SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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Joined: 07/28/2006
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Tom&Dale wrote:SCVJeff wrote:As far as a real in-line 'S' meter for pointing the antenna after it works again, see the link to a post I did on my little toy awhile back above
Jeff,
Thank you for the DigiAir Pro tip. That should work out well with a splitter on the TV side / output end of the dual antenna coax switch.
Regarding the batwing, if the amplifier/signal boost is off then zero channels are available after scanning. Once the amp is powered on a scan gives me 3 regular and 19 digital channels. So it seems that the batwing is working. Now if I switch to the alternate Clear Stream 2 antenna my digital channels almost double.
Appreciate your help,
Tom
(I just realized you're down the street)
It's good that the antenna responds to pre-amp on/ off, but having the antenna 3' off the roof is going to gather more signal than the the portable as good as it is. The antenna might be broken internally.
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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Joined: 08/11/2007
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SCVJeff wrote:Any ham reading this will tell you that there is no substitution for height, BUT when working with signals influenced by local terrain and/ or obstacles it's often the case that there are nulls in the signal, causing you to search not only vertically but horizontally to find them. As it happens, when raising a batwing you're doing both. I'll disagree with that one! Living in a deep fringe reception area with many hills, I have seen antennas on top of a old fashion two story home fail to pick up a signal no matter what direction they were pointed, but pick up a excellent signal when laying on the ground. On other installation general location the antenna would only receive a good signal at a elevation of 6 foot off the ground. Antenna was deep fringe VHF antenna looking at Channel 2 and 4.
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Mont G&J
Missoula, MT
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My batwing works best when laying flat on the roof. I've tried it many times in many different places.
In my mind, I believe the aluminum roof trusses provide a signal boost into the batwing antenna. Jack
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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wny_pat wrote:SCVJeff wrote:Any ham reading this will tell you that there is no substitution for height, BUT when working with signals influenced by local terrain and/ or obstacles it's often the case that there are nulls in the signal, causing you to search not only vertically but horizontally to find them. As it happens, when raising a batwing you're doing both. I'll disagree with that one! Living in a deep fringe reception area with many hills, I have seen antennas on top of a old fashion two story home fail to pick up a signal no matter what direction they were pointed, but pick up a excellent signal when laying on the ground. On other installation general location the antenna would only receive a good signal at a elevation of 6 foot off the ground. Antenna was deep fringe VHF antenna looking at Channel 2 and 4. See up....
There is still no substitution for height. That's why broadcast transmitters are on 2000' towers or 5000' mtns.
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RCMAN46
NorthWest
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Joined: 02/24/2008
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SCVJeff wrote:wny_pat wrote:SCVJeff wrote:Any ham reading this will tell you that there is no substitution for height, BUT when working with signals influenced by local terrain and/ or obstacles it's often the case that there are nulls in the signal, causing you to search not only vertically but horizontally to find them. As it happens, when raising a batwing you're doing both. I'll disagree with that one! Living in a deep fringe reception area with many hills, I have seen antennas on top of a old fashion two story home fail to pick up a signal no matter what direction they were pointed, but pick up a excellent signal when laying on the ground. On other installation general location the antenna would only receive a good signal at a elevation of 6 foot off the ground. Antenna was deep fringe VHF antenna looking at Channel 2 and 4. See up....
There is still no substitution for height. That's why broadcast transmitters are on 2000' towers or 5000' mtns.
There is a difference between transmitting and receiving. Antenna placement may not be the same for both. As for transmitting I agree height may be important. I have also found in some but not all locations I do just as well with bat wing flat on the trailer roof as extended.
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paulcardoza
Southeastern Massachusetts
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One note of interest also...... Today's digital TV's can vary significantly in how well they receive OTS broadcasts. I have a Toshiba LCD in the main cabin that get's excellent reception, even with marginal or weak signal.
In the Bedroom and the outside bay, I installed very inexpensive 23" Viore TV's from Walmart (2 for $368). They have terrific picture and sound, but struggle badly with anything but a strong signal. They are perfect with either cable or satellite.
I'm suggesting that if you plan to stick mostly with OTA programming, don't skimp on the TV quality.
Paul & Sandra
New Bedford, MA
2003 Monaco Executive M43 DS2
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deltamaster
Middletown, New york
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Has anyone tried these Vizio LED TVs?
 I ride it like I stole it! 
.......and I just may have.......
I'm on "CB-13", are you?
