gets expensive.
http://www.microwavefilter.com/pdffiles/pg16.pdf

I'm down in New London, and have done enough installations in Springfield to be able to help you. WTXX-DT, the CW station from Hartford, is operating at a fairly low antenna height in a temporary place on the WTIC transmitting mast in Farmington, CT. In the spring, they will assume their permanent place atop the 1300' WTIC tower and should then be easy for you to get in Springfield. If you can see their analog signal on channel 20 now, you ought to also be able to see their digital signal which operates on channel 12.

My first suggestion is to dump the Voom tuner, since it probably has PSIP issues that are making it difficult to pick up WTXX. Go down to Best buy or Circuit City and pick up the new Samsung 260 HDTV tuner, which is a fifth-generation tuner, and I think you will solve your problem. I am in Springfield quite often: ( two or three times a week ) so if you want help, you can PM me

I am having a problem, probably because I dont understand how this off-air stuff actually works. ;) So I am asking for your help.

I have Directv and am having problems on Sat 119. So they came out today and installed (for free) the off air antenna,
www.eagleaspen.com/products/products_1.php?id=49

Supposedly, this 2bay antenna cannot receive the blue channels (according to antennaweb.org). I see where eyeryone says that this is the site to use. Funny, I put my neighbors address in and I got more channels than my address. We are 100 ft apart, can this be possible?

On to the real questions,

According to the list below and the antenna rating, I cannot receive any blue channels on this antenna, but channel 30 & 61 below come in great. This is confusing. Channel 8 is a total bust.

I have five questions:

1) How come I am getting some blue channels?
2) How can I find antennas that are "blue" compliant? I want to attach another for the missing channels.
3) What do I need to get, i.e. hardware - splitter, RF traps etc to have two antennas go onto one coax, to prevent multipathing. (A little internet knowledge can be very dangerous)
4) What antennas & other hardware do you suggest I get? I will be doing this myself as I have lost all confidence in the installers that Directv send out.
5) Is height really that important? The installer put the antenna about 3 feet off the ground.

Not sure if this is important, but I will be needing to run signals to 6 tvs.

Thanks in advance for your help.

The list below is for my street from antennaweb.org

yellow - uhf WWLP 22 NBC SPRINGFIELD MA 349° 22.5 22
* green - vhf WWLP-DT 22.1 NBC SPRINGFIELD MA 349° 22.6 11
lt green - uhf WDMR-LP 65 TEL HARTFORD CT 349° 22.6 65
lt green - uhf WUTH-CA 47 TFA HARTFORD CT 171° 6.0 47
red - uhf WUVN 18 UNI HARTFORD CT 280° 14.5 18
red - vhf WFSB 3 CBS HARTFORD CT 280° 14.8 3
red - uhf WGGB 40 ABC SPRINGFIELD MA 2° 32.0 40
red - uhf WCDC 19 ABC ADAMS MA 345° 67.4 19
blue - uhf WGBY 57 PBS SPRINGFIELD MA 2° 31.9 57
* blue - uhf WFSB-DT 3.1 CBS HARTFORD CT 280° 14.8 33
blue - uhf WEDH 24 PBS HARTFORD CT 280° 14.8 24
blue - uhf WCTX 59 MNT NEW HAVEN CT 236° 33.7 59
blue - uhf WTXX 20 CW WATERBURY CT 248° 31.9 20
blue - uhf WVIT 30 NBC NEW BRITAIN CT 263° 17.3 30
blue - uhf WHPX 26 ION NEW LONDON CT 161° 30.5 26
blue - uhf WTIC 61 FOX HARTFORD CT 264° 17.1 61
blue - vhf WTNH 8 ABC NEW HAVEN CT 235° 33.7 8
* blue - vhf WTXX-DT 20.1 CW WATERBURY CT 264° 17.1 12
violet - vhf WRDM-LP 13 TEL HARTFORD CT 271° 8.6 13
* violet - vhf WTNH-DT 10.1 ABC NEW HAVEN CT 235° 33.7 10
* violet - uhf WTIC-DT 31.1 FOX HARTFORD CT 264° 17.1 31
* violet - uhf WVIT-DT 30.1 NBC NEW BRITAIN CT 263° 17.3 35
* violet - uhf WUVN-DT 18.1 UNI HARTFORD CT 280° 14.5 46
* violet - uhf WEDH-DT 45 PBS HARTFORD CT 264° 17.1 45
* violet - uhf WGBY-DT 57.1 PBS SPRINGFIELD MA 2° 31.9 58
* violet - uhf WCDC-DT 19.1 ABC ADAMS MA 345° 67.4 36

orcat, Digital Home is a top site for Canadian OTA (over-the-air) information.

For reception issues in Connecticut and Massachusetts, have a visit to the Home Theater Spot (.com) where a gentleman named tigerbangs is the source for answers to your reception questions.

I've merged orcat's post into this pre-existing thread in which tigerbangs gave advice to a similarly located person.

Our goal in the DHC OTA forum is to be the leader in Canadian OTA information, advice, and popularization.

1) How come I am getting some blue channels?

In general I find antennaweb gives a very conservative estimate as to what you can receive. It is a good starting point for beginners but I much prefer the TV Signal Locater at TV Fool (http://www.tvfool.com).