Now this is what I think the internet is all about! True information given in a simple direct way, including a brief understanding of men and women and crazy. Good Job!
Gosh! How do you like that? A well done, informative video that's entirely devoid of screaming, distracting "music" that you're struggling to hear over. I almost didn't know how to act. Kudos, Doug Hall. Me likey!
yep thats great to see info in a n informative video... just normal... keep clear info in informative video, fail with the nonsense funny 1 and the worst in in the brainless wanna be popular show-off video 1.... that s a pleasure having the chance watching 1 but wont be so before watching around 10000000 videos
You need to e very careful when choosing splitters............some splitters do not allow backward flow of current (from output to input)...............for this purpose you need "combiner"............just like if you want to use two antenna on a single Television...................and splitters can also increase resistance.......mostly if not powered...............
Haha I remember those old days moving the rabbit ears around, adding foil and lots of yelling at the tv. I would add several wire coat hangers and twist them into all kinds of shapes.
Extremely well presented and encouraging. Also appreciated the end quote..."Don"t whine, be grateful" which is truly the secret to happiness in life! Thanks!
Back in the day --early 60s we had one local channel. 45 miles away. with rabbit ears, it came in sometimes, very snowy. At 12 years old I talked to a TV repairman and he told me how to build a Yagi Antenna. I built it and it worked really well, and that was the beginning to a career in CATV. Spent many years with Warner Amex.
Rick Joneshy, I cut the cord before Christmas, and couldn’t be happier! I felt like I was being “held hostage by a monopoly” more so than being scammed. I went with hdtv antennas, added fire sticks which averaged $35 bucks a TV. I did keep my Comcast modem and signed up for PHILO. Long story short... I’m now streaming 55 channels in realtime, picking up all the local channels for a grand total of $88.50 a month vs $225.00 a month with Comcast! That’s a savings of $1,638,00 a year! Cha - Ching!!!
When we had Comast cable, I think we were paying somewhere of around $140 a month roughly, well all I remember is I was watching a really good TV channel, and the next day when I went to turn it on, the channel didn't even exist. And 5 other channels had disappeared, BUT, low and behold, our bill.... WENT UP!!! So switched to Dish Network, then over to DirecTV, now, we have an antenna on the roof, and I have my own antenna. I don't care about TV, other than being able to watch the local news. Other than that, TV is crap. Which is why I pretty much do everything on the internet. TH-cam, Netflix, Hulu, a lot better than TV.
Long, long time Spectrum customer. They lied to me twice after I turned 65 to ask if they had any kind of senior discount. Two techs said yes and after two months of paying MORE than I used to, the last guy said "sorry" . So I said "me too" and left.
See now i wonder if WWF ( WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION) IS WHAT YOU GUYS ATTEMPTING TO TUNE IN YOU know back before getting sued for rights to the acronym by of all groups World Wildlife Foundation OR PERHAPS. " NWA" ( NATIONAL WRESTLING ASSOCIATION)
Doug. You rock. This is perfect. Not to complicated, not too dumbed down. I was especially interested in the using a splitter as a combiner. I was trying a DIFFERENT antenna and getting same results for the same reason. I knew from my younger years on the farm (before cable and HD), that almost everyone used 2 antennas in an X config. Thanks.
I love listening to professionals that really know their stuff-regardless of the profession: blue-collar, white-collar; writers to masons. Compare this fella to the home remodeling shows where they have the owners pitch in with laying out paint--the roller going in every direction as if shooting for starburst pattern...yeah, 'cause that's not going to show through. I would like to roll these people out beneath an asphalt roller and buy this dude a beer. Hat's off!
Back in the day it was called diplexer. They were very common for use in satellite installations in the 90s. Directv and Dish didn't provide the local channels back then so you needed to have a TV antenna. The "diplexer" was a combiner too it just worked over a broader range of frequencies. The KU band Directv and Dish use is 12-40 Ghz. Whereas regular OTA broadcast NTSC/QAM is 52-698MHz (ch. 2-51).
This was a really great video. Probably the most well-presented and informative of all that I've checked out over the last couple weeks. Thank you very much for this!
Lol. Thanks. I sure wish you had a topic sentence however, i had to wait 7 minutes to get the answer “use a regular splitter in reverse”. :) but again, thanks for the info. When I researched my zip code for recommended cable, I was given 4 types, yellow, green, red, blue. How does a person manage that? Can I use a four-way splitter?
Hi Doug, thanks for the interesting and informative video. I live in Melbourne Australia and occasionally when there is low cloud, two of our multiplex channels can go down. They are in the same direction as the others, but being on the high end of VHF, they seem to be affected more than the lower frequency channels. I solved the problem by adding in a separate cable into another room, where I can connect to a larger antenna, on a rotator, which brings all the channels through well most of the time. So, when we do have drop outs, I can hook up the cable through to the other room and we can then watch the signal perfectly.
He did not say if the combined channels were both on RF UHF or RF VHF. From my experience receiving DTV since 1999, combining UHF signals from opposite directions even about sixty miles apart does not work. Combining UHF and VHF works, even from the same direction (I have to use separate antennas because a UHF/VHF combination one does not work in my difficult reception location). I'm old and I have a lifetime of experience with TV antennas. Please see my listing for free information on the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. Search for "cord cutter" in the Services category.
Wow. Excellent & super informative in every way. Thank you. 👍 And - most Importantly I wish every idiot with background music injected into they're educational videos would see this and experience an 'ah-ha' moment!!!
I had no success combining two antennas until I purchased a Televes pre-amplifier two-antenna signal combiner. Somehow, their product picks the best signal when both antennas receive the same, while also boosting the gain of each signal independently. Love it.
You need to e very careful when choosing splitters............some splitters do not allow backward flow of current (from output to input)...............for this purpose you need "combiner"............just like if you want to use two antenna on a single Television...................and splitters can also increase resistance.......mostly if not powered...............
You can buy a grounding rod but any length of metal two to three feet long will work. First drill a hole in it or get a fastener that will allow you to fasten a wire to the length of metal. Pound metal at least 6 inches into the ground. Run a copper wire from the metal to your antenna. Shouldn’t really matter where you attach the wire to the antenna as long as its to the metal per of the antenna. They do make what’s called grounding wire which is thick copper wire but thinner wires will work. I’ve grounded dozens of CB and Ham radio antennas this way. Should work with TV
He's too busy fiddling with the TV antennas also collected TH-cam payouts. I've heard of the Omni50 hands down the absolute best. Relatively cheap around $60 , still saving up money for it so I'll let you know. Anyone else using the same Omni50 ?
Hi i have an antenna with 2 leads 1 lead per adjustable angle bay....i am running those 2 leads through a splitter in reverse .... This is great thanks !!!
This is a "BROAD-BRUSH" reply. I installed 2 HD antennas WITH VHF/UHF and FM! Each antenna has it's own "Pre-Amp", a ANTRONIX ARA1-15 (and DC power supply). If you hurry you can buy a used Pre-Amp on on eBay for about $15! Just be SURE your purchase INCLUDES the vital supply! 2 Antennas installed at different ends of the house to minimize roof coax runs and connectors exposed to the elements. I used QUALITY black RG6u coax; black to help resist sun u/v damage... much more to follow: Now I have PLENTY of signal levels even from some weak stations 'off the sides' of the these very 'directional' antennas. Indoors is the DC supply and a four-way splitter for TV's, TiVos and ABUNDANT FM STEREO too! Know Pre-Amps CAN be "overloaded" with TOO MANY RF SIGNALS! Here in Los Angeles we have MANY THOUSANDS of signal sources; including TV, AM, FM, 2-way radios, telemetry ~ simply too many to name. Because Pre-Amps are so "broad-banded" SOME areas require a 'FM TRAP' to help prevent pre-amp overload. I did not require one. CAUTION, although TV stations went 'digital', SOME DID NOT MOVE to the UHF bands ~ as was the 'original plan' to free up huge hunks of VHF TV bandwidth. Here in L,A, 4 major broadcasters REMAIN on the VHF (low-band) SO USE CARE when you select your antenna! INCLUDE the VHF band too because "things change" and a array/abundant FM stations are also provided. IF your new antenna is "UHF ONLY", performance on the VHF band WILL SUFFER and ~ what you see is what you get. Help your antenna ENDURE (even DECADES) longer! TIGHTLY wrap ALL coax junctions with black electrical tape... LOOK where your antenna elements 'junction' with "bus-bar" wires (sometimes under screws). Using common roofing tar, use a spatula to GENEROUSLY COAT each coax connector tape AND antenna >element junctions< too! This helps minimize exposure to vital junctions from rain/storms/fog/drizzle etc. Finally, PLEASE KNOW I AM NOT willing to participate in 'range wars' or pi**ing contests.
just tested it and it WORKS!!! got from 12 channels to 26. I used a portable tv just to see the signal strength, and I added a signal amplifier between the combiner and splitter. all channels have a "good" signal cuz there $10 pvc antennas. THANK YOU!!!
