Antennas Direct OTA Antennas & Gear

[ADTech]

Our antennas have never had their wind load quantified. I don't expect it to happen since it's not a typically measured attribute for consumer antennas.

Sorry.

Yeah, the boss put that notice in the old instructions to see if anyone ever bothered reading them. It's also a bit of comic relief for the sometimes frustrating job of getting an antenna to work, especially for the first timers.

[lithOTA]

I can tell you from personal experience that the 91XG's wind exposure varies widely depending on it's position in relation to the wind direction. When the wind hits the antenna broadside, it's not too bad, maybe a little worse than most UHF Yagis. When the wind is hitting at a 30-60 degree angle (from the front or the rear), all of those awesome directors are presented to the wind and the load goes up considerably. It's similar to looking down a street parkway with mature trees; at just the right angle, all of those tree trunks form a wall from your point of view.
The wind loading decreases if the wind hits it straight-on front or rear, as only one director is presented and the rest are hiding behind. For this reason, I always turn the 91XG into or away from the wind when it starts really blowing.

[PanaMark]

ironic, I did throw my XG91 towards my wife once when she was making fun of me for having a new toy. That was a mistake, the X's all bent thus had to spend 20 mins fixing them.
so, the statement has some merit.
Thanks for the update regarding the diplexers guys....

[HWP]

In my house, if an antenna were to be thrown, it would most likely be in my direction.

[kooguy]

Do not install this antenna if drunk, pregnant or both. Do not throw antenna at spouse.

When I first read that line on installation instruction years ago, I thought that was really funny...and had a good laugh with my spouse!

PanaMark, you are not serious with that XG91 and spouse, right?

[PanaMark]

you know when you do a fake throw kinda like in a funny joking matter. Well it just slipped outta my hand and hit the floor. The thing is so akward to haul around. That was the context of the throw to clear things up.
Mind you she said it looked like a dinosaur relic, which started the whole situation.
I do have a good W.A.F. (wife acceptance factor) regarding my hobby.

[ADTech]

The higher gain (narrower beam) antennas would usually be better able to reject multi-path should it occur. The convenience of the wider beamwidth antenna is nice so that a rotor can be avoided.

Based on that plot, I'd suggest our C2V as the first choice as it has the VHF element. The DB2e would be my second followed by the DB4e.

One thing about the new bowties and VHF to note is that the VHF reception tends to peak off axis, anywhere from 30-70° off boresite, depending on frequency. The VHF dipole on the C2V will avoid this uncertainty.

[HWP]

ADTech,

In a couple of months the only VHF channel is going to be 13 and it is super strong so a DB4e will probably do the job in spite of it being UHF-only.

The only problems with choosing a ClearStream2V is that if he later adds a rotator and pre-amp to try to get the PBS and other American channels, his little C2V might not have enough gain to maintain as stable reception as the DB4e might maintain.

To me, the DB4e would be the best balance for him between wide beam width, generous gain, without being too big, and good looks.

Three cheers for the DB4e! Hazaa!

[46FD04]

To HWP

I live in the GTA and am not sure which Channel is 13???

I've had OTA for over two years and have never seen Ch.13.

Thank you.

[ADTech]

CTV Ottawa - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJOH-DT However, I haven't seen anything about them changing to a UHF frequency. Do you happen to have a reference?

Good points, HWP! My suggestions were based only on the local market.

[HWP]

CJOH is staying on rf13 VHF, but they are so adequately powered, especially where the original poster lives that the UHF-only antenna will work anyway for him. The problem VHF channels 6 and 9 are both moving. Once those two move to UHF, then most Ottawa people can have a UHF antenna and they won't have to worry about CJOH on 13 unless they are some distance away.

[stampeder]

This is to clarify again that the purpose of this thread is for technical and operational discussion of issues that our members may be experiencing with the excellent Antennas Direct product line. We are very fortunate to have ADTech as a member who speaks authoritatively on those matters.

This thread is not a substitute for AD's own sales and marketing information found on their corporate web site.

Local reception discussions take place in the Reception forum thread for your area and are not covered in this present thread.

cheers

[El Gran Chico]

ADTech, is it possible to get replacement A-D baluns? I accidentally broke my C5's balun (the circuit board looking piece was in 2 pieces so impossible to solder back together). Right now I put a spare CM-9444 balun in the black box and tried to put as much electrical tape at the opening to keep it dry inside. Sure would be nice to have a proper A-D balun in place but I don't see them available anywhere.

[Bman72s]

I presently have an original cm4221 and a cm 7778 preamp. Over the course of the last 2 months my channel 9 reception has gotten more and more sporadic as well as, to a lesser extent have my Buffalo channels. Today channel 9 is gone completely. I am thinking of replacing the cm4221 it with a DB4E. Is it good for VHF or could I still have the same issue? I am in Markham.

[HWP]

You have a perfectly good uhf antenna and if you're not having any trouble with UHF stations you shouldn't replace it.

Instead add a high-vhf antenna such as the Antennas Direct C5 and you will not only solidify CFT0 9 but you might add CKVR 10 and CHCH 11, and if you're really lucky WBBZ 7.

AD does not make any miraculous claims for VHF on their DB4e.

Good luck.