Antenna Positioning...

[Cahill84]

I am helping my dad set up a HDTV, but for whatever reason it doesn't have a signal meter built in. So, I am going to disconnect my computer and take it down this weekend to help him position the HD antenna he just installed to receive ATSC signals. I have TSReader lite, but it doesn't really show you the signal strength and quality. Is there a freeware program out there to help us position an antenna for a specific channel? Or, do I have to erase my own channels measure the signal strength through GB-PVR and then move the antenna to improve the reception. I couldn't find another forum thread which had addressed this issue. I apologize if this question is a duplicate.

-Anthony

PS- I forgot to mention that I've already used antennaweb.org, but it's off by at least 15 degrees, so we're shooting blind. Well it's either off or there is some kind of magnetic interference with our compasses.

[bigbus01]

TS Reader Lite should give you received power (dBm).

I built a homemade antenna over the weekend and with my antenna rotator, I can generate an antenna pattern for each channel. Do a scan and then go through channels and read the power. I live between Baltimore and Washington. I used TS Reader to find the channels and then I mapped the angles for each. I get all my channels with 3 positions of the antenna.

Bigbus

[Cahill84]

I'm using version 2.7.45d. I can't find that information. Can you tell me how to get to it? I went to View-->Chart-->Signal, but it says that you have to purchase it before that feature is available.

2nd question... Why did you build an antenna rather than purchasing one? Did it get better reception?

[bigbus01]

I'm using 2.7.44 and it is in the lower left corner (shows the channel, frequency, percentage (of power), power level, etc).

I found a forum on building one so I thought I would try it. I had all the parts around the house. It is a 4 element bowtie array. I initially was using an ATI HDTV Wonder log periodic but then bought a Philips amplified antenna. The antenna is in my attic and I had constant problems with interference (I live in a valley and have lots of trees around, when the wind blows, I have big problems with intermittent signals). This homemade antenna works really well and cost me nothing but the time.

It was fun to make and it worked (sheet metal, 2x4, pvc pipe, 10 gauge house wire). It eliminated my reception problems.

Here is the link. http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613

Bigbus

[bigbus01]

Here's a screen capture. If they removed the power reading I would definately not update my version.

Bigbus

[Cahill84]

My signal quality/strength seems unusually low, but I still get them. How is it that yours are so high?

NM... I figured it out. In the course of tunning a channel I changed it where it wouldn't pick up a status from the source. BDA NS... I guess that would help huh. Sorry for your troubles. I like the Antenna idea, I will probably pitch it to my dad. I figure bigger might be better. :-) I bought a philips MANT940 and I have been faily impressed so far. But I'm always for experimenting. :-D

[bigbus01]

That reading is on my ATI HDTV Wonder. I am using the homemade antenna and a Radio Shack Amplifier (with gain knob). I then go into a 4-way splitter (one to HDTV, one to HDTV Wonder, and one to my WinTV HVR-1600, one port open). The 1600 only shows a signal level on the order of yours, the ATI is showing 95%. I don't know why, maybe one of the cards is not accurate. The TV is showing all bars on hard (10 bars -- makes me think the 1600 is not accurate or is less sensitive). It might be that the open port is causing a problem. I may terminate it with a VCR or some other 75 ohm termination.

Bigbus

[Cahill84]

Yeah, I think that I am going to look into getting a bigger amp. Right now I have an inline amp of 18Db. With that said, I have fairly good reception. Something like 9 channels, but two of them skip really bad. Granted the format is 1080i, so I haven't figure it out yet. Maybe building a bigger antenna would help. I live in an apartment so it would have to be inside. I don't know. Do you think a bigger inline amp would help? I have heard they can reduce quality though.

[bigbus01]

A higher gain amp may help but all amplifiers add noise so that could be a problem. The amp I have has a gain control knob on it. With my previous 2 antennas the amp actually decreased my signal when I increased the gain. This means that I was saturating the amp.

Bigbus