I have the same problem so when it gets cooler I'm going to put up my second antenna and also I use a TiVo receiver so I can record shows while i'm away ( 4 channels at the same time). I also see that you are amateur radio 73 DE KG4YPE and working on the General license
Multipath interference is major PITA in urban areas. To date, the only digital antenna that had enough directionality to reject reflected signals was the Philips Silver Streak - and of course they stopped making them around the time the country went all digital. Likewise, the D/A converters they gave coupons for , to help people with the switch over had a signal strength meter built in, which was indispensable for aiming. I have not been able to find a single tv on sale that has a built-in SS meter, and the D/A converters aren't sold anymore. (actually the stores never carried them BEFORE the changeover either, figuring they'd just sell you a new tv of course) It's a capitalist conspiracy, I tells ya!
It's incredibly easy to build your own yagi with much better gain than most of the store bought crap I see. Also I never saw and digital converter with it's own s meter. That would be extremely helpful. I've seen most that have a s meter in it's settings but a good analog or digital on the outside of it would be so great
It should be clear that it should be a Bi Directional splitter. A lot of older splitters only allowed flow one way so turning it around backwards would not work.
i use a uhf directional antenna at the top of my mast then a directional vhf antenna right below aimed both in the same direction. i use a uhf/vhf combiner and then a amplifier under the antennas. nobody else in the country where my house is can get the channels i do
All terrestial tv in the UK is digital now. We are lucky here in that the broadcast mast or tower designated to cover a certain area will carry all the tv stations that are due to be received in the coverage area of the transmitter. This means to receive every station perfectly you only need one aerial (antenna) which can be precisely fixed and point in the direction required. Also the aerial used would be the one designed for its optimum performance to match the group of frequencies transmitted from the particular mast it is receiving from. Only having one direction to receive from plus using optimised aerials makes for easy reception in most situations.
Just to add to my previous text, that in the UK there are many hundreds of relay transmitter stations, some covering very small populations, that fill in the blackspots, and poor or difficult pockets of reception from the main transmitters. Some of these are very low power, but that is all that is needed to provide adequate reception in a small blackspot area.
In the analog days, UK signals were always vertical polarization, US used horizontal polarization. That meant US must aim towards the transmitter, UK could still get some signal when aim was off by 90 degrees. Is DTV still polarized the same way as analog? (I think they even spel polarisation differently). Because US / horizontal is more directional one could aim for least multipath. UK / vertical will always let some multipath in, yet their directionality is less critical. A tradeoff, neither way is all good.
@@peters8758 Yes they are, with exceptions. Some stations transmit both horizontal and vertical at the same time. To do that you need twice the power out of the transmitter and is usually cost prohibitive at all but the stations in the top market DMA's. They are doing this to reach mobile users with a better signal. Larry Friddle, Chief Engineer KHBS/KHOG TV (retired)
@@peters8758 Generally in the UK where all tv is digital main transmitters broadcast their signals in horizontal polarisation, and relay transmitters in vertical polarisation. There are a few exceptions to this.
This rarely works properly, unless all channels are very nearby. Multipath distortion occurs not only in the physical way you described, but also due to combining signals of varying strengths and phases. In most cases, bandpass filters are needed for the wanted channels and rejection filters for the unwanted channels. Channel Master's Join-tenna comes to mind, bust pretuned filters now have an application issue with all the UHF channels now used for digital transmission. Then, due to insertion loss, preamplification may be needed as well.
I tend to disagree this is often used in rural areas to pull in two markets. Example our lake house is between Montgomery and Birmingham AL. Perhaps it is the mix of channels, but this works for many people there. I think it is a bit more complex and one needs to look at the frequencies "RF channels" used. TVfool does a good job of dealing with this in their table. An attenuation could also be used on one of the antennas to reduce the signals in one direction before needing filtering. That said the FCC has done a pretty good job with channel spacing in the digital conversion. Will this continue with the repack who knows.
Using a regular cable splitter as a combiner causes distortion and will actually weaken your signal. You really need to use the proper components to ensure the best signal possible. It is not an issue if the signals are strong, but for me I need to reach over 90 miles to get the two different U.S. broadcast towers, so I've learned going cheap doesn't work. Currently catching every channel available in my area from 5 different broadcast towers using an omni-directional antenna combined with a 8 bay panel aimed at one US Tower and a Yagi dedicated to another.
I also have to recieve my signals from a tower 90 miles away livng in the Sierra Mountains and use a huge directional antenna at the moment but am missing signals from 120 degrees away at the moment, could you please share which omni-directional antenna you use to get your signal for the longer distances?
2 way splitters ALLWAYS reduce your signal by 3dbms. 3 way splitters give you one -3dbm and two -6dbm ... an amplifier will bring back usually +10dbm. If the signal is there it will help.
Alexandre Laverne - As for the dedicated Yagi... I have a situation with a weak UHF channel 90 miles away. A Yagi antenna cut specifically for that channel's frequency would be great to combine with my wide band antenna (which gets 4 other channels at 90 miles.) Did you order your Yagi antenna or custom make it for your weak channel's frequency? Please explain (i.e., where to buy).
@@emilypoole5686 - I'm sure that sort of thing happens often, but I could only find family / video game / generic videos related to "Alexandre Lavergne." His mention of "omni-directional" above is suspect, because 1) combining that with other antennas can cause phasing errors where there's reception overlap, and 2) what is he using for "omni-directional," a dipole such as a "rabbit ears" type? No, his post is probably a disinformation troll exercise. Now, I've decided that I'll have to "bite the bullet" and learn how to design custom Yagi-Uda antennas for specific frequencies and combine them. Such design info is online; just do some Google searches.
Thanks for this video. I was thinking about doing the same thing and was wondering if a splitter could be used in reverse. Where I am located we only have about 10 channels available to pick up. 3 Stations to the NE and 7 Station to the SW. No other stations are broadcasting from other directions. So right now we have to choose between 7 Stations or 3 Stations. So wanted to get a 2nd antenna and splitter since they really don't cost much. Then we can get all the stations. Thanks!
Hi Doug, Yesterday I got home after watching your video at work 3 times and turned around a splitter and joined two indoor antennas and powered it all up and had reception like never before. THANKS!! Now I'd like to tinker with it and have a purpose of finding the right piece of test equipment that I might connect to my antenna's one at a time and as I walk around with my antenna in hand and pointing it into seemingly productive directions I'd be able to look at a connected meter and watch a reading go up and know I'd have just found the best place for that particular antenna. Meters that seem to me would do this would be ones like these: LeaningTech DVB-T 95DT, Digital TV Signal Meter, Digital Satellite Finder, Digital Satellite Finder, (all on Amazon) But, I've gotten repeated 'no!'s' from folks saying they wouldn't work. Well they work for satellites and other stuff. It seems to me there would be a meter out there just right for this purpose. Please give me any guidance you can toward an affordable test meter to do this with. Thanks a bunch Doug, Rich
Hi Rich, Unfortunately I have little experience with these meters. The ones specifically for satellite use aren't suitable for over-the-air applications, so avoid those when looking for one. Some of these (the cheaper ones) are just RF signal strength meters that don't discriminate by frequency and they can be fooled by other signal sources.
Hi Doug, Thanks for the reply. I'm in a bit of a mental fog with black friday at hand. I see an opportunity to get some great deals. Here is another piece of hardware I think could be adapted for my purpose. I think with a long extension cord for power, a 2x4 electrical box, and a small directional antenna I could make a RF gun, and this one seems not only to be for TV channels it also seems to be channel select-able. There are a bunch of videos about this device on youtube largely where Recreational Vehicles use this thing to find enough reception when spending the night in their RV. Please give me your thoughts about this. I would want it to show me the best place to put an antenna for say channel 5, and possibly it give me a different place for channel 13. Then your 'combiner' could join such together. Here is the device: www.amazon.com/Winegard-RFL-332-SensarPro-Signal-Strength/dp/B007AORLC4/ref=s9_cartx_gw_g263_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=GZZHXC40H4GKM22HADAZ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=6aad23bd-3035-4a40-b691-0eefb1a18396&pf_rd_i=desktop Thanks again Doug, Rich
Hi Rich, That looks like a handy device - I had not seen it before. It's too bad all of the TV manufacturers don't build this capability into their TVs. In any event it seems to me that this device would do just what you want. Doug
Super! Thanks for the Reply Doug. I'm just bout ready to get off work and head home to bed lol. I'll look into this and definitely get one if it gets a price break on Black Friday, and probably anyway. I kind of see a signal tester with a clipboard and a lot of pacing around and testing different places and from that information being able to place different antennas and join them with a combiner. Also then that information could be stored on my laptop and if things change I could get to solution faster. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the reply. Rich
I actually have 3 antennas on my roof since the towers were all in different directions. They also advise you not to combine the antennas on one pole since the pole might not be strong enough especially with a storm. Another reason not to put them on a pole together is the signals might be to close and you might have ghosting. Another thing you can do for better reception is put a preamp on each antenna. This prevents signal loss from the antenna to the tv. You also need to remember to ground each antenna.
