Les Curren
U.S.A.
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Joined: 07/07/2001
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We are in a resort in Mohave Valley, AZ.on the Colorado River. There is no cable available and Dish and Direct are way to expensive what with their contracts you must agree to for two years. So that leaves us with over the air translators.
Unfortunately the signal they put out is mostly very poor. We receive our signal from the Oatman Translator. It is 14 miles away and line of sight. On the best days we receive CBS and FOX clearly, ABC and NBC very poor with lots of snow and nothing else is viewable at all. Our equipment is up to date and works fine at other places. I might add no one else in this park seems to get any better signal than we do.
One of the problems may be that the Oatman translator only sends out a analog signal. There for the digital to analog converter box's don't work at all. Well thats not quite true. With the box installed we can receive 6.1 digital which appears to be nothing but paid advertising for exercising equipment.
My question here is two fold. Does anyone in this area receive better signals from the local translator and by what method? Also, who are these translator operators responsible to? Somebody must pay them and there must be regulations governing their operations.
I don't know where to start so any one with experience with this sort of problem who can offer advise will be appreciated.
Thanks for anything you can offer.
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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I don't know MUCH about them but here's a link to the FCC page where they tell of their purpose and licensing. I believe that many of them are owned by the full power station that they are re-broadcasting but many are also privately owned. Must comply with the FCC regulations pertaining to their LPTV license.
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/DTVandLPTV.html
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Popsie
Livingston, TX, USA
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Joined: 04/04/2003
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Reminds me of the good old days at Grandma's house.
I'm pretty sure that what you need is a high gain VHF/UHF antenna on perhaps a short mast.
You might buy one from someone with a reasonable return policy (Walmart, Sears), and try it out.
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Les Curren
U.S.A.
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I already have the amplified high gain VHF/UHF gull wing on a short mast and I even tried the Wingman. No improvement what so ever.
Thats another question I have. Since the Wingman has no wired connection to the gull wing antenna, how does it work? Does it just draw the signal into the area so the gull wing can pick it up better?
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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Les,
You may have to resort to a household type multi element antenna. Radio Shack sells a 10 db gain signal amplifier that is inexpensive and in my experience they do help. With both you should see improvement.
Jim
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Hiking Hunter
Warrior, Alabama, usually
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The translators are operated by the individual broadcast stations to fill in areas that are in the "shadow" of their regular signal (caused by local terrain). They are not required to be digital, consequently, most stations have left them as an analog type signal. As other posters have indicated the best you can do is to upgrade your antenna.
If your problems are caused by low signal strength (snow), you might try an additional external antenna preamp. If your problems are caused by multipath interference (ghosts and multiple images) this won't help.
Wingman connection - the Wingman is a parasitic array that requires no mechanical connection to the regular antenna. It effectively adds antenna elements that "reradiate" the RF energy to the antenna.
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whistlebritches
Cherryvale, KS
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Since when has DirecTV and Dish started requiring you to sign a two-yr. contract?
We've had Direct since 1999, but I don't recall having to sign a contract then. Are they trying to go the way of the cellphone companies? I think it's ridiculous and people ought to start refusing to sign a contract just to get their service. I had a AT&T person tell me recently that it's just a matter of time before that practice will be stopped. I believe the cellphone companies do it because they know their service sucks, so they won't to get you for 2 yrs!
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plascell
Lynchburg, VA
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You might try this site to find the stations, distance and direction.
Observe other TV antennas in the area to see which way they are aimed and how big and how high they are mounted to receive TV signals in your area.
If you are at Moonriver RV resort, then your location is N34-58-09, W114-36-11 if you need to re-calculate propagation paths on another web site.
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azbrewer
Northwest AZ
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Joined: 02/16/2005
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The translators are operated by the county. I am up in Kingman and the county is just now switching over to digital. We pay for the TV District through property taxes but it will take a few years before they all get switched.
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plascell
Lynchburg, VA
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Here is another option to calculate the "local" stations and ability to receive them Antenna Web Enter your location and verify on the map because they will center on your zip code. There are only two stations 14 miles away KMOH-DT 6.1 (channel 19) from Kingman, and K30BQ (translators have channel number as 2nd & 3rd digit of callsign) NBC from Mesa, AZ.
Go back to the home page of Antenna Web to see the antennas required to receive the stations identified for your location.
You really need to find a friend/family member on a TV satellite and get a 2nd receiver on their account (less than $10 a month). Get a 2nd receiving dish off E-Bay to make a stand-alone system.
Good luck!
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