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Farside · 09-05-2019, 06:29 PM

There are many people asking the same question, "What antenna should I get?". One of the posters earlier said that there wasn't any such thing as a digital antenna, and he is partially right. The OTA antennas are tuned for VHF and UHF signals. And, your digital TV signal is coming in on UHF frequencies (kind of redundant since UHF stands for Ultra High Frequency). Also, most people don't really understand that due to the curvature of the earth, any signal from your local broadcasters that are over 62 miles away makes you play the iffy game. These signals that far away are considered fringe stations and the signal that gets to you is either reflecting off the ionosphere or deflecting off a mountain, building, or some other object to get to you. Yes, some signals are blocked by large objects, but if you are close enough to a broadcaster, and the station is powerful enough, you are still going to pick up their station even if you are down in a hole, just not very well. So, with that said, height and a clear path to the signal provider does have an advantage in picking up your stations.

Just last week early one morning sitting 60 miles west of Austin, I couldn't pick up a single channel from Awesome, but with the atmosphere just right instead of Austin I was picking up HOUSTON!!! That's right! It's broadcast towers were almost 250 miles away. But, once the sun started to rise and the temperature changed, the Houston channels disappeared and I was then able to pick up Austin again. There are a few websites that you can look at to find out where your locals towers are within your vicinity. Here is just one of them:

https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

I have two antennas for my RV, the old Wingard batwing that I got with the 5th wheel when I bought it. This one we use whenever we are on the road and just stopping here and there for the night. This is also the one that was picking up Houston 250 miles away. To maintain a good signal from it, I periodically go up on the roof and disconnect the connection to the RV. Then I take some fine sandpaper and brush up the connector center wire to ensure I have a good connection to the antenna. For some reason the best sealant on those connectors doesn't last or always work and the connection does get corroded over time.

The other antenna I have mounted on a 25 foot extension pole that I have attached to the ladder on the back of the RV. It is a pingbingding HDTV Antenna with a 360 degree rotation motor on it. I will say the extra elevation does double and sometimes triple the db level of the incoming signals. I guess if I had a 500 ft antenna and pointed it west, I might be able to pick up China. Anyway, don't be fooled by the antenna salesman that says, "This one will pick up channels 150 miles away." Yes, you might pick them up sporadically, but holding the channel constantly is going to be a problem. And yes, the ads for the pingbingding say exactly this, but I knew what I was buying to start with.

09-05-2019, 06:29 PM	#18
Farside Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Posts: 35	There are many people asking the same question, "What antenna should I get?". One of the posters earlier said that there wasn't any such thing as a digital antenna, and he is partially right. The OTA antennas are tuned for VHF and UHF signals. And, your digital TV signal is coming in on UHF frequencies (kind of redundant since UHF stands for Ultra High Frequency). Also, most people don't really understand that due to the curvature of the earth, any signal from your local broadcasters that are over 62 miles away makes you play the iffy game. These signals that far away are considered fringe stations and the signal that gets to you is either reflecting off the ionosphere or deflecting off a mountain, building, or some other object to get to you. Yes, some signals are blocked by large objects, but if you are close enough to a broadcaster, and the station is powerful enough, you are still going to pick up their station even if you are down in a hole, just not very well. So, with that said, height and a clear path to the signal provider does have an advantage in picking up your stations. Just last week early one morning sitting 60 miles west of Austin, I couldn't pick up a single channel from Awesome, but with the atmosphere just right instead of Austin I was picking up HOUSTON!!! That's right! It's broadcast towers were almost 250 miles away. But, once the sun started to rise and the temperature changed, the Houston channels disappeared and I was then able to pick up Austin again. There are a few websites that you can look at to find out where your locals towers are within your vicinity. Here is just one of them: https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html I have two antennas for my RV, the old Wingard batwing that I got with the 5th wheel when I bought it. This one we use whenever we are on the road and just stopping here and there for the night. This is also the one that was picking up Houston 250 miles away. To maintain a good signal from it, I periodically go up on the roof and disconnect the connection to the RV. Then I take some fine sandpaper and brush up the connector center wire to ensure I have a good connection to the antenna. For some reason the best sealant on those connectors doesn't last or always work and the connection does get corroded over time. The other antenna I have mounted on a 25 foot extension pole that I have attached to the ladder on the back of the RV. It is a pingbingding HDTV Antenna with a 360 degree rotation motor on it. I will say the extra elevation does double and sometimes triple the db level of the incoming signals. I guess if I had a 500 ft antenna and pointed it west, I might be able to pick up China. Anyway, don't be fooled by the antenna salesman that says, "This one will pick up channels 150 miles away." Yes, you might pick them up sporadically, but holding the channel constantly is going to be a problem. And yes, the ads for the pingbingding say exactly this, but I knew what I was buying to start with.