So Brian what is the path that is used? Splitter --> amp ---> grounding brick ---> antenna? Also you are using the same length of cable between antennas all the way to the splitter?
In Europe we have different models of combiners. All combiners have VHF and UHF inputs.. The advantage is that all TV channels are on UHF band, VHF High Band is for digital radio DAB+ and FM analog radio. If you want to combine two TV antennas, you can use a combiner with two UHF inputs, and VHF input has the frequency range 87 - 230 MHz meaning that you get both FM and DAB+ radio. Another advantage is that in Europe most channels are broadcasted from one tower. Let's say you have 20 channels you only need one UHF antenna and with that antenna you get those 20 channel. The interesting part is when you live near the border. You need two UHF antennas, one antenna for the TV channels from your country and the second antenna two receive TV channels from the neighbor country. Also these combiners allow un UHF input power pass if you have an antenna with a built in amplifier, the maximum voltage is 12 volts. Some combiners also have for VHF power pass if you use and FM-DAB+ antenna with buit in amplifier. The bonus part is these UHF combiner have 4G LTE filter so phone signals don't affect reception
Doug, Great video,! Very helpful since I am in the same situation. I am 40 miles SE from Toledo, Oh and 75 miles West of Cleveland. I want to be able to pick up both areas since I am a Browns fan and my daughter lives in Cleveland and likes to watch Cleveland stations when she is visiting us. The antenna we recently bought and are trying out can pick up Toledo stations well but when rotated to the West we can only pick up ABC and NBC out of Cleveland. Do you use a preamplifier booster on the combined antennas that you use? I don't believe that I need one on the one that I would point towards Toledo, but there is a FOX tower south of Cleveland that is about 75 miles away that I would like to be able to pick up. If using a preamplifier booster would help, do I need one on both antennas before it goes through the reverse splitter? I have been looking at different models and the Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT HDTV Preamplifier and the Channel Master CM-7778 Titan 2 "Medium-Gain" seem to get good reviews. I also recently purchased a PCT 8 Port Bi-Directional Cable TV Splitter Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Zero Signal Loss. I am confused as to whether I should have ordered the one with a PASSIVE feature rather than the ACTIVE one that I bought. Doug I really would like to get transitioned to OTA ASAP so that I can tell Spectrum to take a long hike! Any advise would be greatly appreciated. You can email me at vicfrederick68@yahho.com or call me at 419-680-0416. I am retired and usually available to talk anytime after 5:30 am. Thank you again for taking the time to create that great video.
My biggest pet peeves with TV manufacturers is their inability to understand that some customers use rotors. They make their TVs to only be able to rescan the channels without the ability to add new scanned channels to already existing channels. The programmers are completely ignorant of the application to which they're targeting.
06:31 this is the way it was done also in the old Analogue systems, although in very simple ones. In a multi-flat buildings, there was an active mixer to combine antennas, and you could receive stations emitting from different directions.
Save time. Two antennas same direction for stronger signal. Two antennas different directions More channels. And use a combinar not a splitter a splitter loses signal 3db per out put. Also one amp and booster per antenna for Max gain. I get 83 channels.
What solution do you have for having to use the same cable to share OTA and internet? I used to have a device when I had satellite or cable tv to do it. Would that same device type work ok with the OTA?
Used to install satellite, they used what's called a Diplexer to combine the satellite signal and off air antenna outside, then another to split the signal back again. The ones we used were specifically for satellite and were powered by the satellite. At at&t we also used a diplexer for a similar set up. Look up that, you'll be able to find something.
Great video, thank you, sounds like a good solution to my problem. New tv tuners will only auto scan for channels and offer no edit or add. If you use a antenna rotor, you would have to do a re scan EACH time you move the antenna.
Excellent. Thanks for doing this! Amazing list of over the air channels available for you. What I'm really amazed at is how few people have taken advantage of not only totally free TV reception, but BETTER reception than you get with cable or satellite. OTA signals are 8VSB, which means a 1080 broadcast IS 1080. Cablevision uses QUAM modulation. They squeeze HD signals down to NOT HD signals. The resolution goes into the tank. I've had people come by and when they see my reception on the very same channel they get on cable, they're blown away. MUCH better when you pick up signals on an antenna.
Doug Hall MY QUESTION.... Instead of going 4:1 balun, to coaxial, to combiner how about connecting the two antennas via say 300ohm twin lead, then from there one 4:1 balan? WHAT YOU THINK? //// I have two identical RCA antennas as you, similar issue, station locations. Did some test off the roof at 20 feet, connected the two RCA's like you did (slight difference with coax but what I had on hand, just for a test before getting on the roof.) IT WORKS! I still thinking phasing them with twin-lead to a 4:1 transformer (balan) might be better. Might be fun to try...
I needed a good 2 way splitter and got one from Cox but someone told me those are not good and that I was a sucker for buying one. So does that make me a Cox sucker?
Thanks great explanation of the same problem I am having can’t wait to get a splitter and check it out. Like your presentation easy to follow for us amateurs. Thanks
I purchased the Weingard version of the RCA. Mounted on a 20' mast and aimed in general direction of major channels...I receive about 30 channels...I also put a rabbit ears antenna on the ceiling in my radio shack for my 15" flat screen that is dedicated to National Weather Service RADAR channel from nearby public station...works quite well for station 65 miles away! Being a HAM for past 30 years, I understand velocity factor and dB line loss over long lengths of line....73 OM
Doug ma man, I get nothing. Back in the day (60's and 70's) We had lots of TV with a big old roof antenna, I cut my cable hoping to get some signal with rabbit ears from KTLA ch.5 here in LA, I get nothing. I bought a converter, still nothing. could it be my 6 year old TV? heck maybe I should find a 50 year old TV.
Thank you for the video Doug. I am in San Diego and am having trouble with two UHF transmitters located about 6 miles away, while I pick up the other transmitters 25 miles away (the ones with more networks) fine. I just have to have PBS (KPBS) so I'm ordering another RCA Yagi (RCA ANT751E) to point at their transmitter. I'll update my post when I finish the upgrade. My only question is when you have the antennas stacked and the coax is the same length, what did you do with the extra coax? Put it in a loop or...? When the antennas have the same length coax to the combiner, the lower antenna is going to have a few feet of slack in the coax... DE K6WWW
I watched this great video again. Our local VHF TV station finally moved to UHF this past year and I can finally take down those big antennas and replace them with smaller UHF antennas. How would you recommend stacking two antennas for more gain? I get the identical length cables for that as well, but wonder about antenna spacing? I already use a CM7777 amplifier that gets me a 40-50 signal strength (TV setup). My stations are low VHF and VHF. Great video, simple fix!
Only 29 stations? WOW I get 86 digital stations air and satellite direct from online buy one time CD along with download there's 329,977 stations plus free PPV but the PPV will not be free within a 300-3,000 mile range in the U.S. most likely will be Japanese China SSR Russia and so on. All if not most cable and satalitte providers use the WWW to collect and makeup their product and then sell for huge profits. For the money satellite direct is the best cheapest deal because you get to pick from everything in and across the whole earth or globe! As of may 2019 there are a total of 388,465 stations with way more channels to each station base, for you to chose from. In the next six months it is most likely to go up but may not I've experienced this. But usually it will rise in stations at least before the year is finished. For example when I bought my download with mailed to me crash reserve CD. there were only about 12,000 stations and about only 69-75,000 channels this was in 2010. Today there's over one million channels and 388,465 stations.There are copyright laws to tunein it is to copy to resell or reproduce for profit. Or for example taking or stealing a cable/satellite companies package and watching or reselling that's a federal law violation and is a copyright felony and you could get infringement fines,jail time and or both. Read the website fine print and the paperwork fine print as well with whatever you buy. You may just want to the U.S.A.Government websites and read the product's copyright laws and licenced Company copyright federal laws plus FCC copyright laws as well..happy watching Y'all!
I have a 25’ pole and I’m thinking about installing either 2-3 antennas: I have 56-60 channels with 1 antenna pointing in one direction and about 30 to another. I live about 5 miles from Tijuana Mexico and would like to get more LA Channels and Mexican TV stations. Would adding a 3-Way splitter plus grounding increase my TV’s reception?
I liked that very much! Cable here in Jefferson, NH 03583 for TV just went up to $79.00 a month with the digital box rental! We also we have is BASIC TV channels. I also have Internet which is another $59.99 a month! My bill now for cable and internet with the above service is $139.99!!! $140 dollars a month!!!! We are retired and can't afford this any longer but need it!!! I will investigate the options you have suggested even though I have been told by TV antenna installers that I would not get much other than PBS here!
