Omni-directional Antenna Help Needed

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I am trying to find a good omni-directional attic antenna to pull in HDTV local channels. I am in between local transmitters so a directional antenna won’t pick up all the HDTV channels. I am within 15 miles of the transmitters. I already have an antenna signal amplifier. Does anyone have any experience/advice for me on this subject? Thanks for your answers.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I am trying to find a good omni-directional attic antenna to pull in HDTV local channels. I am in between local transmitters so a directional antenna won’t pick up all the HDTV channels. I am within 15 miles of the transmitters. I already have an antenna signal amplifier. Does anyone have any experience/advice for me on this subject? Thanks for your answers.

I am just not sure there is such an antenna but maybe you can mount two in opposite directions if all else fails?

 

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Thanks for replying. I have already tried two radio shack directional antennas in the attic. There are apparently some issues with phasing because some channels get canceled out as you move one antenna relative to the other. About the only thing I found that might be an omnidirectional antenna is a large white circular dish that mounts on recreational vehicles, but I did not find out much information about it. It could be directional too. Maybe its rotated to aim it. I don't know.

 

[Swerd]

I am trying to find a good omni-directional attic antenna to pull in HDTV local channels. I am in between local transmitters so a directional antenna won’t pick up all the HDTV channels. I am within 15 miles of the transmitters. I already have an antenna signal amplifier.

Many HDTV antennas are bowtie shaped elements combined with a larger rectangular reflector:

The reflector blocks signals from one side and makes the elements "unidirectional".
When you buy one of these, it is usually unassembled:

When you assemble it, leave out the reflector and the unidirectional antenna becomes bidirectional.
See this link

 

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Thanks. I haventt seen this before. I'll have to check and make sure all the St. Louis HD channels are UHF, unless they all are everywhere.

 

[Swerd]

I don't know about St. Louis, but in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area, all the HDTV broadcasts are in the UHF band.

Somewhere I read that nearly all HDTV broadcast is UHF with the exception of just a few channels in the VHF high band (channel 7-13).

Have you looked at this site to see what is available in your area?

 

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I looked up my location and the transmitter locations for St. Louis on the CEA website. The HD stations are all UHF. The map shows they are all within an 80 degree arc south of my house so I could use the antenna you have shown with the rectangular reflector mounted. I think there may have been some movement of station transmitters since I last checked a couple of years ago. I guess the radio shack antennas are too directional (i.e. far less that an 80 degree angle.) I like the price of the antenna too. It looks like it would be a good solution. All the channels are within 25 miles and the ones I really want are within 17 miles. The closest is about 12 miles. I don't think I would need anything more elaborate for those distances.

 

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Thanks Swerd. I looked on the internet for antennas for awhile and I decided your choice was a very good one considering the limited attic space and the antenna size as well as its performance and low price. I ordered it today 10/3/07 and I will let you know how it works for me in a week or two.

 

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I hooked up the multi-directional antenna this weekend (10/13/07) and I had pretty good luck. I did not look up the stations’ power, which might be a factor in reception. Anyway, I pulled in all the network channels which were located from compass orientation 147 degrees to 171 degrees, or 24 degrees spread. The antenna is advertised up to 90 degrees but the farthest station out was at 192 degrees or a 45 degree spread. I got good reception up to 15.9 miles out, but PBS at 17.2 miles out would not hold a strong enough signal. Stations at 23.6 and 25.9 miles out were not detected. I am also using a Radio Shack amplifier. I experimented with two antennas but the results were the same or worse than using a single antenna. Overall I am pleased with the multidirectional antenna because I picked up FOX and Warner Brothers networks over my more directional Radio Shack antenna. The antenna is also sitting on the floor of my attic. The instructions state that if mounted outdoors, the antenna would be much more effective. Thanks for the information Swerd.