[michael1248]

I currently have the Stealth Antenna (Channel Master 3010) in my attic running with a pre-amp. I know it is not multi-directional. I live in Fort Lauderdale and have stations directly to the south (Miami) and to the north (West Palm Beach).

I'd like to improve my overall reception. Does anyone have a Channel master 4228 in their attic? If so, how much signal strength are you losing and how are you running it to your TiVo?

 

[scooby_doo_53]

I mounted one in the attic, but it didn't really make much of a difference between my regular radio shack directional antenna I had in there.

I'll qualify that by saying that in the Denver area, the HD signals aren't yet going out with full power (politics about where to put the new HD antennas). At any rate, they are all low power, and I was picking up all the stations with either antenna.

 

[dswallow]

I had both the 3010 and the 4228 in my attic; the 4228 was a definite improvement over the 3010 (for UHF, anyway). I also had the Winegard SquareShooter mounted under the eaves and it worked fine, as well.

About 4 or 5 months ago I moved both to a mount on the roof, and now they both perform well enough to get all my stations. I still favor the 4228... I can even aim it at Philadelphia and still get most of the NYC stations as well as many from Philadelphia... though I keep it aimed at NYC to ensure I never have signal issues.

 

[ldturner]

I'm using the 4228 in the Attic north of Chicago. Very good performance. 26 miles north of the city.
It's only look through wood siding, no insulation or metal.

 

[Sir_winealot]

I have the 4228 in my attic as well, and it gets all the local area stations (22 miles away) beautifully.

What's amazing to me is that CBS is in the complete opposite direction of NBC, FOX and ABC ...and I pull 90's in on all of 'em.

 

[kdonnel]

I have the 4228 in my attic.

I am reaching the troublesome time of year for the antenna. There is about a 2-3 week period while the leaves are falling that I have problems with my NBC and ABC stations.

I got a much better signal raising it a few inches but it is now as high as it can be and still be in the attic.

If it wouldn't be so ugly I would move it outside.

 

[reh523]

I have the 4228 in my attic.

I am reaching the troublesome time of year for the antenna. There is about a 2-3 week period while the leaves are falling that I have problems with my NBC and ABC stations.

I got a much better signal raising it a few inches but it is now as high as it can be and still be in the attic.

If it wouldn't be so ugly I would move it outside.

I moved it outside and painted it the same color as the roof (clay tiles). Works very well and is okay with the wife....

 

[Sapphire]

What a shame that such a nice antenna should be confined to the attic.

But I see no reason why it wouldn't work. It will work better outside, but it will work in the attic.

 

[HomieG]

I've got my 4228 the attic. Relative signal strength on the digital channels here is 92 or better. Not bad for being 32 miles from the closest DTV transmitter. No amplifier. And use about 75-feet of RG6U too. One of our DTV signals is on VHF Channel 10, and the antenna works great there too. Not worth having it outside, at least in my case.

Funny story, though...when I first got the antenna, I experimented with it in the backyard. Good signals (about 70) with the antenna on the ground. I brought the antenna inside. It was still connected to the receiver, and I was still getting signals. Again, 32 miles from the closest DTV transmitter. I thought my receiver was on satellite, but nope, it was on the antenna. Signals weren't great at about 50, but there was signal, with the 4228 inside the house, ground floor, pointed towards a solid wall!

 

[Sapphire]

HomieG - not at all unusual.

Intervening terrain (hills) would do more to attenuate your signal rather than just distance alone.

My next project is to get a TV antenna. I'm weighing the CM 4228 or the Winegard 9095P. I live in the fringe (the TV transmitters I am targeting are on the ESB in NYC which is 48 miles away) but I have heard it is doable. I can receive other signals on VHF and UHF from NYC that are running much less power than the DTV transmitters, but we shall see. It is a challenge, anyway.

 

[Sir_winealot]

one thing ive noticed w/it in the attic...you need to work on finding a good spot or the signal can really bounce around a lot.

ive had to move the 4228 twice also...once after 6 mos of perfect viewing, another time after another 4 months of same. i attribute that to tree growth.

as well, on a windy day i sometimes get intermittent dropout...but it's not bad (certainly not bad enuff for me to reposition again).

 

[TyroneShoes]

I have the 4228 in my attic as well, and it gets all the local area stations (22 miles away) beautifully.

What's amazing to me is that CBS is in the complete opposite direction of NBC, FOX and ABC ...and I pull 90's in on all of 'em.

