Champagne taste beer budget Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Before they get the ceiling on the upstairs, I've been thinking about putting our local station TV antenna inside the roof rather than outside. Heck of a lot easier, and no worry about storm/wind damage. Anyone aware of any problems with doing this, other than it won't be as high up in the air? p.s. Most of our OTA channels are 100 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschfoot Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I wish I had an answer. There is a less likihood that you will get zapped by lightning, IMO though. I have an antenna in my attic for FM from the previous owner. I recently hooked it up. It worked great, then, upon securing it to a post, I lost connection. I have wiggled, tugged, retraced, you-name-it, everything and I cannot get the stations back to STEREO as I did upon my temporary hookup. This stuff can be very frustrating. I don't want to mess with the connectors but it seems inevitable. Any ideas? The coax connections are tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I tried the in the attic for OTA about 15 years ago - three of our OTA stations were about 50 miles away. The house is stuck amongst the trees. There was no doubt that the Antenna out side and raised above the roof line was much better reception (consistent might be a better term). Your results may vary.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 check this website: http://www.antennaweb.org based on your address they recommend antennas for each station and where to point them using compass... if you find you have to use the large ant. to get the stations...it might not be wise to install inside attic.....depending on roofing material, how many nails they use, gutters, flashing etc etc etc....it could prevent you from getting a good signal... Now mine is in attic and I get the local HDTV signals perfect....100% per my Hughes receiver.... good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 You will lose 30 to 50% going through the roof. You are far away and you will need to put it outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted August 2, 2004 Author Share Posted August 2, 2004 Thanks for the quick answers and special thanks to ygmn for the link, pretty cool, especially for those of us with only OTA at this point. A couple years ago we re-did the roofing on the old house, and ever since the rotor for the antenna didn't work. Never messed with it, but after checking the antennaweb site, I remember a few stations that we used to get and didn't afterwards. Although inside would be a lot easier, it looks like I'll be doing some roof climbing. The antenna has maybe 40-50 segments, pretty large, but still light, although when you stick it on the end of a 25 foot pole, that pesky leverage thing takes over and it's a handfull. As long as none of us fall off the roof putting it up, I'm sure it will be well worth the effort in the long run. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted August 2, 2004 Author Share Posted August 2, 2004 Oh yeah... I have 4 channels in the blue zone, the other 16 are all in the violet zone. I should probably look into getting an amplifier, too. Anyone have any experience with those? p.s. Most of the stations are 100 miles away, but looking at the antennaweb site reminded me that a few of them have repeaters that are within 20-30 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 How high is your attic? Can you put up a 17 footer with a rotator? Antenna direction is critical for long haul stations. Do you have a metal roof? Roofs do not help, trees do not help, buildings do not help, mountains do not help. Elevation works. Your wasting time with the pre-amps because the noise figure is usually worse than your tv tuner. Noise figure is everything. If you can find a pre-amp with about a 2.0 db noise figure you got the world by the butt. The only time you will get a good signal with the stuff you have now is when the propagation is "ducting" the signal which usually happens about twice a year for about a two day period. All of the tv stations are using UHF channels for their High Def stuff. Well lets see, 100 miles line of sight would require you to be 1000 feet higher than the general terain. You would be in fat city then. If you can find some old military Parametric amps (400 to 960 megs at 1.8 db noise figure at 10 megs bandwidth) Your receiver quieting at 20 db (no sound noise discernable)would be about -106 dbm. I would come over and drink beer with you then. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Robin Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 The absoulte most important thing in working with antenna's outside your house and on the roof is the POWER LINE'S coming into the house. Dont play around with a metal pole and metal antenna any where close to the lines. Oh and my best friend has had his in the attic for about 15 years and just recently got a OTA HD receiver; just had to turn it about a 1/2 inch to get the best picture possible. But he does live on a hill side with line of sight to Little Rock about 30 miles away. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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