Texas Digital TV reception equipment

[RPB]

Posting this to share info.
Thought to do it because of news on various stations in various cities get posted here sometimes..
Just sharing what equipment is good since I researched it a long time, I've had it since we "went digital" ... sure beats only getting 1 channel (Now I get about 90, varies between 84 and 112 channels depending on weather, high pressure is usually best)

Winegard Amplifier model AP-8275
Amplification Gain: VHF 29 dB / UHF 28 dB
(Good signal to noise ratio on this amp too)

Wire/Cable/Coax RG-11
RG11 has a 14ga inner conductor whereas RG6-QS has a 18ga inner conductor, so the loss would be greater in the RG6. The loss for RG6 is about 6db per 100 feet and the loss for RG11 is only about 4db per 100 feet (Rooftop mount 15' over the roof probably only needs 50' length, so halve that loss to about 2db total for 50' RG11)

Antenna
Winegard HD8200U
5 to 14.2 db gain over dipole
Specs here http://winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD8200U.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rotor
I used Channelmaster model 9521A wireless infra red remote programmable so I can use the channel number to turn the antenna to whichever city Programmable 1-99 and also you can just enter the degrees, or step up or down.

Mount and masting
I used a 5-foot tripod, (a 10 foot tripod might be better,) but with 6 guy wires it held up fine with winds over 90 mph that ripped peoples' roofs off all over the city and knocked down at least two brick columns.

I used 1-1/2" EMT conduit for a mast, with the rotor and antenna mounted on a short section of 1-1/4" EMT conduit at top.
Guyed at the rotor, and halfway down again, 6 guy wires, 3 at each level.

I normally get
Any time of day or night
Austin
San Antonio
Temple
Killeen
Waco
Llano
Fredericksburg

In the morning, every morning, I get:
Houston
Bryan College Station
San Angelo

Often:
Corpus Christi

On "weird days" I get
Shreveport,
Arklatex,
Riuidoso,
Abilene
Dallas
Longview Tyler
and lots of Stations giving the temperature in Centigrade instead of Fahrenheit

I'm not bothering to list the super strange days I got Mississippi etc.

I'm about 65 miles or so north of Austin, and before "digital" ... I only got one channel on an antenna
Now, I canceled dish and cable, why pay more to get less (I told them that and they cracked up laughing)

My brother pays over $100 a month for his TV subscriptions, his wife and daughter come to my house when he's at work to watch TV over the antenna. He wishes his picture was as good as mine, every 6 months I have a spare $600 for a new gun

Obviously there is "some" programming "duplication" but some cities run a program at a different time slot than another city does, and Fox in one city s different than Fox in another etc.

And there are LOTS of channels in "some cities" that "other cities" don't have. We like to watch BYN or the Asian channels from Houston in the morning, my niece watches cartoons in San Antonio. I like to compare weather channels. THIS in Waco plays TMZ while THIS in San Antonio has Bat Masterson in that time slot.


Anyway, just sharing what equipment is good since I researched it a long time, I've had it since we "went digital" ... sure beats only getting 1 channel (Now I get about 90, varies between 84 and 112 channels depending on weather, high pressure is usually best) (Not counting analog stations from Mexico I get too since analog signals are less congested too now)

I have no relationship and don't benefit from any company mentioned above, but it's what I use.


Misc:
There is a channel 3 Kiii in Corpus Christi
There is a channel 3 KSAN in San Angelo
There is a channel 3 KBTX in Bryan/College Station

But all three 3's show up. You get used to it.

There's a channel 25 KXXV in Waco
There's a channel 25 KAVU in Victoria (and KMOL 25-1, 25-2 ...subchannels etc)

but you get used to it.

[Waco Kid]

Interesting. Sounds like you're in my general area (I'm south of Waco, but well north of Austin). Had no idea we could get that many channels around here. We still have cable though (along with phone and internet). I may get an HDTV one of these days (we're still on tube TV's in my house - haven't felt compelled to upgrade for any reason). Be interesting to check out the OTA channels, sounds like you get quite a variety that isn't on the Cable system.

[Houpilot2001]

Ive been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for a while. My thoughts were a digital antenna, internet for TV (i currently tether my 4g phone) and netflix for movies and tv series. Has anyone done this and are they happy?

[RPB]

Interesting. Sounds like you're in my general area (I'm south of Waco, but well north of Austin). Had no idea we could get that many channels around here. We still have cable though (along with phone and internet). I may get an HDTV one of these days (we're still on tube TV's in my house - haven't felt compelled to upgrade for any reason). Be interesting to check out the OTA channels, sounds like you get quite a variety that isn't on the Cable system.

I'm off 281 & 29 between Marble Falls and Lampassas near Burnet, but I watch Waco/Temple/Killen and San Antonio TV stations more than Austin's

[RPB]

Ive been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for a while. My thoughts were a digital antenna, internet for TV (i currently tether my 4g phone) and netflix for movies and tv series. Has anyone done this and are they happy?

lol yes, my monitor is my 42" Samsung TV Internet ready, my neighbors use cable for internet tv and netflix, but have no antenna yet, I do online TV some but not a movie-renter so I just use DSL.

Since they can't get the "local" (Dallas, WACO, Temple Killeen San Antonio, San Angelo) I have to tell them where storms are and what the weather will be.