I don't doubt you, but what is surprising about that is that one of the things that makes a good ATSC antenna is a high front-to-back ratio, which on paper this antenna has. I normally suggest the 4228 for stations in a single direction (above physical ch 7), but I would not recommend it for stations in opposite directions, and would instead suggest a yagi, which has a lobe to the back nearly equal to that in front (most directional antennae receive better off the back than to the side). The strategy is to point the front towards the weaker or harder-to-receive station, and the rest generally fall in line.

That said, maybe your success is based on being close to the towers, and might not be repeatable for viewers further out. I am about the same distance as you yet I get perfect reception with a chunk of twinlead taped to a window. Some think the 4228 is overkill, but while you can have too much gain (easily attenuated) for a single direction, you can't have too much directionality. Anything's worth a try. I know of viewers who consistently receive signals over 90 miles away.

 

[Sir_winealot]

Hey TS...i started w/a yagi, and the signal would bounce all over the place....it was absolutely unwatchable (probably because that too was being used in my attic). drove us nuts.

with the 4228, i too was surprised that it picked up cbs in the opposite direction, as i was told that the 4228 was much more of a directional antenna not as well suited for this purpose. i was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked.

while fox, abc and nbc are 'grouped' due east at around 22 miles, cbs is due west at around 10 miles. as you mentioned, i suspect that the distance/proximity is the reason it works so well.

 

[rickarino]

I have a Philips Mant 940 mounted on my roof. I live literally one mile from the transmitters (according to antennaweb d o t org) and all channels I want to receive are at 243 degrees. I have the antenna pointed at the transmitters and I get intermittent dropouts on most of the channels. Some channels I can't receive at all most of the time.

There are a lot of tall trees as well as a concrete noise barrier for the highway nearby that are potentially interferring with the signal.

Will a better antenna or using amplification help, or is OTA OTQ? (out of the question)

Thanks

 

[JimSpence]

I have a Philips Mant 940 mounted on my roof. I live literally one mile from the transmitters (according to antennaweb d o t org) and all channels I want to receive are at 243 degrees. I have the antenna pointed at the transmitters and I get intermittent dropouts on most of the channels. Some channels I can't receive at all most of the time.

There are a lot of tall trees as well as a concrete noise barrier for the highway nearby that are potentially interferring with the signal.

Will a better antenna or using amplification help, or is OTA OTQ? (out of the question)

Thanks

How high is it mounted? The higher the better. Also, being just 1 mile away probably means too strong of a signal. You may need to put an attenuator on the line. A simple test would be to use a splitter, which typically imparts a 3db drop in signal.

 

[rickarino]

How high is it mounted? The higher the better. Also, being just 1 mile away probably means too strong of a signal. You may need to put an attenuator on the line. A simple test would be to use a splitter, which typically imparts a 3db drop in signal.

It's on a sloped roof of the second story, probably 25' up. I can mount it on the peak for an additional 7' or so. I'll try the splitter and post my results. Thanks for the advice.

 

[willmw]

I have one of these in my attic:

http://www.winegard.com/offair/antennas/hd7084p.htm

Yeah, I've got a big attic.

 

[technojunkie]

I put one in last spring and it made a real difference. With a Radio Shack signal booster I am able to pickup Canadian television that's over 90 miles away. And that signal is in the 90's. Shop around on the web they do vary in price.

 

[newsposter]

I have the more expensive DB8 and it worked great in the attic (40 miles out from the towers and a heck of a poor LOS for me) except for a weak channel so they had to mount it on the roof. If your 4228 doesnt work out, maybe fork out the green for the DB8 and see if it works for you.

 

[mr.unnatural]

I don't doubt you, but what is surprising about that is that one of the things that makes a good ATSC antenna is a high front-to-back ratio, which on paper this antenna has. I normally suggest the 4228 for stations in a single direction (above physical ch 7), but I would not recommend it for stations in opposite directions, and would instead suggest a yagi, which has a lobe to the back nearly equal to that in front (most directional antennae receive better off the back than to the side). The strategy is to point the front towards the weaker or harder-to-receive station, and the rest generally fall in line.

That said, maybe your success is based on being close to the towers, and might not be repeatable for viewers further out. I am about the same distance as you yet I get perfect reception with a chunk of twinlead taped to a window. Some think the 4228 is overkill, but while you can have too much gain (easily attenuated) for a single direction, you can't have too much directionality. Anything's worth a try. I know of viewers who consistently receive signals over 90 miles away.

There's a simple solution to using the 4228 for receiving stations located in opposite directions - mount two of them facing the opposite way and combine the outputs with a VHF/UHF splitter/combiner. I have this setup on my roof and it works great with absolutely no multipath problems.