TV With Antenna

I want to be getting good tv reception and ontop be getting other waves. We live next to the city and there are hundreds of satellites. Some people are able to capture some of this using their tv antennas thus they see extra channels free. How is it done? Also, which is the best wire to use for my tv antenna? How does it look?

1. Always orient it correctly

When the antenna looks like this:

<<<< The TV station should be in this direction

>>>> The TV station should not be in this direction

2. Always place it high enough - 30 feet or 10 meters above the ground at the installation location unless you are installing on a hill or mountainside location with a clear line of sight towards the tv transmitter sites (no other hillls, mountains, buildings or trees in the way)

3. Replace antenna and connecting cable every ten years or when damaged by salt air, wind storms, hurricanes or tornados. Replace lightning arrestor when cable is replaced.

4. Use coax cable that is matched to your antenna and TV. In the United States this is 75 ohm RG-59 or RG-6 cable made for VHF/UHF TV use. Other countries may use 50 ohm cable (or so I have read). We used to use 300 ohm twinlead but that is less reliable in the wind and causes you to have to use standoffs to keep it away from metal objects. 75 ohm cable with a matching transformer for the end that connects to the antenna and to the TV (if needed) is much better. It is shielded from noise sources and does not need standoffs (it can be cable tied to the pole).

Picking up satellites with a regular TV antenna is impossible unless some of your local TV stations are rebroadcasting satellite channels on their second, third or fourth program on their digital channel. That is called multicasting. Usually this is just Spanish programming, music channels, additional PBS channels and Childrens programming now that the company that was doing this for CNN and HBO went out of business.

VHF and UHF channel frequencies are in MHz.
Satellite frequencies are in GHZ which are 1000 tims greater than MHz. So you cannot use the same antenna or receivers for both.

2007-08-11 05:52:38 by Zuma M

Cheaply, easily an quickly build an HDTV antenna that outperforms amplified store bought antennas! For more great ideas see metacafe.com

I want to dismantle my old tv antenna and take it to the scrap yard. How much does an average tv antenna weigh? I'm curious how much I can expect for recycling my aluminum tv antenna?

Typical rooftop antennas usually weight under 15lbs.

2008-12-14 22:50:04 by Mr.Cool

Price: $11.99

No need for constant adjustments since signals are received from 360 degrees
More free channels and easy-to-use effective parental controls
Includes enhanced services such as ditigal closed-captioning
Antenna receives local HDTV and DTV as well as analog UHF and VHF and preserves signal purity with ELN Extremely Low Noise circuitry
This patented design enhances reception by amplifying weak signals and outperforms traditional antennas

When we moved into our house, there was a TV antenna on the roof--it was an eyesore. One day the wind blew it over sideways and now it looks even worse. Our roof is quite steep and it's a 2 story house. Is there some way to get the antenna down ourselves, or do we need to call someone and have it done? If so, who would be the correct person to call? And, any idea how much they might charge? Thanks.

if the wind blew it over it could have hit the roof and caused some damage. call a roofer and explain that to him and ask for a price to remove the antenna and inspect the roof while he's up there. just say that you are not comfortable with heights. he will be and more importantly, he will have the proper equipment to be on your roof safely! he should have the proper insurance, too. it is the perfect rain day or short day job for a roofer, where he might not work a full day. what ever the price, it will be cheaper than you or a loved one going to a hospital. he will earn a paycheck on a day he might not otherwise, your antenna will be down safely, and you will have the piece of mind knowing that everything is alright with your roof. good luck.

2007-01-07 22:05:03 by Amy

I have an antenna booster connected to one of my older TVs that seems to work well. It connects to the TV with a cable and plugs into the house wiring. I'd like to find another one to attach to another TV-- but I can't remember where I got the device or what it's called. Can anyone help?

It's an antenna booster or amplifier or signal amplifier. When you go into someplace like Radio Shack or Fry's electronics tell them you need an adapter or a converter to use with your older TV, after you find that, then tell them you need the signal amplifier. They should be able to tell you how they will hook together.

2008-07-17 19:33:28 by Charlotte G

I live in an area where the conventional TV antennae are not allowed. The residents do not like to see those ugly looking structures. They do not object to DirecTV or Dish Network. So, any antenna similar to a dish, I believe, would be acceptable.

if you have dish, you can get whats known as a TERK which clips on the back of the dish, and is amplified. They do quite well. Also, if you havent tried it already, go somewhere like radioshack and buy The HIGHEST GAIN amplified TV TOP antenna. These also do fairly well, with about a 30ish to 40ish db Gain.

2006-07-06 21:04:33 by Junior