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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 15:52
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Okay.....I know this is a taboo subject for many folks.......But....... does anyone who has a cabin in a mountainous region have any success gaining TV reception? My cabin is in the mountains an additionally in a pretty steep valley/hallow. For S#### and giggles I tried the Antennaweb.com site and received the following message:
Stations
To enter a different address, click here.
No Stations were predicted for this address. [b][/b]Due to factors such as terrain and distance to broadcasting towers, signal strength calculations have predicted no television stations may be reliably received at this location.
Verify the correct ZIP Code and address have been entered.
Is there any possibility of getting TV reception when a message like this is received???
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 16:18
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No crime in wanting some TV...
If you entered the position correctly, I'd say no. It's been a few years since I used the site. Does it allow lat & long coordinates? I seem to remember a website that did.
I used that website for our cabin in the Jemez mountains. It predicted coverage; that was before the over the air digital conversion. I installed a recommended class of antenna and we got what was predicted. After the digital switch we lost one and gained two. We had altitude going for us. The antenna farm near the city is at 10800 feet. The cabin is at 8800 feet.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 16:26
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You might try a second opinion from TVfool.com?
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Kudzu
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 16:37
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I really enjoy cooking out and watching college football games at the cabin, other than that, I don't watch a lot of television at the cabin. Good luck.
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 17:17
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We actual love getting the TV stations at the cabin because one of them is a low power backwater station that play classic B&W movies at night. We got one of these cheapie Chinese HD antennas that has the amp and rotor built into it. I think I paid $40 off of ebay . We elevated it by an extension off a side mast mount and it work great.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 19:57
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Quoting: yankeesouth does anyone who has a cabin in a mountainous region have any success gaining TV reception
A great question and a great topic to discuss because this has been very frustrating for me. I'm glad you brought it up. I am in the same position as you are with respect to mountainous terrain, an elevation of about 1625' and surrounded by both higher and lower elevations. I have used both of the sites you mentioned, have recalibrated my location from general zip code and crossroads down to exact latitude and longitude where applicable.
Antennaweb.org says there are no available stations.
TVfool.com produces a nice chart that gives me hope of receiving many stations, under pristine conditions.
In actuality I get 2 crystal clear (most of the time) US digital stations and 2 so-so-depending-upon-the-weather CDN analog stations, and this only happened by chance.
Several years ago I found someone who would gladly part with one of those big old VHF-hi (channels 7-13) antennas if I disassembled it, so I ran it up on a pole at my cabin and it worked since all the stations I figured might be available to me broadcast in the VHF-hi range. I got lucky. VHF-hi travels quite a distance. I'm about 80 miles give or take from the nearest stick.
Since the US digital conversion I am reading that many of the familiar old VHF channels have begun broadcasting on UHF channels, although some do not. Now there are 'real' channels and 'virtual' channels to contend with. In many areas there are also repeaters that broadcast on yet a completely different UHF channel. TV's today have built-in tuners to decipher this information. Your job is to find those channels closest to you and obtain the right antenna and orientation.
This is about the extent of my knowledge. If anyone can smarten me up on this I would appreciate it a lot!
Additionally, there is an FCC website (I will try to find it again and and post it here) that gives information pertinent to specific TV broadcast stations, including their coverage contour maps. Here you could possibly find a glimmer of hope that a signal might reach you, at least according to their engineers. You could also visit the station's website.
I have been looking in vain for an old deep fringe all-channel UHF antenna because I think I could pick up a couple more channels like PBS and such, off repeaters in my area. I've been hesitant to purchase a brand new one in case of failure, but I may just get bold enough this summer to try it.
On a positive note, there is a person living in a town near my cabin who essentially has his own CATV system in his back yard; probably a 75'-100' tall tower with an array of antennas that would make Radio Shack blush. He has a dedicated antenna for each station he wants to receive and gets OTA from as far away as 300 miles, proving it can be done.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 02:05
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Quoting: yankeesouth Okay.....I know this is a taboo subject for many folks.......But....... does anyone who has a cabin in a mountainous region have any success gaining TV reception?
YES! Perfect clear digital picture. I installed a flat screen wall mounted TV high up on a swivel. I have the directional antenna inside my attic to keep the exterior appearance looking rustic and pointed it to the mountain where the digital free TV signals are transmitted from. Its so nice to catch up on news and watch some shows. Limited selections/channels, but enough to get the job done.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 08:11
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Bobrok,
There are some pretty good UHF antennas being made these days. More elements, more distant reception. Not too hard on the wallet in general. Ignore the "digital" designation, UHF is UHF as far as the antenna is concerned.
There are some digital VHF stations popping up. One would need VHF elements to receive these signals.
Some tv's have a signal strength meter built in which can help with orienting the antenna for max signal.
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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 10:34
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Thanks for the replies.....And I must say one of my favorite things to do is sit back on a crisp fall day with leaves a blaze with color, kick on the wood burner, crack a cold beer, and watch the Steelers during a Sunday afternoon game. Cold beer, Steeler game, no kids or wife around, and quiet mountains= no stress for Matt.
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ErinsMom
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# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 17:33
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We live in NE TN. Mom's at about 1300 ft surrounded by mountains on three sides. She decided she would no longer pay for dish. Found someone with an old UHF antenna and she has great reception with all the channels she wants....well, except for the lifetime channel.
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 22:41
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Found a picture of my TV on using the small Yagi 7 element directional antenna.
(note, picture show was an APB, looking for the clown who was drunk, got into an argument with his dad and shot/killed him with a hunting rifle)
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2014 06:58
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I have the radio shack $84 dollar one in the southern camp....150 mile radius...picks up 20 or more channels....and all picture clear and in HD....well worth the money
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justincasei812
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:10
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Not sure if you have WIFI or not but if you do you can try Roku, googlecast, etc. for TV purposes. I am not in a mountainous region but I bought an Atenna from Menards with a 60 mile radius and pick up station well past that.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2014 17:05 - Edited by: bobrok
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@ SEOhio - I've been researching these and reading reviews, so thanks for that info. I'm hesitant due to all the variety available; I figure a positive post from someone on the forum who is in the remote mountains and has been successful would go a long way towards helping me make my decision.
@yankeesouth - +1 on watching a good game at the cabin. My neighbor and I also like to spend evenings listening to Yankees games on the radio while enjoying a bourbon or two.
@toyota_mdt_tech - Can you share specifics of your yagi? Is it for UHF?
@turkeyhunter - which RS model antenna do you have? 150 mile range sounds great but are you in mountains at your southern camp?
Thanks to all!!
Bob
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2014 19:59
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Bob, the antenna I got was an 8 element, made by RCA, $50, here is the exact unit at amazon. Its not UHF, just the regular I guess VHF.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Durable-Compact-Outdoor/dp/B0024R4B5C/ref=sr_1_7?ie= UTF8&qid=1398470218&sr=8-7&keywords=TV+antenna''
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