2004 Fun Mover -- 2002 Sportster -- 1997 Road King
All being pushed down the road by a 1997 "Ram Tough" Dodge Dakota
TSgt(Ret.) USAF
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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RCMAN46 wrote:SCVJeff wrote:wny_pat wrote:SCVJeff wrote:Any ham reading this will tell you that there is no substitution for height, BUT when working with signals influenced by local terrain and/ or obstacles it's often the case that there are nulls in the signal, causing you to search not only vertically but horizontally to find them. As it happens, when raising a batwing you're doing both. I'll disagree with that one! Living in a deep fringe reception area with many hills, I have seen antennas on top of a old fashion two story home fail to pick up a signal no matter what direction they were pointed, but pick up a excellent signal when laying on the ground. On other installation general location the antenna would only receive a good signal at a elevation of 6 foot off the ground. Antenna was deep fringe VHF antenna looking at Channel 2 and 4. See up....
There is still no substitution for height. That's why broadcast transmitters are on 2000' towers or 5000' mtns.
There is a difference between transmitting and receiving. Antenna placement may not be the same for both. As for transmitting I agree height may be important. I have also found in some but not all locations I do just as well with bat wing flat on the trailer roof as extended. There is zero difference between the two when it comes to local propagation. The effects of the transmitter being on the ground or on the roof and receiving it on a Mtn. top will be the same. A null is a null, and they don't care which direction the RF is going. The only reason the transmitter is on the hill is for reaching the masses.
Here's a good example: If you or anyone here is a ham and talking on a single antenna duplexed repeater, (in general) the null that you hear from the talkback is going to be the same null you are standing in when the repeater is trying to hear you, which is why hams with HT's are constantly waving their radios around the room looking for a hotspot. The one caveat here is that since it's a split frequency system the null may move a little, but when you are talking single frequency, they are the same.
As a ham and broadcast guy I'll be happy to cite pages of examples, but it gets boring fast.
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RCMAN46
NorthWest
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Joined: 02/24/2008
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SCVJeff wrote:RCMAN46 wrote:SCVJeff wrote:wny_pat wrote:SCVJeff wrote:Any ham reading this will tell you that there is no substitution for height, BUT when working with signals influenced by local terrain and/ or obstacles it's often the case that there are nulls in the signal, causing you to search not only vertically but horizontally to find them. As it happens, when raising a batwing you're doing both. I'll disagree with that one! Living in a deep fringe reception area with many hills, I have seen antennas on top of a old fashion two story home fail to pick up a signal no matter what direction they were pointed, but pick up a excellent signal when laying on the ground. On other installation general location the antenna would only receive a good signal at a elevation of 6 foot off the ground. Antenna was deep fringe VHF antenna looking at Channel 2 and 4. See up....
There is still no substitution for height. That's why broadcast transmitters are on 2000' towers or 5000' mtns.
There is a difference between transmitting and receiving. Antenna placement may not be the same for both. As for transmitting I agree height may be important. I have also found in some but not all locations I do just as well with bat wing flat on the trailer roof as extended. There is zero difference between the two when it comes to local propagation. The effects of the transmitter being on the ground or on the roof and receiving it on a Mtn. top will be the same. A null is a null, and they don't care which direction the RF is going. The only reason the transmitter is on the hill is for reaching the masses.
Here's a good example: If you or anyone here is a ham and talking on a single antenna duplexed repeater, (in general) the null that you hear from the talkback is going to be the same null you are standing in when the repeater is trying to hear you, which is why hams with HT's are constantly waving their radios around the room looking for a hotspot. The one caveat here is that since it's a split frequency system the null may move a little, but when you are talking single frequency, they are the same.
As a ham and broadcast guy I'll be happy to cite pages of examples, but it gets boring fast.
I still will disagree about a transmitting antenna vs. a receiving antenna. I am not a HAM but have had some experience with CB. When tuning a CB transmitting antenna the length was critical to get maximum power output. But on the receiving side the length could be way off from the 1/4 wave length and not have much effect on the receiving signal. As for a bat wing flat on the roof of a TT it does work in some locations. But I am sure an antenna flat on the roof would not work very well as a transmitting antenna. Most of the power would be shunted into the trailer frame and be very ineffective in radiating any rf.
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pulsar
Lewisville, NC
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If y'all will allow me, I'll add a simple-minded comment.
TV signals are considered to be "line-of-sight" signals. The taller either of the two antennas, transmitter or receiver, the further the receiver will be able to "see" the transmitter.
Tom
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