I get PBS great!!! Soon as they did the recent frequency scan I totally lost channel 23 KBSI Fox.....Where is it???!!! I have rescanned dozens of times and aimed antenna at all 4 walls....where is 23? I can't see Comet or Fox.......help!
why is i get it >>>> let say too many channel broadcasting the same show. let say i from rhode island the signal sucks, but i got 2 cbs channel with different number ..same way fox , cbs so on ....look i m getting too many channel but all the same ????..ready to apply your system two antennas
I live on Hamilton mountain approx about 230 feet higher then lower land .....IAM finding if I have the antenna 15to35 feet I get less then I do lowering it 15to0 feet.10 feet seems the best last night I got Ion ,PBS ,NBC,abc cbc as lk in all I got 21 channel.th clisest transmitter is 46kms away and the one last night was 125 kms away it's worried my situation.......anyone
I installed an outdoor antenna about a month ago to "cut the cable." Then, we started having pixelation. I have a line-of-sight view for about a mile toward Shreveport before the distant small hill. The tower distance is 55 miles or less. That put our dropping Dish on hold. Then the other day, every channel went blank. I contacted the KTBS engineer, and he assured me that nothing was wrong at their end. Then, unexpectedly every channel began to come back. It was weird. I was wondering if all of the UHF channels in Shreveport (over 20) were using the same tower support to save money, but I have not been able to find out. Everything seems to be much better now except for occasional pixelation on KTBS. Could I stack two antennas on the same pole about 6 feet apart and possibly improve the signal by combining them with a splitter? I do not want to drop Dish if this might not solve the problem. The antenna I purchased cost less than $30.00, and purchasing another would not be an insurmountable cost.
Brilliant idea. I purchased Amazon's house brand Mohu leaf and cannot get VHF channels with the thing. Very bad VHF reception on those. I'm going to get a pair of bunny ears to pair with it.
Thankyou. In the UK we still use both TV Ariel (antenna) and cable. We pay the BBC a licence fee and pay for cable. I think you have given me the answer I’m looking for. I live in Hartlepool, England. My signal comes from the Bilsdale Transmitter Mast in North Yorkshire which burnt down last year cutting off millions of viewers. After arguments with the landowner they put up a temporarily mast half the height. They also put a second temporary mast nearer but in a different direction. I have two tv Attentas one I can’t get to on top of my chimney towards Bilsdale and one in the attic for different tv’s in the house. I have ordered a signal finder from eBay and will experiment with joining the cables. Cheers
What channels do you want? ATSC is frequency selective just as NTSC. Bandpass filters ,Attenuators Traps. I found the local station my worst problem to keep Ingress out of the picture . I bought an antenna tuned specifically to it's frequency had a clear view by eye of the tower and lined it up. ran Earth grounded RG6 to a 30db attenuator to a combiner which had a frequency trap of the local station by about 40db so that other antenna is on a 360* rotor. You still had to find a place to point it for local station Q/ so people wondered why you point the antenna at an odd angle for the local station? A/ That is not receiving it, the signal source is the little antenna fixed in place it's signal is attenuated 30db as well as all the noise on that signal. The Television receiver's Tuner is shielded , without a signal source wired in it has nothing,you do not want it picking up interference. I tried using TV tuners as frequency selective pre-amps there was a steady flow of Goldstar VCRs on the scrap heap but their tuners worked very well and you could transmit the IF frequency back a long way as it is a low frequency. Tuners don't like the weather but the concept of a frequency selective amplifier can work .Sorry that is my Rant about Consumer electronic repair in the 90's The ATSC signal today when combing Antennas I would spend for Passive traps and bandpass filters. The idea is that you do not want both antennas receiving the same station. Analog sets gave you a Ghost; Digital can lose track of Data and picture turn to pixels floating around.
Does this rule apply to mobile applications? I am trying to grab vhf hi and p25 signals, I've noticed that if I use an antenna designed for the p25, my vhf-hi suffers. And if I go with the vhf I don't get p25😢
I have a Metal Roof, how far from the Roof would you go, or does it matter. I thought it might act like a Ground Plane and affect the performance of the antenna? Thanks for your help.
The metal roof will act as a ground plane and therefore affect the antenna pattern to some extent. I'd recommend staying 4 feet or more above the metal roof if possible.
This is very true , I have to antenna's and now i can watch my favorite shows , with out having to pay a cable Bill, you know how much money i saved ? No cable Bill's...my only regret is I wish I would have know about this sooner .......from the guy Bette Midler Rubbed her feet so close too, And that's the truth !
I hope you can answer my questions on this. I have a high gain antenna focused on Boston MA from my location. 45* to 50* to the west is Providence, another 3 channels that way that barely come in. Would there be a issue with that as it's off in roughly the same direction? I would also be using a different type of antenna.
I have the clearstream 4 and l get 98 channels crystal clear, indoors close to the window. I live in the 6th floor building in jersey city New Jersey 😊😊😊
I have 4 on 1 tv and still only get reception when interrupted by government news -trump impeachment- Supreme court drama Resend on 16/17 Jan 2020 loss more
okay, newbie at this here - connected a Winegard flat amplified indoor antenna, 5L5500A to my bedroom Vizio smart tv. I get some stations really well. This antenna is in a 2nd story window facing North. I see a lot of stations are south of me - I was thinking of adding a flat antenna also to my dining room window, facing south. So I would want to combine the south antenna near my two tv's, and branch off to them - then on my north facing tv, I would want to combine that antenna to go to both tv's - so it seems as if I would have to combine the south antenna cable into 2 cables to go to each tv, in 2 separate rooms - then on the north antenna it sounds as if I would have to combine that cable to go to each tv - then I would have to combine the 2 cables at each tv into one to hook up to each tv? What type of splitters would I use, I assume powered ones - and what quality of cable would I use for a fairly long run like this - my place is a 2 room condo basically, with other small rooms as offshoots.
I thought the signal will always be analog? The decoder translate it digitally to your TV. I thought the way it works, for example, from fox channel, it will be on digital from theor channel, they broadcast the signal using analog signal via uhf or vhf then the antenna wil pick it up and the decoder translate it from analog to digital. Sorry but im trying learn on this. I cut my cable many many years ago. But im been using my internet to watch news and sports.
Now this is what I think the internet is all about! True information given in a simple direct way, including a brief understanding of men and women and crazy. Good Job!
Gosh! How do you like that? A well done, informative video that's entirely devoid of screaming, distracting "music" that you're struggling to hear over. I almost didn't know how to act. Kudos, Doug Hall. Me likey!
And good words: "Don't whine. Be grateful."
yep thats great to see info in a n informative video... just normal... keep clear info in informative video, fail with the nonsense funny 1 and the worst in in the brainless wanna be popular show-off video 1.... that s a pleasure having the chance watching 1 but wont be so before watching around 10000000 videos
I know what you mean...perfect vid
I assume by screaming music it's the 2k's nu metal?
You need to e very careful when choosing splitters............some
splitters do not allow backward flow of current (from output to
input)...............for this purpose you need
"combiner"............just like if you want to use two antenna on a
single Television...................and splitters can also increase resistance.......mostly if not powered...............
Haha I remember those old days moving the rabbit ears around, adding foil and lots of yelling at the tv. I would add several wire coat hangers and twist them into all kinds of shapes.
Extremely well presented and encouraging. Also appreciated the end quote..."Don"t whine, be grateful" which is truly the secret to happiness in life! Thanks!
Back in the day --early 60s we had one local channel. 45 miles away. with rabbit ears, it came in sometimes, very snowy.
At 12 years old I talked to a TV repairman and he told me how to build a Yagi Antenna. I built it and it worked really well, and that was the beginning to a career in CATV. Spent many years with Warner Amex.
Very informative. Nice video. Thank you.
I finally had enough of being scammed by these cable companies.
Rick Joneshy, I cut the cord before Christmas, and couldn’t be happier! I felt like I was being “held hostage by a monopoly” more so than being scammed. I went with hdtv antennas, added fire sticks which averaged $35 bucks a TV. I did keep my Comcast modem and signed up for PHILO. Long story short... I’m now streaming 55 channels in realtime, picking up all the local channels for a grand total of $88.50 a month vs $225.00 a month with Comcast! That’s a savings of $1,638,00 a year! Cha - Ching!!!
When we had Comast cable, I think we were paying somewhere of around $140 a month roughly, well all I remember is I was watching a really good TV channel, and the next day when I went to turn it on, the channel didn't even exist. And 5 other channels had disappeared, BUT, low and behold, our bill.... WENT UP!!! So switched to Dish Network, then over to DirecTV, now, we have an antenna on the roof, and I have my own antenna.
