My issue is this… I have to make a decision between getting all the major networks (199 degrees) and getting PBS (168 degrees). I can point it one way and get all the major networks. I can point it the other way and get PBS. I tried splitting the difference and pointing it in the middle way, but that didn’t work either.
Normally, this is an easy decision (major networks!) - but with Downton Abbey Season Three I had to point it at PBS. And now my wife and kids are hooked on Word World or something else. So now I have to have PBS, which means my major networks are not working.
Is there a way to hook up a second antenna that will point the other direction? Or some sort of signal enhancer or something? What are my options here?
you should use a second antenna; then you run the two antennas to a switch and use the switch to select the antenna that gives the channels you want.
if you could run a second coax run then you could place a mechanical switch near the tv set.
another alternative is to get an electrical switch that would be in the attic and use the single coax. it would have a selector (button/lever/remote) and power supply that would be near the tv set. i have no recommendation for a product or how much it would cost.
There’s always thiswhich is an inexpensive, well regarded rotator which will yield maximum signal for any desired channel.
You can run double antennas with an AB switch but there will be signal insertion losses at the A-B coax switch.
That’s a good suggestion, but as far as the rotator, I just have the antenna stuck on a crossbeam in my attic. And, since I am big fan of timeshifting - it won’t help with recording all my favorite programs at 3am so I can watch them later. What I really need is the major networks and PBS all coming in at the same time.
The problem with the switch is that the antenna is in my attic. If I am going up there to flip the switch, I might as well just physically re-point the antenna. And I don’t have any fancy stairs up there. This is “climb through a hole with a flashlight” territory.
I see the idea - but that brings me back to timeshifting. If I want to record something on NBC at 1am and something on PBS at 3am, no one will be there to physically flip the switch.
Could you possibly upgrade to a bigger/better antenna to see if you can get all of the channels?
That’s just a suggestion because I don’t know if there are any better ones out there.
it’s rarely the case that the “size” of the antenna is a problem; the issue Doctor Who is having is due to his antenna’s directionality. The fact that he can pick up PBS by rotating the antenna proves this. Hell, on a few Sony HDTVs I’ve been able to pick up almost all of the digital broadcasts save for WJBK with nothing more than a paperclip stuck in the F-jack.
Unfortunately, Winegard doesn’t seem to have any documents about this particular antenna’s sensitivity pattern on their website (and I’m not knowledgeable about RF to be able to tell just by looking at the antenna design) so it’s not really possible for me to recommend an alternative. I’d hate to recommend a more “omni-directional” antenna only for Doctor Who to find it can’t pick up any stations at all.
(seriously, why would someone selling antennas not make at least a rough polar plot available?)
i have two aiming directions for two antennas in my attic and have two runs of coax.
the time shifting did present a problem. while an electrical switch could be operated in a timed fashion (through electronics maybe DIY) the easiest solution was to have two recording devices (vcrs). that way i could record from two channels at the same time which happens often enough.
“Hell, on a few Sony HDTVs I’ve been able to pick up almost all of the digital broadcasts save for WJBK with nothing more than a paperclip stuck in the F-jack.”
I seriously need to try that.
You can try a second antenna and a coax combiner - like these. They’re more designed for combining 2 different types of signal sources, but they could work for OTA signals - OTA is designed to deal with multipath and the like. You won’t hurt your TV or anything, the worst that would happen is that you find that some channels become untunable because the 2 antennas are interfering in some way, so I’d make sure the 2nd antenna is returnable before trying this.
It might not be the antenna itself that is the problem. Look at the Wikipedia page on Antenna Patterns. Your antenna is relatively small, and designed for 0 to 30 miles. I’d expect its main lobe to be fairly fat, and able to cover a 30 degree angle. If you bought a “better” antenna, its main lobe would be narrower, and more likely to have this problem.
This makes me think it’s a problem due to other things in the attic scattering the field from the stations, making it have a more complicated structure. Kind of like how in a car at a light, sometimes moving forward a few feet can make a station come in better or worse. Have you tried moving it to a different location in the attic? Have you tried rotating the antenna to point to less than 168 degrees, or to more than 199? I’d try both of those.
I’d also try lengthening the reflectors, just because it’s easy to do and I like playing around with antennas. Those are the three straight horizontal wires. Tape a wire along each one that sticks out however far from the end of the existing wires as far as the wire can support. But try just moving the antenna to a different location first.