Palm Harbor Terk

[static]

Hello everybody!
I am new here and I wish I would have found this site before I went and made a purchase and installed. I have just a sony tv with built in hd tuner and I bought a terk hdtvo antenna. I put the antenna in the attic:rolleyes:, but it seems to pick up all stations. Now the problem is I am having problems picking up Fox and UPN. Same symtoms on both channels. I should say the problem is not picking them up, just they go in and out frequently. All other stations are fine. I get 78-89% on all stations(with pre-amp), except the 2. On FOX and UPN I get 73% and then it drops to 41% and the picture goes out.
Am I an idiot, or should I put it on the roof? Would that bring my signal up that much more? Thanks for any help.

[Floyd]

I'm not familiar with that antenna, but maybe you have a problem with multipath, and turning or moving the antenna slightly could improve your reception? Then again, it used to work?

[Bschneider]

I am familar with that antenna. That was my first antenna and I wish I never paid for it. It was good for about 6 months and then it just quit picking up ABC. And on top of that, that antenna is prone to multipath issues, just by turning it slightly.

My suggestion is to pick up a real rooftop antenna or at least use a different antenna.

[static]

I'm not familiar with that antenna, but maybe you have a problem with multipath, and turning or moving the antenna slightly could improve your reception? Then again, it used to work?
Thanks so much for the input guys!
Yea I tried turning it every which way, and still the same. It is VERY directional. It has never worked 100% on those 2 channels. It seems to work on all the other channels fine, and I was wondering if it was a broadcast problem.
I read the whole topic on fox 13.1 in this forum, and was going to post in that thread at first, but it kind of went off topic at the end, so I started a new thread.
:arrow:If I am only getting 30-40% signal without the preamp, would multipath still be an issue? It is in the attic, and there are wood beams and my ac unit up there. My main question is, by moving it outside to the roof, would I get a boost in signal strength, therefore reducing the drops? How much does being indoors affect the signal?

[Floyd]

"My main question is, by moving it outside to the roof, would I get a boost in signal strength, therefore reducing the drops? How much does being indoors affect the signal?"

That's a good question, and I should know the answer, but I don't recall moving an antenna from an attic to outside and measuring before and after. I'm still having problems at my house here with the attic antenna, and I want to move it outside on a pole, however, the lightning odds give me cause for pause.
If you have a multipath reflection at your antenna site in the attic, moving it outside may not help. You will have more primary signal.....and also more of the secondary signal that is causing the multipath. If the ratio of good to bad signal stays the same, then the quality of the digital decoding may not improve with your outside antenna.
With an analog TV, putting an amplifier on an antenna can also raise the level of any multipath to the point that the tuners are showing the ghosts that weren't there before.
There have been occasions where I have placed an antenna inside on the floor to drop the ghosts down to the point where the remaining primary signal was useable, but on analog systems. With a digital signal, you will probably have to actually try something to see if it works better.

[static]

Thanks Floyd! That is what I was afraid of. I too, am leary of the lightning threat, and wanted to keep it inside. But I think I will give it a go and put it out this weekend. When I tune analog channels with it, I don't get shadows, only a little static, so I am hoping it will be ok. I will test the before and after %'s and post the results.

[static]

I am a little bit ticked now, but...
I put my terk hdtvO on the roof and I did get some gain in signal, but not the 40-50% I was expecting. Then to top it off, I rescanned my cable channels and I can get channel 613.1 (WTVT-HD) and some others with my analog cable package. Anyways, here is the before and after:

OTA-_________Attic_____Roof_______Attic+preamp_____Roo f+preamp

ABC 28.1_______32_______56__________89______________92
CBS 10.1_______41_______84__________84______________89
FOX 13.1_______13_______13_________73______________84
NBC 8.1________16_______22__________76______________92
UPN 44.1_______19______30~54________81______________98

It does seem to have solved the signal drop that I was having with FOX and UPN so far, signals seem to be more steady, so I will keep watching.