I don't care about TV, other than being able to watch the local news. Other than that, TV is crap. Which is why I pretty much do everything on the internet. TH-cam, Netflix, Hulu, a lot better than TV.
Long, long time Spectrum customer. They lied to me twice after I turned 65 to ask if they had any kind of senior discount. Two techs said yes and after two months of paying MORE than I used to, the last guy said "sorry" . So I said "me too" and left.
Finally a video that explains everything so that the average person can understand. Thanks for sharing.
I remember me and brother yelling through the house while we turned the antenna on the porch trying to get wrestling to come in.
Until he fell off the roof.
Do you have a brother Lee Ho? I want a big dish of beef chow mein.
See now i wonder if WWF ( WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION) IS WHAT YOU GUYS ATTEMPTING TO TUNE IN YOU know back before getting sued for rights to the acronym by of all groups World Wildlife Foundation OR PERHAPS. " NWA" ( NATIONAL WRESTLING ASSOCIATION)
U just brung back great great memories thanks
"and sports nuts are crazy." lmao
Believe me, they aren't half as bad as little old ladies who are missing "Their Stories"!
@@Channel4029 Like the "MAN" says sports nuts are crazy...
Doug. You rock. This is perfect. Not to complicated, not too dumbed down. I was especially interested in the using a splitter as a combiner. I was trying a DIFFERENT antenna and getting same results for the same reason. I knew from my younger years on the farm (before cable and HD), that almost everyone used 2 antennas in an X config. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful Robert.
I love listening to professionals that really know their stuff-regardless of the profession: blue-collar, white-collar; writers to masons.
Compare this fella to the home remodeling shows where they have the owners pitch in with laying out paint--the roller going in every direction as if shooting for starburst pattern...yeah, 'cause that's not going to show through. I would like to roll these people out beneath an asphalt roller and buy this dude a beer. Hat's off!
Back in the day it was called diplexer. They were very common for use in
satellite installations in the 90s. Directv and Dish didn't provide the
local channels back then so you needed to have a TV antenna. The
"diplexer" was a combiner too it just worked over a broader range of
frequencies. The KU band Directv and Dish use is 12-40 Ghz. Whereas
regular OTA broadcast NTSC/QAM is 52-698MHz (ch. 2-51).
This was a really great video. Probably the most well-presented and informative of all that I've checked out over the last couple weeks.
Thank you very much for this!
2 TV antennas got married. The wedding was not very good, but the Reception was great !
Gold LOL
are you going to tell that joke on every antenna video on youtube?
Lol. Thanks. I sure wish you had a topic sentence however, i had to wait 7 minutes to get the answer “use a regular splitter in reverse”. :) but again, thanks for the info. When I researched my zip code for recommended cable, I was given 4 types, yellow, green, red, blue. How does a person manage that? Can I use a four-way splitter?
Hi Doug, thanks for the interesting and informative video. I live in Melbourne Australia and occasionally when there is low cloud, two of our multiplex channels can go down. They are in the same direction as the others, but being on the high end of VHF, they seem to be affected more than the lower frequency channels. I solved the problem by adding in a separate cable into another room, where I can connect to a larger antenna, on a rotator, which brings all the channels through well most of the time. So, when we do have drop outs, I can hook up the cable through to the other room and we can then watch the signal perfectly.
He did not say if the combined channels were both on RF UHF or RF VHF. From my experience receiving DTV since 1999, combining UHF signals from opposite directions even about sixty miles apart does not work. Combining UHF and VHF works, even from the same direction (I have to use separate antennas because a UHF/VHF combination one does not work in my difficult reception location). I'm old and I have a lifetime of experience with TV antennas. Please see my listing for free information on the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. Search for "cord cutter" in the Services category.
Wow. Excellent & super informative in every way. Thank you. 👍
And - most Importantly I wish every idiot with background music injected into they're educational videos would see this and experience an 'ah-ha' moment!!!
I had no success combining two antennas until I purchased a Televes pre-amplifier two-antenna signal combiner. Somehow, their product picks the best signal when both antennas receive the same, while also boosting the gain of each signal independently. Love it.
I don't give "likes," until now.
Great video! Love the frequency map running in the background! Almost like "doc" in Back To The Future!
looks like home bru vhf and uhf antennas good job om i seen ur icom radios kg6mn
You need to e very careful when choosing splitters............some
splitters do not allow backward flow of current (from output to
input)...............for this purpose you need
"combiner"............just like if you want to use two antenna on a
single Television...................and splitters can also increase resistance.......mostly if not powered...............
Please, someone tell the easy n cheap way to add ground to my tv antenna. I lack $ so...
You can buy a grounding rod but any length of metal two to three feet long will work. First drill a hole in it or get a fastener that will allow you to fasten a wire to the length of metal. Pound metal at least 6 inches into the ground. Run a copper wire from the metal to your antenna. Shouldn’t really matter where you attach the wire to the antenna as long as its to the metal per of the antenna. They do make what’s called grounding wire which is thick copper wire but thinner wires will work. I’ve grounded dozens of CB and Ham radio antennas this way. Should work with TV
He's too busy fiddling with the TV antennas also collected TH-cam payouts. I've heard of the Omni50 hands down the absolute best. Relatively cheap around $60 , still saving up money for it so I'll let you know. Anyone else using the same Omni50 ?
Hi i have an antenna with 2 leads 1 lead per adjustable angle bay....i am running those 2 leads through a splitter in reverse .... This is great thanks !!!
** Okay: who here rewound the video back, right after the pixelation and audio dropout happened, not realizing it was a demonstration?
LOL
This is a "BROAD-BRUSH" reply. I installed 2 HD antennas WITH VHF/UHF and FM! Each antenna has it's own "Pre-Amp", a ANTRONIX ARA1-15 (and DC power supply). If you hurry you can buy a used Pre-Amp on on eBay for about $15! Just be SURE your purchase INCLUDES the vital supply! 2 Antennas installed at different ends of the house to minimize roof coax runs and connectors exposed to the elements. I used QUALITY black RG6u coax; black to help resist sun u/v damage... much more to follow:
Now I have PLENTY of signal levels even from some weak stations 'off the sides' of the these very 'directional' antennas. Indoors is the DC supply and a four-way splitter for TV's, TiVos and ABUNDANT FM STEREO too! Know Pre-Amps CAN be "overloaded" with TOO MANY RF SIGNALS! Here in Los Angeles we have MANY THOUSANDS of signal sources; including TV, AM, FM, 2-way radios, telemetry ~ simply too many to name. Because Pre-Amps are so "broad-banded" SOME areas require a 'FM TRAP' to help prevent pre-amp overload. I did not require one.
CAUTION, although TV stations went 'digital', SOME DID NOT MOVE to the UHF bands ~ as was the 'original plan' to free up huge hunks of VHF TV bandwidth. Here in L,A, 4 major broadcasters REMAIN on the VHF (low-band) SO USE CARE when you select your antenna! INCLUDE the VHF band too because "things change" and a array/abundant FM stations are also provided. IF your new antenna is "UHF ONLY", performance on the VHF band WILL SUFFER and ~ what you see is what you get.
Help your antenna ENDURE (even DECADES) longer! TIGHTLY wrap ALL coax junctions with black electrical tape... LOOK where your antenna elements 'junction' with "bus-bar" wires (sometimes under screws). Using common roofing tar, use a spatula to GENEROUSLY COAT each coax connector tape AND antenna >element junctions< too! This helps minimize exposure to vital junctions from rain/storms/fog/drizzle etc.
Finally, PLEASE KNOW I AM NOT willing to participate in 'range wars' or pi**ing contests.
just tested it and it WORKS!!! got from 12 channels to 26. I used a portable tv just to see the signal strength, and I added a signal amplifier between the combiner and splitter. all channels have a "good" signal cuz there $10 pvc antennas. THANK YOU!!!
Where do u get a 10$ pvc antenna?and what is pvc??😬
I have the same problem so when it gets cooler I'm going to put up my second antenna and also I use a TiVo receiver so I can record shows while i'm away ( 4 channels at the same time). I also see that you are amateur radio 73 DE KG4YPE and working on the General license
Multipath interference is major PITA in urban areas. To date, the only digital antenna that had enough directionality to reject reflected signals was the Philips Silver Streak - and of course they stopped making them around the time the country went all digital. Likewise, the D/A converters they gave coupons for , to help people with the switch over had a signal strength meter built in, which was indispensable for aiming. I have not been able to find a single tv on sale that has a built-in SS meter, and the D/A converters aren't sold anymore. (actually the stores never carried them BEFORE the changeover either, figuring they'd just sell you a new tv of course)
It's a capitalist conspiracy, I tells ya!
It's incredibly easy to build your own yagi with much better gain than most of the store bought crap I see. Also I never saw and digital converter with it's own s meter. That would be extremely helpful. I've seen most that have a s meter in it's settings but a good analog or digital on the outside of it would be so great
I bought a cheap ($118) 32" Element brand HDTV at Wal-Mart with signal strength meter built in.
