Winegard & Terk/Audiovox OTA Antennas and Gear

[SatGuru]

Just an update:

I received my Winegard Square Shooter (model SS-2000 with pre-amp) this past thursday from a place selling on ebay.

I live in Welland Ontario which is approximately 25 minutes to the Niagara Falls New York border. According to Mapquest I am about 20-25 miles from Niagara Falls NY and 30-35 miles from Buffalo NY.

The amplified Square Shooter (SS-2000) which I have is rated for 60 miles in UHF and a maximum of 25 miles in VHF. The non amplified version is the SS-1000.

Installation was simple as it mounts to a satellite dish-like mast. I mounted mine to the side of my chimney at the very top.

Once installed, I merely pointed it in the general direction of Niagara Falls / Buffalo New York and ran the coax cable to the powered pre-amp inside the house and then to the ExpressVU 6100 receivers 8VSB input .

Next I did a scan of digital and analog stations on my ExpressVU 6100 my system. I tweaked my elevation and direction a couple of degrees only and finally came up with 8 sets of digital channels and most of the analog channels that one would usually see.

As this is a directional antenna I was really only interested in digital channels. What I mean by this is that some of the analog channels came in fuzzy and I could have fine tuned the antenna to achieve a better picture but I could care less about analog given that most of the same channels have a HD or at least digital SD counterpart. So I erased all the analog channels from my scan and only kept the digitals.

So here is what I was able to lock onto with great success:


07.1 WKBW-HD ABC-HD 80-85%
07.2 WKBW-SD ABC-SD 80-85%

10.1 WHEC-DT 80-85%

21.1 WXXI-HD 80-85%
21.2 WXXIKID "
21.3 WXXIQ "
21.4 WXXI-SD "

29.1 WUTV-HD FOX 29-HD 85-89%
29.2 WUTV-SD FOX 29-SD "

33.1 WGRZ-DT NBC-HD? 82-88%

39.1 WIVB-DT CBS-HD 78-85%
39.2 WIVB-DT2 CBS Doppler Radar "
39.3 WNLO-DT CBS-SD "

43.1 WNED-DT PBS-HD 87-90%
43.2 WNED-DT2 PBS-SD "
43.3 WNED-DT3 THINK "

49.1 WNYO-HD WB Network 87-89%
49.2 WNYO-SD WB Network "

As you can see the signal strength on these channels from 25-35 miles plus away is very good. Almost as good as my satellite signal.

There are a couple of other digital channels that wouldn't lock. I predict these are a result of the 49% bug in the 6100 software as they do spike to 65-70% and then cack out.

All in all a very impressive antenna without the ugliness of a huge antenna on ones roof. Mounted to the backside of my chimney it is barely visible from my front yard or the street.

The cost once shipped and brokerage paid to UPS the price came in at about $225. A little steep but worth the money for the low profile look and performance from a 16X16X4 inch square unit.

Like I mentioned before; I called and talked to a Winegard engineer before buying this antenna. He told me that it had a better off angle pull than the 4 or 8 bay PR-4400 and PR8800 respectively.

SatGuru

Winegard Square Shooter : http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

a1 Components : http://www.a1components.com/

[swamiiyer]

I am going to try it with radio shack 15-0880 antenna to start with. If this does not work i am going to try the square shooter, i don't think i can do any of those heavy antenna stuff. I don't want to pay rogers that much money and if you want TSN-HD you have to upgrade to their combo package, what a rip off.

[jeneral]

Hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but unless you have good line of sight and a fringe UHF antenna (4228, DB8, DAT-75, etc...) with a preamp, you're SOL. Even then, there are no guarantees. UHF is designed for less than 70 miles, unless you have great elevation or line of sight.

An indoor antenna isn't going to give you reliable reception. As for the Square shooter, you're better off saving your money. Most people who buy them end up upgrading.

Have you worked out how far you are from the Buffalo transmitters or Buffalo for that matter?

[Mr. Perfect]

Originally Posted by jeneral

Hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but unless you have good line of sight and a fringe UHF antenna (4228, DB8, DAT-75, etc...) with a preamp, you're SOL. Even then, there are no guarantees. UHF is designed for less than 70 miles, unless you have great elevation or line of sight.

And don't forget the 64' steel self supporting Delhi tower with a cubic metre cement base.....

[JohnnyG]

The Square Shooter was designed for urban reception close to the transmitter. It's good at battling multipath, which is hardly the biggest problem we have receiving Buffalo DTV here.

[Crispy]

Take a Look !!!

http://www.winegard.com/offair/sharp...oter_12-08.pdf

Crispy

[qweqaz5]

Ooooooo I like I like.... I'm just 2 lazy to install an outdoor antenna so I'm seriously considering purchasing this. Currently with my 'Silver-Sensor' type antenna connected to my ATI HDTV Wonder, NBC & IND from Detroit are almost impossible to pull in.


EDIT: hey Crispy, how's the Square Shooter working out for you? Seems like either people love it or hate it. Are you interested in the Sharp Shooter by any chance?

[Crispy]

The Sharp Shooter allows me to receive everything that I should in my area. It is very low profile and therefore an excellent purchase.

Crispy

[qweqaz5]

So you have BOTH the Square Shooter and the Sharp Shooter? Which one do you prefer if you dont mind me asking?

[zolotoiy]

SharpShooter is not available yet, they just announced it at CES. Or am I wrong?
Wan't to get my hands on that antenna.

[Crispy]

oops!!! I meant Square Shooter.

Crispy

[HDTV101]

The Winegard PR-9032 is one of the best antannas for HD... plus I like how it looks on my house... like a big arrow

[Able]

If your looking for indoor only option then look into the Terk TV-55 antenna.
Many customers have had good results with it.
Terk carries a pretty good line of products for those not wanting or can't have the bigger antenna's. If you have a Satellite dish then the Terk TV-42 is also something you might want to look into.
The standard element Antenna will always be better but for those looking/needing smaller alternatives then Terk carries a nice line.

www.terk.com

[Agent Smith]

Originally Posted by 57

Using the keywords "indoor + antenna" in the site's search engine, I was quickly able to find the following threads. (helps if you spell antenna correctly ).

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

YMMV depending on location, height, obstructions, etc.

Thanks for the links. I actually have read those posts before, and was just wondering if anybody had any further info combined with my location. Thanks for pointing out my typos though!

[Agent Smith]

Originally Posted by Able

If your looking for indoor only option then look into the Terk TV-55 antenna.
Many customers have had good results with it.
Terk carries a pretty good line of products for those not wanting or can't have the bigger antenna's. If you have a Satellite dish then the Terk TV-42 is also something you might want to look into.
The standard element Antenna will always be better but for those looking/needing smaller alternatives then Terk carries a nice line.

www.terk.com

Oh that could be just perfect! I have a dish mounted already, and that might work great! I will definitly look into this..