I also got rid of the phone years ago, Magic Jack, a buck a month, no charge for long distance ... only disadvantage is you need a GOOD battery backup for computer if power goes out, but I have those. 1500VA or better. (42" samsung LED only uses 35 watts and I built low power-green computer to run 24/7 doing scientific cancer research for worldcommunitygrid.org so nothing is wasted even when I sleep)

Total "ongoing" bill $19.99 a month for internet + $59.00 for phone (magic jack) which covered the next 5 years. That covers TV, Phone and Internet (Not counting the initial installation of my TV equipment, and bingo, electric bill dropped even more....saving more each month now for the next toy, or to pay cash for a new car, but haven't decided which yet and still getting 40 mpg on the old 2004 one)
I just live on a "pretend" college Student type income on regular monthly outgo expenses, and save... and buy occasional wants, like my new LED TV, (saves electricity over the old flatscreen because it's LED backlit, so monthly electric bill dropped)


My dad used to say if your OUTGO exceeds your INCOME your UPKEEP becomes your DOWNFALL.

I explained to a step-mother once "Saving is easy, spend less than you get, and you don't have to think about it, it just happens"

I've had this setup since 2008, and have spare money to buy stuff even on my "fixed income" I like it, but you could have cable or dish too ... I did, but I found myself watching the Waco channels and not the dish or cable much. Waco and San Antonio/Fredericksburg have sports that dish and cable didn't cover.

What does matter is height above sea level, people downhill by Lake Buchanan don't get as many channels, my roof peak is 15' and I have a 15' mast above that for a 30' total height, and I'm not on the tallest hill or I'd get more I'm not sure my exact altitude here though I'm about the same as downtown Burnet near Highway 281 and Hiway 29 if Google or something has topo maps you can compare that to your location...

[Pawpaw]

Ive been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for a while. My thoughts were a digital antenna, internet for TV (i currently tether my 4g phone) and netflix for movies and tv series. Has anyone done this and are they happy?

There is no such thing as a "digital antenna". RF is RF is RF and RF is, has always been, and always will be an analog signal. No matter how you slice it, it can't be changed.

Your antenna cares not one whit what information is carried inside the RF signal.

The term "digital antenna" is nothing but marketing hype so they can charge you more for the same thing.

[Tregs]

Im beginning to toy with the idea of losing the landline phone and the cable TV. When you say "internet TV", are you refering to Hulu or are there other ways to get channels? I have Netflix. My wife is a big FoodTV and HGTV fan. if I can't get those channels, I can give up now. Can I get those over the internet somehow?

[RPB]

Ive been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for a while. My thoughts were a digital antenna, internet for TV (i currently tether my 4g phone) and netflix for movies and tv series. Has anyone done this and are they happy?

There is no such thing as a "digital antenna". RF is RF is RF and RF is, has always been, and always will be an analog signal. No matter how you slice it, it can't be changed.

Your antenna cares not one whit what information is carried inside the RF signal.

The term "digital antenna" is nothing but marketing hype so they can charge you more for the same thing.

True Pawpaw is correct.

The only thing is that some so-called "digital antennas" are not "tuned" to get the old UHF channels 51-69 at as high a gain, so they actually charge more to give you less. It's a marketing game ....

As with all my antennas, I researched gain, loss and tried several antennas, coax types, antenna heights, preamps, and consulted with some expert installer guys in the area, and am happy with the choices I made. I also have shortwave, longwave, HAM and other antennas I need to get put up again I used to have up in Houston :)

[Pawpaw]

Ive been toying with the idea of getting rid of cable for a while. My thoughts were a digital antenna, internet for TV (i currently tether my 4g phone) and netflix for movies and tv series. Has anyone done this and are they happy?

There is no such thing as a "digital antenna". RF is RF is RF and RF is, has always been, and always will be an analog signal. No matter how you slice it, it can't be changed.

Your antenna cares not one whit what information is carried inside the RF signal.

The term "digital antenna" is nothing but marketing hype so they can charge you more for the same thing.

True Pawpaw is correct.

The only thing is that some so-called "digital antennas" are not "tuned" to get the old UHF channels 51-69 at as high a gain, so they actually charge more to give you less. It's a marketing game ....

As with all my antennas, I researched gain, loss and tried several antennas, coax types, antenna heights, preamps, and consulted with some expert installer guys in the area, and am happy with the choices I made. I also have shortwave, longwave, HAM and other antennas I need to get put up again I used to have up in Houston :)

Houpilot2001 - I just re-read my post and realize I came off a bit rough. It was never my intent to jump on you, although it probably came off that way.

Most people just don't know and the marketers take advantage of that. It's one of my pet peeves.

[Houpilot2001]

No problem, I didnt take it that way.

[O6nop]

Just a heads up. Don't use a pre-amp if you are within 40 miles or so from the station transmitter, it could burn up the pre amp because the signal will be too strong and overload it.

[RPB]

Just a heads up. Don't use a pre-amp if you are within 40 miles or so from the station transmitter, it could burn up the pre amp because the signal will be too strong and overload it.

I know that's possible, but I've never experienced it. When I lived in Pasadena I actually used two preamps, one near the antenna and a second preamp (not distribution amp) inside, and watched Shreveport, Beaumont and Austin from Pasadena in the analog days of the 1980s, but never had a problem with the local stations ... if I had, I could always unplug one. (I did however have two TVs and 12 VCRs plugged in on the one antenna along with an FM stereo and lots of connectors where "loss" occurred)

Up here, I tried the dual preamps, and after going "digital" I didn't really see any new stations, but did get a bit of "overdrive" on the Spanish station nearby, so I only use the one preamp and had a distribution amp if I ever want it, but tried it and unplugged it too as there was no noticeable difference in any room. Here there's only one tower within 50 miles and it only has 2 stations where no one speaks English so I rarely point that direction anyway. I bought a spare rotor and spare preamp to keep in case of EMP from nearby lightning anyway, but never have needed them.

So, I only listed the one preamp and no "indoor" amps which didn't benefit and would probably be too much near cities with lots of stations nearby.