I have a 5 or 6 y/o LG 55UF6450 and it has a signal strength meter. It's somewhat buried in the channel menu, but very handy.
rowan: "and the D/A converters aren't sold anymore." Actually I see dozens offered by Walmart.com today (1/24/2019) Saw some in a store too.
TH-cam video pixelates and freezes. I need a preamp for my browser.
It should be clear that it should be a Bi Directional splitter. A lot of older splitters only allowed flow one way so turning it around backwards would not work.
i use a uhf directional antenna at the top of my mast then a directional vhf antenna right below aimed both in the same direction. i use a uhf/vhf combiner and then a amplifier under the antennas. nobody else in the country where my house is can get the channels i do
Not velocity factor per say. More that signals are in phase, phase delay will weaken digital signals or ghost analog TV
All terrestial tv in the UK is digital now. We are lucky here in that the broadcast mast or tower designated to cover a certain area will carry all the tv stations that are due to be received in the coverage area of the transmitter. This means to receive every station perfectly you only need one aerial (antenna) which can be precisely fixed and point in the direction required. Also the aerial used would be the one designed for its optimum performance to match the group of frequencies transmitted from the particular mast it is receiving from. Only having one direction to receive from plus using optimised aerials makes for easy reception in most situations.
Just to add to my previous text, that in the UK there are many hundreds of relay transmitter stations, some covering very small populations, that fill in the blackspots, and poor or difficult pockets of reception from the main transmitters. Some of these are very low power, but that is all that is needed to provide adequate reception in a small blackspot area.
In the analog days, UK signals were always vertical polarization, US used horizontal polarization. That meant US must aim towards the transmitter, UK could still get some signal when aim was off by 90 degrees. Is DTV still polarized the same way as analog? (I think they even spel polarisation differently).
Because US / horizontal is more directional one could aim for least multipath. UK / vertical will always let some multipath in, yet their directionality is less critical. A tradeoff, neither way is all good.
@@peters8758 Yes they are, with exceptions. Some stations transmit both horizontal and vertical at the same time. To do that you need twice the power out of the transmitter and is usually cost prohibitive at all but the stations in the top market DMA's. They are doing this to reach mobile users with a better signal.
Larry Friddle, Chief Engineer KHBS/KHOG TV (retired)
@@peters8758 Generally in the UK where all tv is digital main transmitters broadcast their signals in horizontal polarisation, and relay transmitters in vertical polarisation. There are a few exceptions to this.
Nice video but where are the weather boots and sealer for the F connectors? Water and Mother Nature may spoil all your hard work!
Oh that background tells this guy is legit!! XD
This guy's sitting in his .......Fallout Shelter !
Do the antennas have to be the same or can you use to different sizes and shapes ???????🇺🇸😷
This rarely works properly, unless all channels are very nearby. Multipath distortion occurs not only in the physical way you described, but also due to combining signals of varying strengths and phases. In most cases, bandpass filters are needed for the wanted channels and rejection filters for the unwanted channels. Channel Master's Join-tenna comes to mind, bust pretuned filters now have an application issue with all the UHF channels now used for digital transmission. Then, due to insertion loss, preamplification may be needed as well.
Cotronixco are you saying the CM jiontenna has the problems you list or cure those problems?
Antenna array he build IS ACTUALLY WORKING for him. He apparently didn't need to jump through the extra hoops you insist are there.
I tend to disagree this is often used in rural areas to pull in two markets. Example our lake house is between Montgomery and Birmingham AL. Perhaps it is the mix of channels, but this works for many people there. I think it is a bit more complex and one needs to look at the frequencies "RF channels" used. TVfool does a good job of dealing with this in their table. An attenuation could also be used on one of the antennas to reduce the signals in one direction before needing filtering. That said the FCC has done a pretty good job with channel spacing in the digital conversion. Will this continue with the repack who knows.
@@ancelrick5396 I am a retired television engineer living way out in the sticks. I use the exact same setup. Works great.
This technique works well with indoor antennas too.
I use it in my 5th wheel mobile home & it allows me
the flexibility you mentioned.
Using a regular cable splitter as a combiner causes distortion and will actually weaken your signal. You really need to use the proper components to ensure the best signal possible. It is not an issue if the signals are strong, but for me I need to reach over 90 miles to get the two different U.S. broadcast towers, so I've learned going cheap doesn't work. Currently catching every channel available in my area from 5 different broadcast towers using an omni-directional antenna combined with a 8 bay panel aimed at one US Tower and a Yagi dedicated to another.
I also have to recieve my signals from a tower 90 miles away livng in the Sierra Mountains and use a huge directional antenna at the moment but am missing signals from 120 degrees away at the moment, could you please share which omni-directional antenna you use to get your signal for the longer distances?
2 way splitters ALLWAYS reduce your signal by 3dbms. 3 way splitters give you one -3dbm and two -6dbm ... an amplifier will bring back usually +10dbm. If the signal is there it will help.
Alexandre Laverne - As for the dedicated Yagi... I have a situation with a weak UHF channel 90 miles away. A Yagi antenna cut specifically for that channel's frequency would be great to combine with my wide band antenna (which gets 4 other channels at 90 miles.) Did you order your Yagi antenna or custom make it for your weak channel's frequency? Please explain (i.e., where to buy).
@@brucebeverly2629 Suppose he has his own Channel he wants us to watch? Click bate people on other youtube channels who know all...
@@emilypoole5686 - I'm sure that sort of thing happens often, but I could only find family / video game / generic videos related to "Alexandre Lavergne." His mention of "omni-directional" above is suspect, because 1) combining that with other antennas can cause phasing errors where there's reception overlap, and 2) what is he using for "omni-directional," a dipole such as a "rabbit ears" type? No, his post is probably a disinformation troll exercise. Now, I've decided that I'll have to "bite the bullet" and learn how to design custom Yagi-Uda antennas for specific frequencies and combine them. Such design info is online; just do some Google searches.
Thanks for this video. I was thinking about doing the same thing and was wondering if a splitter could be used in reverse. Where I am located we only have about 10 channels available to pick up. 3 Stations to the NE and 7 Station to the SW. No other stations are broadcasting from other directions. So right now we have to choose between 7 Stations or 3 Stations. So wanted to get a 2nd antenna and splitter since they really don't cost much. Then we can get all the stations. Thanks!
Hi Doug, Yesterday I got home after watching your video at work 3 times and turned around a splitter and joined two indoor antennas and powered it all up and had reception like never before. THANKS!! Now I'd like to tinker with it and have a purpose of finding the right piece of test equipment that I might connect to my antenna's one at a time and as I walk around with my antenna in hand and pointing it into seemingly productive directions I'd be able to look at a connected meter and watch a reading go up and know I'd have just found the best place for that particular antenna. Meters that seem to me would do this would be ones like these:
LeaningTech DVB-T 95DT, Digital TV Signal Meter, Digital Satellite Finder, Digital Satellite Finder, (all on Amazon)
But, I've gotten repeated 'no!'s' from folks saying they wouldn't work. Well they work for satellites and other stuff. It seems to me there would be a meter out there just right for this purpose. Please give me any guidance you can toward an affordable test meter to do this with.
Thanks a bunch Doug,
Rich
Hi Rich,
Unfortunately I have little experience with these meters. The ones specifically for satellite use aren't suitable for over-the-air applications, so avoid those when looking for one. Some of these (the cheaper ones) are just RF signal strength meters that don't discriminate by frequency and they can be fooled by other signal sources.
Hi Doug,
Thanks for the reply. I'm in a bit of a mental fog with black friday at hand. I see an opportunity to get some great deals. Here is another piece of hardware I think could be adapted for my purpose. I think with a long extension cord for power, a 2x4 electrical box, and a small directional antenna I could make a RF gun, and this one seems not only to be for TV channels it also seems to be channel select-able. There are a bunch of videos about this device on youtube largely where Recreational Vehicles use this thing to find enough reception when spending the night in their RV. Please give me your thoughts about this. I would want it to show me the best place to put an antenna for say channel 5, and possibly it give me a different place for channel 13. Then your 'combiner' could join such together.
Here is the device:
www.amazon.com/Winegard-RFL-332-SensarPro-Signal-Strength/dp/B007AORLC4/ref=s9_cartx_gw_g263_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=GZZHXC40H4GKM22HADAZ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=6aad23bd-3035-4a40-b691-0eefb1a18396&pf_rd_i=desktop
Thanks again Doug,
Rich
Hi Rich,
That looks like a handy device - I had not seen it before. It's too bad all of the TV manufacturers don't build this capability into their TVs. In any event it seems to me that this device would do just what you want.
