I can only get one tv station with my antena

[SAWYER]

I live in a small town that only has one ABC station. The next biggest town is memphis, TN which is an hour away. Memphis has all the big stations, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox etc. Is there any way to pull in those OTA stations? I have a huge antenna hooked up to my Dish Network dish on my roof but I may not have it hooked up right.

 

[slackerinabox]

I live in a small town that only has one ABC station. The next biggest town is memphis, TN which is an hour away. Memphis has all the big stations, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox etc. Is there any way to pull in those OTA stations? I have a huge antenna hooked up to my Dish Network dish on my roof but I may not have it hooked up right.

Roof top antennas are awesome, so check if that's hooked up properly first. Otherwise, check out this site:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Tell us what you get after plugging in your info. If you're hundreds of miles away from a broadcaster paying dishnetwork for locals might be your best bet

 

[kalrith]

Whether or not you're even able to get the Memphis station depends on a lot of things, the height of your antenna, hills and trees between your antenna and Memphis, and possible interference from your local ABC station. The simple things to check are the connection and the direction of your antenna. Check out the antennaweb.org link above and see what direction you're antenna needs to be pointing. Using a compass (I spent a whopping $3 on mine) make sure the antenna is pointing in that direction. You'll also see the distance from your house to the Memphis stations.

If you do all that and it still doesn't work, then I would recommend getting a preamp (like the CM7777) and/or getting additional height with your antenna with a tall mast. I'm guessing that you might have a small antenna if it's actually connected to the Dish Network satellite. Using a larger antenna (like my CM4228) will be necessary to pull in stations from 50+ miles away. You won't be getting those with some tiny antenna.

If you do all that and the terrain between you and Memphis doesn't block the signal, then I would guess that you'd be able to get all their stations (assuming you're no farther than 70 miles away). There's a guy on avsforum who lives 70 miles away from my local TV channels, and he gets all our stations with the CM4228 and CM7777 on a 30-foot mast. He does live on top of a hill, which definitely benefits him. As long as you're not in a valley, then I think it would be possible to get the stations with a little bit of work.

One more thing I just remembered is to check to make sure all the Memphis stations you want are UHF. If any are VHF, then you probably won't be able to get them from that far away, but there's really nothing you can do about that. You could try a dedicated VHF antenna in addition to the UHF antenna, but VHF has a harder time with long distances and should've never been used after the digital conversion.

 

[SAWYER]

That link said I could get my locals ABC, PBS and some PBS out of Little Rock which is twice as far as Memphis

 

[kalrith]

That link said I could get my locals ABC, PBS and some PBS out of Little Rock which is twice as far as Memphis

Hmmm...I'm wondering why it did that. If you don't mind sharing what town you live in, I'll see if I can find some better info for you.

 

[SAWYER]

Jonesboro, AR

 

[smitbret]

You could also try www.tvfool.com. I actually like the info on that site a bit better.

 

[sdifox]

should be able to get more than that. I am in Toronto and I get most of Buffalo's stations.

 

[SAWYER]

 

[sdifox]

Sawyer posted the link wrongly.

 

[Muadib]

Do you know the model number of your antenna? Looking at the pic sdifox posted, you need a large directional antenna with a pre amp, like kalrith mentioned. Most of the Memphis stations are UHF, but WMC-DT is VHF.

 

[smitbret]

We don't know what kind of antenna you have or what physical obstacles (trees, hills) are in the way. That being said, if it were me, I would make sure I had a UHF/VHF combination antenna of reasonable size like a Winegard 7082p, a good mast-mounted pre-amplifier like a Winegard AP-8700 or Channel Master 7777 and point it between 128-133 degrees. You say you have a huge antenna already on your roof, but if it's one of those new-fangled, non-traditional antennas you'll probably have trouble.

 

[bobdole369]

I'd fix this with Several directionals or a rotator like we used to do in the 80's. 2 or 3high gain yagis, or channel specifics aimed in the right direction.

Consider putting up a pole. You are in the sticks so your yard is probably friggin huge. Cement in a massive 30 foot tall pole or connect a 50 foot tall one to the side of your house (also cemented and guyed) and put a rotator and a number of hi-gain directional yagis up there. Height above ground is very important in the hills there.

 

[SAWYER]

thanks all for the input. It is not a traditional style antenna and it is mounted to my dish network dish. When I get home in a few days I will post a pic. If its gonna cost a lot I'm not going to even both with it

 

[smitbret]

Most of your newer "HDTV" antennas are horrible for VHF reception. Since a couple of your channels are in the VHF range, either plan on springing for a better antenna or just learn to live with UHF only. You can get a new antenna and pre-amp for about $100. Add another $20 or so for mounting material and you should be good to go.

 

[ericlp]

Hi...

I was wondering based on my location... All my channels are located with in a few miles all digital and yellow... UHF.

Anyone know of a good cheap antenna I should use? Something with free shipping and around 20 bucks? Such a thing?


Thanks a lot!

 

[Muadib]

Hi...

I was wondering based on my location... All my channels are located with in a few miles all digital and yellow... UHF.

Anyone know of a good cheap antenna I should use? Something with free shipping and around 20 bucks? Such a thing?


Thanks a lot!

Yes, http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SDV2780-Indoor-Antenna-Black/dp/B001S0UH4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260747581&sr=1-3 I have one, and I'm about 15 miles away from my stations. I must warn you than when the weather is bad, I sometimes lose my channel. Well, I did when I used it last. I don't use it much anymore.

 

[ericlp]

http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direc.../dp/B000EHUE7I

Thanks, I got this one. I needed something that was going to work. I kinda wanted an out door unit.

 

[kalrith]

http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direc.../dp/B000EHUE7I

Thanks, I got this one. I needed something that was going to work. I kinda wanted an out door unit.

Edit: Nevermind. It says that it's multi-directional, but it looks just like my directional antenna. Hopefully it works for you. If you have any VHF channels, then it's unlikely to work with those.

 

[ericlp]

*yellow
uhfWFMJ-DT21.1NBCYOUNGSTOWN, OH
79°2.320 *yellow
uhfWKBN-DT27.1CBSYOUNGSTOWN, OH
124°2.141 *yellow
uhfW44CR-D58.1PBSALLIANCE, OH
79°2.344 *yellow
uhfWYTV-DT33.1ABCYOUNGSTOWN, OH
111°2.436 *green
uhfWNEO-DT45.1PBSALLIANCE, OH
236°16.445
green
uhfWYFX-LP62FOXYOUNGSTOWN, OH
124°2.162


They are all UHF channels... So it should work great according to 300 good reviews it got.

looked like a pretty good antenna to me. Better then an indoor trek that gets 2 channels that I tried. My main concern for getting the antenna is for PBS, if I could of gotten it with a indoor I wouldn't be posting. Hopefully they don't switch to VHF anytime soon.

 

[smitbret]

No one's gonna be switching TO VHF, don't worry about that.