Doug
Super! Thanks for the Reply Doug. I'm just bout ready to get off work and head home to bed lol. I'll look into this and definitely get one if it gets a price break on Black Friday, and probably anyway. I kind of see a signal tester with a clipboard and a lot of pacing around and testing different places and from that information being able to place different antennas and join them with a combiner. Also then that information could be stored on my laptop and if things change I could get to solution faster. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the reply.
Rich
Rich Schreiner
excellent presentation.
I actually have 3 antennas on my roof since the towers were all in different directions. They also advise you not to combine the antennas on one pole since the pole might not be strong enough especially with a storm. Another reason not to put them on a pole together is the signals might be to close and you might have ghosting. Another thing you can do for better reception is put a preamp on each antenna. This prevents signal loss from the antenna to the tv. You also need to remember to ground each antenna.
So Brian what is the path that is used? Splitter --> amp ---> grounding brick ---> antenna? Also you are using the same length of cable between antennas all the way to the splitter?
I got bad service out here and this guy got me thought my internet was messing up
In Europe we have different models of combiners. All combiners have VHF and UHF inputs.. The advantage is that all TV channels are on UHF band, VHF High Band is for digital radio DAB+ and FM analog radio. If you want to combine two TV antennas, you can use a combiner with two UHF inputs, and VHF input has the frequency range 87 - 230 MHz meaning that you get both FM and DAB+ radio. Another advantage is that in Europe most channels are broadcasted from one tower. Let's say you have 20 channels you only need one UHF antenna and with that antenna you get those 20 channel. The interesting part is when you live near the border. You need two UHF antennas, one antenna for the TV channels from your country and the second antenna two receive TV channels from the neighbor country. Also these combiners allow un UHF input power pass if you have an antenna with a built in amplifier, the maximum voltage is 12 volts. Some combiners also have for VHF power pass if you use and FM-DAB+ antenna with buit in amplifier. The bonus part is these UHF combiner have 4G LTE filter so phone signals don't affect reception
Doug, Great video,! Very helpful since I am in the same situation. I am 40 miles SE from Toledo, Oh and 75 miles West of Cleveland. I want to be able to pick up both areas since I am a Browns fan and my daughter lives in Cleveland and likes to watch Cleveland stations when she is visiting us. The antenna we recently bought and are trying out can pick up Toledo stations well but when rotated to the West we can only pick up ABC and NBC out of Cleveland. Do you use a preamplifier booster on the combined antennas that you use? I don't believe that I need one on the one that I would point towards Toledo, but there is a FOX tower south of Cleveland that is about 75 miles away that I would like to be able to pick up. If using a preamplifier booster would help, do I need one on both antennas before it goes through the reverse splitter? I have been looking at different models and the Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT HDTV Preamplifier and the Channel Master CM-7778 Titan 2 "Medium-Gain" seem to get good reviews. I also recently purchased a PCT 8 Port Bi-Directional Cable TV Splitter Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Zero Signal Loss. I am confused as to whether I should have ordered the one with a PASSIVE feature rather than the ACTIVE one that I bought. Doug I really would like to get transitioned to OTA ASAP so that I can tell Spectrum to take a long hike! Any advise would be greatly appreciated. You can email me at vicfrederick68@yahho.com or call me at 419-680-0416. I am retired and usually available to talk anytime after 5:30 am. Thank you again for taking the time to create that great video.
What are the best combiner you can buy ??? Thanks
My biggest pet peeves with TV manufacturers is their inability to understand that some customers use rotors. They make their TVs to only be able to rescan the channels without the ability to add new scanned channels to already existing channels. The programmers are completely ignorant of the application to which they're targeting.
Nice job Doug, thanks.
06:31 this is the way it was done also in the old Analogue systems, although in very simple ones. In a multi-flat buildings, there was an active mixer to combine antennas, and you could receive stations emitting from different directions.
The actual solution is explained at 5:55 and forward. Great tip on using a splitter in reverse.
Save time. Two antennas same direction for stronger signal. Two antennas different directions More channels. And use a combinar not a splitter a splitter loses signal 3db per out put. Also one amp and booster per antenna for Max gain. I get 83 channels.
I did this...it works...ran 2 into a splitter
One question. I was told if you combine two TV Antennas, it can cause Multi-Path Interference. How can I avoid this?
What solution do you have for having to use the same cable to share OTA and internet? I used to have a device when I had satellite or cable tv to do it. Would that same device type work ok with the OTA?
Used to install satellite, they used what's called a Diplexer to combine the satellite signal and off air antenna outside, then another to split the signal back again. The ones we used were specifically for satellite and were powered by the satellite. At at&t we also used a diplexer for a similar set up. Look up that, you'll be able to find something.
That's fascinating. I would have thought they would interfere with each other causing issues.
It depends on the 180° gain of the antenna used, if it's very low, you should be fine. In other words, use a VERY directional antenna.
Great video, thank you, sounds like a good solution to my problem. New tv tuners will only auto scan for channels and offer no edit or add. If you use a antenna rotor, you would have to do a re scan EACH time you move the antenna.
"TV Waves" that's funny.
Excellent. Thanks for doing this! Amazing list of over the air channels available for you. What I'm really amazed at is how few people have taken advantage of not only totally free TV reception, but BETTER reception than you get with cable or satellite. OTA signals are 8VSB, which means a 1080 broadcast IS 1080. Cablevision uses QUAM modulation. They squeeze HD signals down to NOT HD signals. The resolution goes into the tank. I've had people come by and when they see my reception on the very same channel they get on cable, they're blown away. MUCH better when you pick up signals on an antenna.
The actual resolution doesn’t decrease from cable’s compression, just the overall picture quality.
Doug Hall MY QUESTION.... Instead of going 4:1 balun, to coaxial, to combiner how about connecting the two antennas via say 300ohm twin lead, then from there one 4:1 balan? WHAT YOU THINK? //// I have two identical RCA antennas as you, similar issue, station locations. Did some test off the roof at 20 feet, connected the two RCA's like you did (slight difference with coax but what I had on hand, just for a test before getting on the roof.) IT WORKS! I still thinking phasing them with twin-lead to a 4:1 transformer (balan) might be better. Might be fun to try...
I needed a good 2 way splitter and got one from Cox but someone told me those are not good and that I was a sucker for buying one. So does that make me a Cox sucker?
Maybe
Thanks great explanation of the same problem I am having can’t wait to get a splitter and check it out. Like your presentation easy to follow for us amateurs.
Thanks
I purchased the Weingard version of the RCA. Mounted on a 20' mast and aimed in general direction of major channels...I receive about 30 channels...I also put a rabbit ears antenna on the ceiling in my radio shack for my 15" flat screen that is dedicated to National Weather Service RADAR channel from nearby public station...works quite well for station 65 miles away! Being a HAM for past 30 years, I understand velocity factor and dB line loss over long lengths of line....73 OM
Great. Now put on your thinking cap and figure out what other presentations you can do and let me know so I can watch them too!
"But then they pretty much all sucked". Love it!
Doug ma man, I get nothing. Back in the day (60's and 70's) We had lots of TV with a big old roof antenna, I cut my cable hoping to get some signal with rabbit ears from KTLA ch.5 here in LA, I get nothing. I bought a converter, still nothing. could it be my 6 year old TV? heck maybe I should find a 50 year old TV.
Thank you for the video Doug. I am in San Diego and am having trouble with two UHF transmitters located about 6 miles away, while I pick up the other transmitters 25 miles away (the ones with more networks) fine. I just have to have PBS (KPBS) so I'm ordering another RCA Yagi (RCA ANT751E) to point at their transmitter. I'll update my post when I finish the upgrade. My only question is when you have the antennas stacked and the coax is the same length, what did you do with the extra coax? Put it in a loop or...? When the antennas have the same length coax to the combiner, the lower antenna is going to have a few feet of slack in the coax...
DE K6WWW
Sure, roll it up or tape it to the mast, whatever works out best for you.
I was expecting some high/low pass filters.
Times have caught up to you Saul Goodman.
I'd use a big antenna and a rotor to aim it where ever the signals are best. Ditch the wife.
NICE!
I watched this great video again. Our local VHF TV station finally moved to UHF this past year and I can finally take down those big antennas and replace them with smaller UHF antennas. How would you recommend stacking two antennas for more gain? I get the identical length cables for that as well, but wonder about antenna spacing? I already use a CM7777 amplifier that gets me a 40-50 signal strength (TV setup). My stations are low VHF and VHF. Great video, simple fix!
Only 29 stations? WOW I get 86 digital stations air and satellite direct from online buy one time CD along with download there's 329,977 stations plus free PPV but the PPV will not be free within a 300-3,000 mile range in the U.S. most likely will be Japanese China SSR Russia and so on. All if not most cable and satalitte providers use the WWW to collect and makeup their product and then sell for huge profits. For the money satellite direct is the best cheapest deal because you get to pick from everything in and across the whole earth or globe! As of may 2019 there are a total of 388,465 stations with way more channels to each station base, for you to chose from. In the next six months it is most likely to go up but may not I've experienced this. But usually it will rise in stations at least before the year is finished. For example when I bought my download with mailed to me crash reserve CD. there were only about 12,000 stations and about only 69-75,000 channels this was in 2010. Today there's over one million channels and 388,465 stations.There are copyright laws to tunein it is to copy to resell or reproduce for profit. Or for example taking or stealing a cable/satellite companies package and watching or reselling that's a federal law violation and is a copyright felony and you could get infringement fines,jail time and or both. Read the website fine print and the paperwork fine print as well with whatever you buy. You may just want to the U.S.A.Government websites and read the product's copyright laws and licenced Company copyright federal laws plus FCC copyright laws as well..happy watching Y'all!
I have a 25’ pole and I’m thinking about installing either 2-3 antennas: I have 56-60 channels with 1 antenna pointing in one direction and about 30 to another. I live about 5 miles from Tijuana Mexico and would like to get more LA Channels and Mexican TV stations. Would adding a 3-Way splitter plus grounding increase my TV’s reception?
I liked that very much! Cable here in Jefferson, NH 03583 for TV just went up to $79.00 a month with the digital box rental! We also we have is BASIC TV channels. I also have Internet which is another $59.99 a month! My bill now for cable and internet with the above service is $139.99!!! $140 dollars a month!!!! We are retired and can't afford this any longer but need it!!! I will investigate the options you have suggested even though I have been told by TV antenna installers that I would not get much other than PBS here!
I get PBS great!!! Soon as they did the recent frequency scan I totally lost channel 23 KBSI Fox.....Where is it???!!! I have rescanned dozens of times and aimed antenna at all 4 walls....where is 23? I can't see Comet or Fox.......help!
why is i get it >>>> let say too many channel broadcasting the same show. let say i from rhode island the signal sucks, but i got 2 cbs channel with different number ..same way fox , cbs so on ....look i m getting too many channel but all the same ????..ready to apply your system two antennas
I live on Hamilton mountain approx about 230 feet higher then lower land .....IAM finding if I have the antenna 15to35 feet I get less then I do lowering it 15to0 feet.10 feet seems the best last night I got Ion ,PBS ,NBC,abc cbc as lk in all I got 21 channel.th clisest transmitter is 46kms away and the one last night was 125 kms away it's worried my situation.......anyone
Just stumbled upon this, New Sub: Dryden, MI
Gonna work on a Homemade antenna for our Middle of nowhere Upper/Mid-Michigan Cabin for my dad.
Nice Work
Your title is deceptive!! Putting 2 at different directions DOES NOT IMOROVE RECEPTION!! It MERELY an option to not get the STANDARD ROTATOR.
I installed an outdoor antenna about a month ago to "cut the cable." Then, we started having pixelation. I have a line-of-sight view for about a mile toward Shreveport before the distant small hill. The tower distance is 55 miles or less. That put our dropping Dish on hold. Then the other day, every channel went blank. I contacted the KTBS engineer, and he assured me that nothing was wrong at their end. Then, unexpectedly every channel began to come back. It was weird. I was wondering if all of the UHF channels in Shreveport (over 20) were using the same tower support to save money, but I have not been able to find out. Everything seems to be much better now except for occasional pixelation on KTBS. Could I stack two antennas on the same pole about 6 feet apart and possibly improve the signal by combining them with a splitter? I do not want to drop Dish if this might not solve the problem. The antenna I purchased cost less than $30.00, and purchasing another would not be an insurmountable cost.
Brilliant idea. I purchased Amazon's house brand Mohu leaf and cannot get VHF channels with the thing. Very bad VHF reception on those. I'm going to get a pair of bunny ears to pair with it.
Thankyou. In the UK we still use both TV Ariel (antenna) and cable. We pay the BBC a licence fee and pay for cable. I think you have given me the answer I’m looking for. I live in Hartlepool, England. My signal comes from the Bilsdale Transmitter Mast in North Yorkshire which burnt down last year cutting off millions of viewers. After arguments with the landowner they put up a temporarily mast half the height. They also put a second temporary mast nearer but in a different direction. I have two tv Attentas one I can’t get to on top of my chimney towards Bilsdale and one in the attic for different tv’s in the house. I have ordered a signal finder from eBay and will experiment with joining the cables. Cheers
What channels do you want? ATSC is frequency selective just as NTSC. Bandpass filters ,Attenuators Traps. I found the local station my worst problem to keep Ingress out of the picture . I bought an antenna tuned specifically to it's frequency had a clear view by eye of the tower and lined it up. ran Earth grounded RG6 to a 30db attenuator to a combiner which had a frequency trap of the local station by about 40db so that other antenna is on a 360* rotor. You still had to find a place to point it for local station Q/ so people wondered why you point the antenna at an odd angle for the local station? A/ That is not receiving it, the signal source is the little antenna fixed in place it's signal is attenuated 30db as well as all the noise on that signal. The Television receiver's Tuner is shielded , without a signal source wired in it has nothing,you do not want it picking up interference. I tried using TV tuners as frequency selective pre-amps there was a steady flow of Goldstar VCRs on the scrap heap but their tuners worked very well and you could transmit the IF frequency back a long way as it is a low frequency. Tuners don't like the weather but the concept of a frequency selective amplifier can work
.Sorry that is my Rant about Consumer electronic repair in the 90's
The ATSC signal today when combing Antennas I would spend for Passive traps and bandpass filters. The idea is that you do not want both antennas receiving the same station. Analog sets gave you a Ghost; Digital can lose track of Data and picture turn to pixels floating around.
Does this rule apply to mobile applications?
I am trying to grab vhf hi and p25 signals, I've noticed that if I use an antenna designed for the p25, my vhf-hi suffers. And if I go with the vhf I don't get p25😢
In the RC world they use a diversity controller... would that be applicable for OTA HDTV signals? thanks for the video!
I have a Metal Roof, how far from the Roof would you go, or does it matter. I thought it might act like a Ground Plane and affect the performance of the antenna? Thanks for your help.
The metal roof will act as a ground plane and therefore affect the antenna pattern to some extent. I'd recommend staying 4 feet or more above the metal roof if possible.
Just found your video now. So.. the splitter can be reversed? I am looking for the one 2IN and 1OUT but mostly 1IN and 2OUT!
This is very true , I have to antenna's and now i can watch my favorite shows , with out having to pay a cable Bill, you know how much money i saved ? No cable Bill's...my only regret is I wish I would have know about this sooner .......from the guy Bette Midler Rubbed her feet so close too, And that's the truth !
Point 1 antenna more east.... Catch PBS off the back. Didn't see a pre amp. Add one. Problem solved. Or omni directional antenna. Nice video, though.
Would using more than 2 and pointing them so it's 360° all the way around and using a booster help more?
I don't think so. Between the additional loss in the splitter and the likely multipath issues I don't think you'd gain anything.
I hope you can answer my questions on this. I have a high gain antenna focused on Boston MA from my location. 45* to 50* to the west is Providence, another 3 channels that way that barely come in. Would there be a issue with that as it's off in roughly the same direction? I would also be using a different type of antenna.
Good info. Thanks for posting.
I have the clearstream 4 and l get 98 channels crystal clear, indoors close to the window. I live in the 6th floor building in jersey city New Jersey 😊😊😊
Will this setup work when combining 2 amplified TV with one amplifier powering both (Antennas Direct Clearstream)?
I have 4 on 1 tv and still only get reception when interrupted by government news -trump impeachment- Supreme court drama
Resend on 16/17 Jan 2020 loss more
okay, newbie at this here - connected a Winegard flat amplified indoor antenna, 5L5500A to my bedroom Vizio smart tv. I get some stations really well. This antenna is in a 2nd story window facing North. I see a lot of stations are south of me - I was thinking of adding a flat antenna also to my dining room window, facing south. So I would want to combine the south antenna near my two tv's, and branch off to them - then on my north facing tv, I would want to combine that antenna to go to both tv's - so it seems as if I would have to combine the south antenna cable into 2 cables to go to each tv, in 2 separate rooms - then on the north antenna it sounds as if I would have to combine that cable to go to each tv - then I would have to combine the 2 cables at each tv into one to hook up to each tv? What type of splitters would I use, I assume powered ones - and what quality of cable would I use for a fairly long run like this - my place is a 2 room condo basically, with other small rooms as offshoots.
I thought the signal will always be analog? The decoder translate it digitally to your TV. I thought the way it works, for example, from fox channel, it will be on digital from theor channel, they broadcast the signal using analog signal via uhf or vhf then the antenna wil pick it up and the decoder translate it from analog to digital. Sorry but im trying learn on this. I cut my cable many many years ago. But im been using my internet to watch news and sports.
Thanks so much for sharing with the public. I had the same problem in Puerto Rico. Now problem solved. 💪